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Should I pay a bit more at home or Supercharge?

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Hi all,

I got 1000 free miles after my friend bought his Tesla this summer and I've been using the superchargers for the first time (2018 LR M3). It looks like the local Superchargers (after 7pm) have better pricing than my home:

This is in Southern California

Supercharger (before 7pm): $0.44 per kwh
Supercharger (after 7pm): $0.21 per kwh
Home (L2: 240V@32A any time): $0.25 per kwh

From the Tesla forums I remember that supercharging all the time wasn't so good for the battery. Specially if charging to 100%. I only charge to 80% when using the supercharger. Should I pay a bit more at home or Supercharge... after 7pm? BTW I only supercharger every two weeks. My commute is about 100miles a week.

Thanks.
 
Hi all,

I got 1000 free miles after my friend bought his Tesla this summer and I've been using the superchargers for the first time (2018 LR M3). It looks like the local Superchargers (after 7pm) have better pricing than my home:

This is in Southern California

Supercharger (before 7pm): $0.44 per kwh
Supercharger (after 7pm): $0.21 per kwh
Home (L2: 240V@32A any time): $0.25 per kwh

From the Tesla forums I remember that supercharging all the time wasn't so good for the battery. Specially if charging to 100%. I only charge to 80% when using the supercharger. Should I pay a bit more at home or Supercharge... after 7pm? BTW I only supercharger every two weeks. My commute is about 100miles a week.

Thanks.

This sounds like you only value your own personal time at 4 cents a kWh, not even mentioning going to the supercharger and waiting there to charge. It also sounds like you are not on a time of use plan where the overnight charging is 16c a kWh, but on a tiered plan where tier 1 is 25c a kWh (and higher tiers are up to 40c a kWh or more.

Short version is, its likely not cheaper for you to charge at the supercharger once your free miles run out. Whether 4c a kWh is worth it to drive to the supercharger and sit there is up to you.

One thing we know for a fact is that "fast charging" (which is all supercharging) can be more damaging to the battery than slow charging (which is ALL home charging.. all home charging = slow charging, no matter what speed you are charging at home at). What we dont know is "how damaging, over time". It could be very minor, only a few miles over a 5 year period, or it could be a little more.

No one knows, we just know that because of how battery chemistry works, fast charging is more damaging.

I certainly wouldnt make a trip to a supercharger to save 4c a kWh for tier 1 rates. I am surprised your home can go the entire month in southern california on tier 1 rates (I would verify that if I were you actually, that you are not going into higher tiers).
 
Sounds like expensive electricity even for California. I pay about 11 cents per kwh after midnight in So-cal but pay a flat $16 rate per month. At least I used to before solar. I'd check to see if you have other available plans with your local utility.
 
As expensive as electricity is ... it is still way cheaper than paying for gas ($4.25 per gal, regular unleaded)


Gas for my Volvo just hit $5.4999999999999999999999. Where is the friggin' Cybertrucckkkkkkkk

On topic, I think you should just save the Supercharging for a road trip (assuming they don't expire). The Superchargers near me are so tough to access for normal day to day driving.
 
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Sounds like expensive electricity even for California. I pay about 11 cents per kwh after midnight in So-cal but pay a flat $16 rate per month. At least I used to before solar. I'd check to see if you have other available plans with your local utility.
I checked the TOU services and I would end up paying more if I use any of them. I only pay about $35/month (small condo) ... about $60/month if I charge the car. Not much anyhow.
 
I can't believe how high the cost of electricity is out there. I pay an AVERAGE of $.07 per kw in Ohio; less than that at night.
I can't figure out the variability in rates across the country. I would think the transmission and distribution cost would be fairly consistent, perhaps more expensive in areas with less density because of longer runs required.. but that's apparently not the case at all.

How is it that here in Massachusetts in a relatively dense area near boston my transmission and distribution costs over $.10 per kWh? So more than what most areas can generate and distribute for. (total cost is $0.23 per kWh with no real options for TOU.)

I feel like on some level the costs are total BS relative to the actual cost to the electric supplier.
 
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Sounds like expensive electricity even for California. I pay about 11 cents per kwh after midnight in So-cal but pay a flat $16 rate per month. At least I used to before solar. I'd check to see if you have other available plans with your local utility.
If OP is only driving 100 miles a week, they'll almost certainly pay more overall on a TOU plan that jacks rates up during the day in exchange for "cheap" energy overnight.
 
I can't believe how high the cost of electricity is out there. I pay an AVERAGE of $.07 per kw in Ohio; less than that at night.
Are you sure? Most people just see Delivery Charge and think that is the cost of electricity. There is also a power supply charge. They make the bills pretty difficult to figure out rates. But maybe your bill is very clear and doesn't have numbers and charges all over the place. In NY, we have Delivery & System, Power Supply, DER Charge (whatever that is). It's actually less convoluted now. They used to hide additional charges in small print.
 
ElectricityRates-Ohio says the average for OH is 12.29 cent/kwh right now. 0.07 last November could be reasonable.

The numbers from that website do appear to be all-in prices, including both supply and distribution charges. I base that assumption on the average rate reported from ElectricityRates-Massachusetts which has a current number of ~22 cents/kwh. Massachusetts has the fifth highest electricity cost in the country.