How much it is actually costing me

[azred]

Most EV owners should probably be on an EV plan, where one is available. If you're in SCE territory, try Electric Vehicle Rates | Electric Vehicles | Your Home | Home - SCE — otherwise check with your electricity provider. It can be a pain to get switched over to an EV plan, but it's worth it. The PG&E rate tool tells me I'm saving hundreds annually vs the cheapest tiered rate.

I ran the numbers here in Chandler AZ and for my provider SRP, it made more sense to stay with my existing discount plan that has a three-hour block each day that's super expensive and 21 hours of a much cheaper rate. The EV plan has six "super-saver" late night hours that are cheaper than my cheaper rate, but also has a more complicated rate structure for the rest of the day that for my cooling needs would be more costly. I am semi-retired and might have made a different choice if I was an 8-5 worker and could turn the temp way up during the the hot Summer days. Each person needs to weigh the various options and not assume an EV rate is always best.

 

[mblakele]

I have looked into it some but I want to wait and see what kind of pattern develops. The car is for "pleasure" only, not used for commuting, so I'll have to see if the electric cost is significant. Do you have a separate meter on your charging circuit?

No, I didn't see the point. But we're on opposite ends of the spectrum: I'm using a lot of kWh to commute. That also means vehicle depreciation "costs" me something like 5x what the electricity does.

Of course another option is to put in enough solar to cover the driving. That's something I may pull the trigger on in the next few months.

 

[mblakele]

I ran the numbers here in Chandler AZ and for my provider SRP, it made more sense to stay with my existing discount plan that has a three-hour block each day that's super expensive and 21 hours of a much cheaper rate. The EV plan has six "super-saver" late night hours that are a cheaper than my cheaper rate, but also has a more complicated rate structure for the rest of the day that for my cooling needs would be more costly. I am semi-retired and might have made a different choice if I was an 8-5 worker and could turn the temp way up during the the hot Summer days. Each person needs to weigh the various options and not assume an EV rate is always best.

Yes, it's important to do the math. It sounds like you don't have to worry about tiers? That's a big difference. Around here the main benefit of the EV rate is to get out of tiered rates, so that you don't pay higher rates for driving more.

 

[azred]

Yes, it's important to do the math. It sounds like you don't have to worry about tiers? That's a big difference. Around here the main benefit of the EV rate is to get out of tiered rates, so that you don't pay higher rates for driving more.

Yes, SRP rate structure is strictly based on time of use. The EV plan is a hybrid of a discount plan for all homeowners that has expensive winter rates from 5-9 am and 5-9 pm and cheapest rates 11pm-5am for EV charging -- and expensive summer rates from 1-8 pm and the same 11pm-5am cheapest rates. The plan I am on has a super expensive 3pm-6pm period all year and the other 21 hours are much cheaper. If you are home a lot like a retiree, three hours of a hot house from 3-6pm is much better than seven from 1-8pm. Since I have gas heat, I might opt for the EV plan for winters if allowed but you can't change plans more than annually. FYI, on my plan I pay about 7.5 (winter) and 8.5 (summer) cents per kWh during the cheaper 21 hours. On EV plan, I would pay about 6 cents per kWh for the 11pm-5am time block, so we obviously have very cheap rates compared to what I paid when residing in California.

 

[JCLeonard]

I like the discussion here, I used a similar formula to calculate the $/mile comparison of an EV versus ICE. When we bought our Leaf in 2016 this activity was helpful to illustrate the delta to my wife. I also performed another calculation that included scheduled maintenance in the $/mile (really just oil changes). I know depreciation should be included in TCO calculations, but I skipped it for my analysis because we intend to own our cars a bit longer than typical so depreciation, to me, becomes less important. Plus it's harder for me to accurately estimate so I find myself putting in numbers that help me justify higher EV prices.

I know this has been discussed ad nauseam, but when crunching numbers for a Tesla the financials do not come out to justify the car for us because we don't compare to a similarly PRICED ICE vehicle because we don't usually buy vehicles in that price range. I am sure we are not unique in that way. When I discuss with friends and family I say a Tesla is more expensive to own than the cars we usually drive but it is up to each of us to individually decide how much the following factors are "worth" to us:
1. Reducing/eliminating emissions
2. Driving a more fun and reliable car
3. Being able to self-power our transportation with solar (closely tied to #1)
4. Teaching our kids it is ok and encouraged to buck the norm and do what we think is right for our future
5. Higher safety rating
6. etc.

Having said all that, I am a cheapo. After a little over a year of obsession with all things Tesla we have still not bought a Tesla. I believe our patience, while difficult, will pay off in the end when the Model 3 lands or when the CPO prices hit our sweet spot ( I predict to happen around the same time)

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[NullException]

Maybe I'm doing this wrong, but the way I look at is:

Before MS: I was spending about £50/week on fuel
With MS: Charging costs me around £15/week.

That's with UK fuel prices, though.