I am a test case for our power company

[slipdrive]

That's great treatment Ghost640. When I initially called XCEL after ordering the car to ask about programs, they referred me to a webpage: "We are ready for EV". translation: "...we will sell you all the power you want in the middle of the night, for the flat 24/7 day rate or 11 cents". I then asked about "time-of-use rates". Answer: "Yes, we have that. We raise our rates 50% in the four summer months."
Enjoy your friendly country power company.... and yes, you will rarely need or want to put on more than 200 range miles of charge in a night, so you are golden.. Nice dog. :wink:

 

[ddenboer]

California, essentially a separate country. I'd like those rates tho...

...

They will put it on off-peak charges (4.5 cents, not quite as good as highly subsidized CA, but reasonable).

I think you have the California rates wrong. It is around $0.32/kWh if you are in the higher tier of electricity usage (which anyone with an EV will be without solar). That's 7x what you pay.

 

[ghost640]

I think you have the California rates wrong. It is around $0.32/kWh if you are in the higher tier of electricity usage (which anyone with an EV will be without solar). That's 7x what you pay.

Oh, my bad, I completely misread the decimal point on the last note - wow, that's a lot! Can see why solar is looking good out there...

 

[slipdrive]

My solar contractor is moving most of his business from Colorado to San Luis Obispo, CA. He showed me the marginal residential rates at the sixth "top" tier of like 53cents/kwH. Geez. That's getting comparable in $/Tesla mile to a 20mpg ICE auto. Wonder if large homes in CA actually pay those rates at the margin..?

 

[Cottonwood]

I guess that it is very much hit or miss. My local Co-Op in SW Colorado, La Plata Electric Association, has been great to work with.

Because I do not have access to natural gas, their Off-Peak electric rates with Electro Thermal Storage (ETS) electric heat gives me cheaper heat than propane. Because of the ETS heat, I already had very low Off-Peak rates in the 5 cent per kWh range. Also, they were supportive of my 24 kW solar array, and during my addition/remodel a couple of years ago, when we gave them the load spreadsheet that showed the ETS heat, electric steam shower, electric hot water, 2 14-50's for car charging, a 100-Amp circuit for an HPWC, etc, they upgraded my 50 kVA transformer to a 100 kVA unit at their cost as long as I paid for the upgrade to my service entrance. Because of distances, I am the sole user on this transformer.

Partly, this is due to the the very friendly and cooperative relationships between the Co-Op engineer, my electrician, and the local electrical inspector, but for whatever reasons, I could not be happier with the service, cooperation, and openness to EV and PV power that La Plata has.

 

[smartypnz]

But my question to you owners - they charge from 11 PM to 7 AM. At 29 MPH, that gives me 232 miles on my 285 mile range. Is 8 hrs a reasonable time for a charge?

Plenty. You will rarely be charging from 0 miles. And, if so, not likely to need full charge the next day. 232 may be the most expected in the 8 hours - but be aware that the car may lower the Amps if it detects problems while charging.

Still, your rate will cost you less than $5 to 'fill up'.

 

[Lloyd]

My solar contractor is moving most of his business from Colorado to San Luis Obispo, CA. He showed me the marginal residential rates at the sixth "top" tier of like 53cents/kwH. Geez. That's getting comparable in $/Tesla mile to a 20mpg ICE auto. Wonder if large homes in CA actually pay those rates at the margin..?

If they don't have solar they do!!! I grew up in this area and am now 57. When Diablo Canyon was sold to us while I was in high school, we were promised that if we allow this nuclear power plant to be built in our back yard it would "assure us of cheap and reliable power for the duration of it's operation" . Well now we have the most expensive power in the country. PG&E owns Diablo canyon. Now to add insult to this..... We have to pay as a dedicated item on our monthy bill 'Nuclear Decomissioning' on top of the outrageous rates!! And..... It's acutally $.56.kwh. They asked for $.58 ! I'll stop now.......:scared:

 

[wycolo]

> Wyoming, you guys have more energy than you can shake a stick at, doesn't money just rain down out there? [Ghost640]

WY utils want to keep burning coal forever and keep trying to foster 'grass roots' pushback to DoE clean air initiatives/requirements. Like being forced to replace old stinker coal boilers.


> Because I do not have access to natural gas, their Off-Peak electric rates with Electro Thermal Storage (ETS) electric heat gives me cheaper heat than propane. Because of the ETS heat, I already had very low Off-Peak rates in the 5 cent per kWh range. [Cottonwood]

Propane used to be dirt cheap since it was a concoction of low-demand byproducts. Now it is costly just like #2HO and diesel, so the preference is ng if you live in or near town with underground pipes. In the outback it be firewood and/or solar heat. ETS was offered by utils before ng became abundant but was capital intensive, perhaps more so than if states had mandated or encouraged extending ng lines as populations spread. ETS went nowhere and now is history in my co-op area, rates still grandfathered in for the time being.

With an existing separate meter/account for ETS maybe you could use it for EVSE and do a woodstove install. :wink:
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