Newbie Charging Cost Question

[cplaw]

Total newbie question here, but if the Model S 60 comes with a 60 kWh battery and a charging station charges $.30/kWh, does that mean an empty battery would cost $18.00 to charge to full capacity? Am I calculating the cost correctly?

Thanks.

 

[skitown]

Your math looks correct to me.

 

[cplaw]

Thanks, I just wasn't sure if it's that straight forward.

 

[deonb]

Thanks, I just wasn't sure if it's that straight forward.

It's not... but it's close enough.

 

[Blu Zap]

Most utilities offer lower rates after 11:00 pm. That will help. I was paying .109/kWh with PG&E in NorCal. Not sure what your utility would charge.

 

[Saghost]

Your math is right, your assumptions are unusual.

The 60 kWh battery pack doesn't actually have 60 usable kWh for driving, and it takes more power from the wall than you get back to drive on.

It's not common to drive an EV until the battery is drained before filling it- most people charge every day for that day's usage.

It's also unusual (but not unheard of) for a charging station to bill by the kWh - in many places that invokes laws about selling power intended for regulating utilities, so a lot of stations charge by the hour instead.

If you have a price per kWh and you know a typical daily or monthly driving distance, go to fuel economy dot gov and find the car's rating in kWh per hundred miles. That will give you how much electricity from the outlet you need to cover each mile, which you can multiply by your price per kWh to get the overall cost.

 

[NikeWings]

Your math is right, your assumptions are unusual.

The 60 kWh battery pack doesn't actually have 60 usable kWh for driving, and it takes more power from the wall than you get back to drive on.

It's not common to drive an EV until the battery is drained before filling it- most people charge every day for that day's usage.

It's also unusual (but not unheard of) for a charging station to bill by the kWh - in many places that invokes laws about selling power intended for regulating utilities, so a lot of stations charge by the hour instead.

If you have a price per kWh and you know a typical daily or monthly driving distance, go to fuel economy dot gov and find the car's rating in kWh per hundred miles. That will give you how much electricity from the outlet you need to cover each mile, which you can multiply by your price per kWh to get the overall cost.

All good points, and as @Blu Zap says above, there are significant off peak price reductions. Both LADWP and SCE offer this in the LA area so check out the one which applies to you.

 

[ForeverFree]

At least here in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles DWP offers free high-speed charging at the DWP substation, if you have a Chademo adapter.

 

[No2DinosaurFuel]

Total newbie question here, but if the Model S 60 comes with a 60 kWh battery and a charging station charges $.30/kWh, does that mean an empty battery would cost $18.00 to charge to full capacity? Am I calculating the cost correctly?

Thanks.

It will be close. Keep in mind you most likely will never be empty when charging. So to say charging the full 60KWh, it will be highly unlikely. Moreover, there will be charging inefficiency. So expect to pull more from the wall than is putting into the batteries. Also everything else that is on during charging. So it might be slightly more because of inefficiencies and what not, but slightly less because you will almost never start charging from empty.

 

[Model S M.D.]

Total newbie question here, but if the Model S 60 comes with a 60 kWh battery and a charging station charges $.30/kWh, does that mean an empty battery would cost $18.00 to charge to full capacity? Am I calculating the cost correctly?

Thanks.

If you are charging at home I would just focus on your home electricity rates. I'm paying 8.9 c/kWh, so I'd spend $5 to fill up 60 kWh

 

[AndreSF]

You can use Tesla charging estimator/calculator to figure out how much specific range charge would cost you to fill up at a specific electric rate:

Tesla Charging | Tesla