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Splitting Pennies -

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We have had our Model S for 7 months now and I decided to take a simplistic look at energy cost for those 7 months:

Total Miles: 4,597.5 Total kWh: 1,703.8 Wh/mi: 371 Cost per kWh: 11.6 cents Total Cost: $146.87 or 3.19 cents per mile

Now, last week I decided to adjust my driving style, no insane mode launches, slower starts and slower overall speeds. IN OTHER WORDS, BORING!!! I was able to average 336 Wh/mi (I'm sure i could do better still but a 10% improvement vs. my lifetime average).

If I swap out this metric for the actual lifetime kWh used I would have used 1,544.8 kWh at a total cost of $133.17 or 2.9 cents per mile, a savings of .29 cents per mile. That's a savings of $13.70 over the 7 months, $1.96 per month OR $23.52 annualized.

So what's my point? I for one am no longer worried about 'Splitting Pennies' and will enjoy the heck out of our P85D (soon to be L). I'll save the $23.52 somewhere else, maybe one less Starbucks a quarter :biggrin:
 
Thanks for doing the math for me. :)

I'm guessing in fun mode there's probably a bit more wear on things like tires but I'm guessing it's not that much. So nice to see one can have more fun without significant added cost. So unlike an ICE vehicle.
 
Thanks for doing the math for me. :)

I'm guessing in fun mode there's probably a bit more wear on things like tires but I'm guessing it's not that much. So nice to see one can have more fun without significant added cost. So unlike an ICE vehicle.


Yet another reason an EV is so awesome, fun to cost factor!

What at I didn't include in my numbers were
"Free Charges". The initial full charge that came with the vehicle, the one time I've Supercharged to date and the 3 or 4 times the Service Center charged me up after a service appointment.

Truly splitting pennies! Now, for a long trip it's obviously less about cost and more about range and minimizing time at the Superchargers.
 
I'm certainly not arguing that you should do "boring" driving if you'd prefer to do otherwise. But I doubt that the main cost of aggressive acceleration and braking is poor fuel efficiency (gas or electrons). I imagine that increased wear on moving parts, with a shorter replacement cycle, would be the dominant effect. Of course, this is going to be somewhat random--an aggressive driver might get lucky, or vice versa. And you couldn't really quantify it without the sort of large, long-term data set that you'll never really see. But I'll bet, on average, that your driving style will cost you more in increased service than on your electricity bill.
 
I'm certainly not arguing that you should do "boring" driving if you'd prefer to do otherwise. But I doubt that the main cost of aggressive acceleration and braking is poor fuel efficiency (gas or electrons). I imagine that increased wear on moving parts, with a shorter replacement cycle, would be the dominant effect. Of course, this is going to be somewhat random--an aggressive driver might get lucky, or vice versa. And you couldn't really quantify it without the sort of large, long-term data set that you'll never really see. But I'll bet, on average, that your driving style will cost you more in increased service than on your electricity bill.

I think you are assuming I'm thrashing my car and beating the heck out of it, which is far from the truth. Screen name depicts the insane mode labeling the P85D has and not how I actually drive.

I still ill have a 2007 Yukon Denali XL purchased in Oct '06 with over 100,000 miles on it. You'd think it came off the lot yesterday. General maintainence only, still has original brake pads and I towed a boat for 3 years.

Its all all about being smooth, fun doesn't mean reckless.

But you bring up another great point with EVs. How many moving parts are we talking about here? People are getting new drive units regardless of how they drive. I'm seeing people replace tires at incredibly low mileage intervals.

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If the difference is just 336/371 Wh/mi, then sure, but for me it's much more dramatic than that.

Out of curiosity, what are you able to average Wh/mi? So I have an idea of how much room I still have.

Thanks!
 
I can do ~330 during spring/summer/autum. ~400-450 during winter.

Driving carefree that can easily jump to 450 / 600+ winter


Thanks. I managed 331 30 mile average today. I think I'd have to eliminate the highway portion of my commute and take surface streets to go lower. My route to work has highway, I come home a different way. I might try that tomorrow and see what happens.

We are lucky here in south Florida, might get in the high 50's once or twice a year, otherwise pretty much 70 plus.
 
I completely agree with Insane. The cost differential is so small that I simply do not care. I am still saving a sh-t load over gas. The only time it matters for me is when I am range challenged, which is mighty rare.

Speaking of that...I just realized I forgot to plug in!:eek:
 
Thanks. I managed 331 30 mile average today. I think I'd have to eliminate the highway portion of my commute and take surface streets to go lower. My route to work has highway, I come home a different way. I might try that tomorrow and see what happens.

We are lucky here in south Florida, might get in the high 50's once or twice a year, otherwise pretty much 70 plus.

Yes. I'm "killed" by many shorter trips (Boston is a small town), much lower highway miles, colder weather, and higher electricity rates.
 
Enjoy your MS. You likely didn't pay the "P" premium because the badging looked pretty. Launches do not get old. :love::love:

When I had to get "permission" from the wife, I asked her the most important factor for her... she said fuel economy. Showed her the Monroney (sp?) sticker, 89MPGe. Purchase approved, no further questions.

The (then) 3.2s 0-60 never even came up, it didn't have to. I'm not even going to mention the Ludicrous upgrade (although it is looking like the midwest is an unloved region of the country for that). This car wins at winning, time after time again. I'm betting Elon was holding "summon" until the auto show, in case he needed to play a new hand. And he did... the media is full of buzz about it (I have to admit, it is pretty cool...).

Yeah, other cars have some of these things we take for granted... but only a Tesla has ALL of them. I love this car.
 
Your point is still valid, but your math is off. 1,703 kWh x .116 = $197.55. The amazing savings are that gas would have cost you about $500+ for that mileage - pending a bunch of variables of course.

We have had our Model S for 7 months now and I decided to take a simplistic look at energy cost for those 7 months:

Total Miles: 4,597.5 Total kWh: 1,703.8 Wh/mi: 371 Cost per kWh: 11.6 cents Total Cost: $146.87 or 3.19 cents per mile

Now, last week I decided to adjust my driving style, no insane mode launches, slower starts and slower overall speeds. IN OTHER WORDS, BORING!!! I was able to average 336 Wh/mi (I'm sure i could do better still but a 10% improvement vs. my lifetime average).

If I swap out this metric for the actual lifetime kWh used I would have used 1,544.8 kWh at a total cost of $133.17 or 2.9 cents per mile, a savings of .29 cents per mile. That's a savings of $13.70 over the 7 months, $1.96 per month OR $23.52 annualized.

So what's my point? I for one am no longer worried about 'Splitting Pennies' and will enjoy the heck out of our P85D (soon to be L). I'll save the $23.52 somewhere else, maybe one less Starbucks a quarter :biggrin: