How much does gas have to be to match Model 3?

[JetFalcon]

So how much does gas need to cost per gallon to drive the same distance as a Model 3 for the same amount of cost? I have not really figured out what it costs to drive a fully charged Tesla Model 3, or at 90% since that's what you're supposed to charge at for normal use.

Gas guzzler (Hummer / F-150 / Escalade / G-wagon) : 10 miles gallon

Normal sedan (Civic / Mercedes C-class / BMW 3) : 20-30 miles gallon

Hybrids (Prius) : 40-60 mile gallon

This is the best I can do. Maybe someone here is more knowledgable and can make a better table, but as a normal person that just sees a car on the showroom, this is the best I can do. Plus it seems like luxury cars don't seem to push for the lowest cost per mile when they make hybrids, I think the longest range hybrid is a normal car like a Toyota, not Lexus / BMW / Mercedes.

 

[Sklith]

I'm going to go ahead and make assumptions on cost of electricy costing 7 cents/kWh & $2.00/US gallon.

The model 3 gets 250 Wh/mi. That's $0.0175/mi.

A 30 MPG car gets 0.03333 gallons/mi. That's $0.06666/mi. That gasoline will have to cost $1.4747 less to match electricy, that's a fuel cost of $0.5253 per gallon.

 

[Knightshade]

The answer will be VASTLY different depending not just on what mileage the ICE car gets, and what gas costs locally, but also what electricity costs locally.

The power I charge my car with a VERY cheap.

Gas on a 25 mpg ICE vehicle (roughly the national average) would need to be about 18 cents a gallon to be as cheap as driving my Model 3 for example.... but I'm probably at the fairly far end of one extreme on that scale.... (and gas is currently about $1.95 here- or like $1.59 at Costco if you don't mind the lines)

For folks paying 36.5c per kwh on the big Island in Hawaii for example gas (on the same car) would be roughly equal than the EV at about $2.28 a gallon....(it's currently about 3.30-3.50 a gallon there FWIW)

 

[P-Lo801]

It depends on your electricity rates. For superchargers, the average it costs is $0.26/kwh . Since our model 3s have 75kWh batteries, 90% of that is 67.5. So hypothetically, if you were to charge from 0-67.5 kwh (90%), then that would cost $17.55, which would roughly yield you 292 miles, assuming you hit the EPA rating.

So, if you were trying to do an apples to apples comparison like you're inquiring about above, then here are my calculations:

gas guzzlers @10 miles/gallon based on $2.85/gallon of gas (based on national avg according to Tesla) for a tank of 292 miles: $83

normal sedans @30 miles/gallon: $27.74

hybrids @ 60 miles/gallon: $13.85

Mind you, the above comparisons are based on supercharger rates. Again, we (or at least most of us) get much better rates charging at home.

 

[house9]

I'm going to go ahead and make assumptions on cost of electricy costing 7 cents/kWh & $2.00/US gallon.

The numbers are a little different in California

26 cents/kWh & Regular gas around $3.20 at the moment (which is the lowest it has been in a long time)

When I did the rough math, the Model 3 cost about half what driving our 4 cylinder Tacoma and was about even with the 15 year old TDI Jetta Wagon it replaced.

 

[Dan203]

Yeah this is hard to actually calculate. The Tesla can be all over the board with wh/mile depending on how you drive, the climate in your area, etc... Same with gas cars. Their EPA ratings can vary wildly from their real world ratings depending on where you live and how you drive.

Personally I'm averaging about 360 wh/mile in my Performance. That's because I drive it like a crazy person and leave the climate control on all the time. But even so electricity is so cheap here (and about to get cheaper in a few days when I get permission to turn on my solar panels) that even with that comparatively low efficiency electricity will still cost me about 1/5 what I paid for gas in my last car. (BMW 340i)

 

[house9]

Again, we get much better rates charging at home.

Not all of us

Home costs range from $0.24 - $0.28 cents here, Supercharger rates are basically the same for me.

 

[Sklith]

The numbers are a little different in California

26 cents/kWh & Regular gas around $3.20 at the moment (which is the lowest it has been in a long time)

When I did the rough math, the Model 3 cost about half what driving our 4 cylinder Tacoma and was about even with the 15 year old TDI Jetta Wagon it replaced.

I made my sheet public for anyone to play with:
Model 3 vs Fossil fuel diff

With your local energy costs, gasoline would match electricity at $1.95/gal.

 

[P-Lo801]

Not all of us

Home costs range from $0.24 - $0.28 cents here, Supercharger rates are basically the same for me.

Wow, I did not know that. Thank you for informing me.

 

[SSonnentag]

Here's a simple Google spreadsheet you can play with to figure out the gas/electricity equilibrium point.

Gas Price EV Equivalence


I have entered my electric costs and rough Model S efficiency, resulting in a gas price of 86 cents per gallon to equal my costs of using electricity.

 

[P-Lo801]

Here's a simple Google spreadsheet you can play with to figure out the gas/electricity equilibrium point.

Gas Price EV Equivalence


I have entered my electric costs and rough Model S efficiency, resulting in a gas price of 86 cents per gallon to equal my costs of using electricity.

This is locked.

 

[SSonnentag]

This is locked.

Try again. I was adding km and litre fields.

 

[NedH]

In Georgia using super off-peak rate at home of $0.01/kWh, gas would have to be 8 cents/gallon to be equivalent.

 

[P-Lo801]

Try again. I was adding km and litre fields.

It's still locked, but I just copied and pasted it onto an excel sheet. Thanks!

According to this, in order for my previous ICE to match the cost of electricity for my model 3, it would have to be at $.059/mile.

This answers the OP's question more directly and specifically.

 

[Sklith]

In Georgia using super off-peak rate at home of $0.01/kWh, gas would have to be 8 cents/gallon to be equivalent.

I bet you're talking about Georgia Power. If so, you're not counting some fees they tack on per kWh:
Georgia power super off-peak charging rate 1.4 cents/KwH

I have CobbEMC, and it's 400 kWh FREE per month, and 4.5 cents per kWh after that 400.

 

[nwdiver]

My Tesla is cheaper even if fools fuel was $0.40/gallon.

 

[Gize]

This doesn't answer your exact question but this was my logic when running numbers to switch to an EV. Well, no, actually I got it for technology and speed, but still, savings is nice too..

My cost is $6.75 to go from 0% to full. My Q50s averaged around $55 for about 330 miles. So roughly $45 more to fill up using gas in my old situation.

 

[Johnny Mac]

Free

 

[sduck]

These numbers don't factor in everything. The supreme inconvenience of dealing with gas stations - you'd have to pay me to start doing that again.

 

[Silver Ghost]

Gas is a factor but so is maintaining the car. Oil changes, Transmission oil changes, radiator flush and fill, differential service (depending on the car/ truck) not to forget the spark plugs and the timing belt changes. Usually for me gas was 50% the expense and other maintenance was 50% the expense.