How can we afford to drive our Teslas anymore? Gas prices are so high!

[Earl]

I stopped reading when you said you weren’t always privileged but also bought a roadster.

That won't help us solve any problems will it?

 

[glide]

That won't help us solve any problems will it?

Not listening to the opinions of entitled rich people is exactly what needs to be done in order to solve these types of problems.

 

[glide]

The average residential electricity rate in the U.S. is now up to 15.64 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) (State electric prices last updated February 14, 2023). So $0.23/kWh plus delivery charges is not applicable to many owners. Electricity Rates by State (February 2023) | ChooseEnergy.com®

And I replied to your original statement “Total cost of ownership aside, just the fuel costs are higher.” Now you're changing your position to include costs other than fuel, so you realize you were wrong, that‘s progress. There are plenty of actual comparisons of total life cycle costs, you might read a couple…

Right. That old gag. So home charging doesn’t have a TCA factor?

You just assume everyone has a home with charging infrastructure. Sorry, that isn’t how this works.

If the title of the thread was” wealthy homeowners with solar installations are paying less to drive their EV’s”, then I would agree with you.

 

[SalisburySam]

At this juncture of the thread, I’m reminded of Rosanne Rosannadanna’s appropriate quote: “Never mind.”

 

[Iain]

Superchargers (where I live) are .35/kWH off-peak.

Electric costs are .23/kWH and that does not include delivery charges. So they are effectively the same.

That, coupled with things like phantom drain and weather means EV charging costs more than gas.

Add to that equation the cost of an EV vs. ICE vehicle then add the cost of having a home charger installed (assuming one owns their home) and you are well above the cost to drive an ICE vehicle.

No matter how much you want to fudge the numbers to justify your bias, EVs are simply more expensive to drive.

You are comparing your situation to everyone else. I just left Austin and I paid $0.06 Kw, so it added roughly $20 a month to MY bill. I also noticed you said 97% of Americans can’t afford an $50K EV, while $50K is a lot of money your 97% is way off. The average transaction price of a full-size pickup truck was $60,289 in 2022. Is it your contention only the top 3% of Americans are buying these ICE trucks? You seem to be one doing a whole lot of fudging of numbers.

 

[glide]

You are comparing your situation to everyone else. I just left Austin and I paid $0.06 Kw, so it added roughly $20 a month to MY bill. I also noticed you said 97% of Americans can’t afford an $50K EV, while $50K is a lot of money your 97% is way off. The average transaction price of a full-size pickup truck was $60,289 in 2022. Is it your contention only the top 3% of Americans are buying these ICE trucks? You seem to be one doing a whole lot of fudging of numbers.

No. I am talking about the average person’s situation.

Our individual situations on this echo-chamber of a forum have nothing to do with mass-market EV adoption.

And regarding the pickup truck analogy, the bulk of new trucks are bought and used for work purposes. So yes, the sticker price is high but the cost of ownership is lower due to tax write-offs. And the vehicle is generating income (unlike the non-existent robo-taxi fleet)

 

[Earl]

Not listening to the opinions of entitled rich people is exactly what needs to be done in order to solve these types of problems.

I'm not sure why I'm dignifying your misguided and prejudiced accusations but, perhaps there are other folks who are actually still reading this thread and might actually get misled by your poor assessments.

For what it's worth, the Roadster cost way more than all of the other cars we've ever owned (combined) and way more than we ever thought we'd ever spend for a car and (depending on what inflation does) likely ever will again.

As a Navy veteran (that paid for my entitled education), I know full well where much of our military budget goes. It's euphemistically called "protecting the sea lanes of communications". Much of it, today, is dedicated to fighting expensive wars to protect the sea lanes for controlling and shipping oil from the middle east. In addition to its effects on our climate and health, our oil addiction must end before we can ever be secure as a free nation. I lived through the oil crisis of the '70's, where we saw, first hand, the power wielded by those who control oil when we depend on it.

After landing civilian jobs and working hard for some successful companies, we figured we should put our earned (and wall street contributed) money where our mouths were. Our initial foray into supporting the efforts of the traditional ICE companies to electrify transportation revealed the futility of that approach. For them to go EV was going to take a huge, external forcing function. We saved our money until we saw another opportunity to help kick off a trajectory to end oil dependence. This time, by helping to create something (Tesla) into which the entitled rich would happily put their money so that eventually, its costs would come down to where the middle class can do so as well.

At some point in the future, those who cannot afford an EV today, will directly benefit too. For now though, they'll just have to benefit indirectly from cleaner air and the low cost of used ICE vehicle as those with sufficient means shun the filthy machines.