Supercharger Expense

[AKinDC]

Just went on Tesla's website to plan a trip...about 600 miles, had me stopping at three superchargers.
Really surprised to see that the total savings using electric instead of gas was a grand total of $10, according to their estimate.
Not impressive.

 

[brandonee916]

They're estimates.... enjoy your gas-free trip!

 

[azred]

Teslas are so 2018. Buy a Prius and enjoy speed and beauty.

 

[willow_hiller]

Just went on Tesla's website to plan a trip...about 600 miles, had me stopping at three superchargers.
Really surprised to see that the total savings using electric instead of gas was a grand total of $10, according to their estimate.
Not impressive.

Real savings comes from charging at home. Supercharging is more expensive for the convenience of speed.

What are the average gas/electricity prices in DC? $4 per gallon and $0.10 per kW respectively? A really fuel efficient ICE car (40 MPG) would take 15 gallons to go 600 miles costing $60. A Model 3 SR+ (250 wh/mi EPA) would take 150 kW to go 600 miles costing $15. With those assumptions the ICE car is 4 times as expensive to fuel as the 3, and the price of gas will only go up.

Don't sweat the price of supercharging, 95% of your charging will be done at home.

 

[AKinDC]

Teslas are so 2018. Buy a Prius and enjoy speed and beauty.

Ha!
The reason I'm buying a Tesla is that I couldn't stand the thought of buying another Prius.

 

[ewoodrick]

The site seems to underestimate the savings, sometimes dramatically.

I just finished a 700 mile trip and it cost $17.53. Of course I left with a 100% charge and I got back with about 20%. But seeing that I don't believe that any car would have that range and would have to stop for fuel, they couldn't fill the tank once for that cost.

Home charging is about $0.12 /kWh o I guess you could add about $12.00 to the total cost. I'm still not sure which cars could fill up for less than $30 (and total gas would be more than a single fill up)

Don't forget to try to schedule bathroom and meal breaks with Supercharger stops to minimize additional time just for charging.

 

[Eclectic]

Real savings comes from charging at home. Supercharging is more expensive for the convenience of speed.

What are the average gas/electricity prices in DC? $4 per gallon and $0.10 per kW respectively? A really fuel efficient ICE car (40 MPG) would take 15 gallons to go 600 miles costing $60. A Model 3 SR+ (250 wh/mi EPA) would take 150 kW to go 600 miles costing $15. With those assumptions the ICE car is 4 times as expensive to fuel as the 3, and the price of gas will only go up.

Don't sweat the price of supercharging, 95% of your charging will be done at home.

Gas isn't $4/gal in the D.C. area, it's closer to $2.50 a gallon. https://www.gasbuddy.com/GasPrices/WashingtonDC And OP stated that he was going on a road trip, so you missed the point that he can't charge at home for the trip. Finally, the idea that the price of gas will only go up is pure nonsense, as gas prices fluctuate up and down...and the more demand there is for electricity, simple economics dictate that the prices will go up unless there is an influx of new electricity generation and transmission facilities.

 

[SoManyM3s]

You are correct, the price of electricity has went up remarkably where I live over the past decade, compared to gas which has gotten cheaper over the decade. Electricity here has increased in price by about 25-40%.

 

[Daniel in SD]

Gas isn't $4/gal in the D.C. area, it's closer to $2.50 a gallon. https://www.gasbuddy.com/GasPrices/WashingtonDC And OP stated that he was going on a road trip, so you missed the point that he can't charge at home for the trip. Finally, the idea that the price of gas will only go up is pure nonsense, as gas prices fluctuate up and down...and the more demand there is for electricity, simple economics dictate that the prices will go up unless there is an influx of new electricity generation and transmission facilities.

I agree that gas prices go up and down and no one can predict what prices will be in future. However, electricity prices should actually go down with increased demand since EVs use previously unused transmission capacity and generation.

 

[willow_hiller]

Gas isn't $4/gal in the D.C. area, it's closer to $2.50 a gallon. https://www.gasbuddy.com/GasPrices/WashingtonDC And OP stated that he was going on a road trip, so you missed the point that he can't charge at home for the trip. Finally, the idea that the price of gas will only go up is pure nonsense, as gas prices fluctuate up and down...and the more demand there is for electricity, simple economics dictate that the prices will go up unless there is an influx of new electricity generation and transmission facilities.

I live right across the border from DC. Only stations with lower prices have an incentive to report on GasBuddy, the district average is much closer to $3 AAA Gas Prices, and I've seen some stations higher than $3.

I didn't miss the point that he was going on a roadtrip, nobody argues that supercharging is the cheapest way to fuel an EV. My point was that the majority of charging occurs at home, so why would you worry about a marginally higher supercharging cost, unless you're going to be taking a roadtrip every week?

 

[hcdavis3]

You are correct, the price of electricity has went up remarkably where I live over the past decade, compared to gas which has gotten cheaper over the decade. Electricity here has increased in price by about 25-40%.

I’m at 25 cents per kWh all in. We get hosed here in MA.

 

[willow_hiller]

I’m at 25 cents per kWh all in. We get hosed here in MA.

Ouch, $0.13 on average here in MD after all the taxes and fees. I figured DC would be a little bit cheaper. At those electricity prices, would solar be a good investment? We've looked into it a couple of times, but the payback time is still like 10-15 years.

 

[SoManyM3s]

I’m at 25 cents per kWh all in. We get hosed here in MA.

So you're pretty much paying as much per mile in charge as you would with a 35 mpg car.

 

[SoManyM3s]

Ouch, $0.13 on average here in MD after all the taxes and fees. I figured DC would be a little bit cheaper. At those electricity prices, would solar be a good investment? We've looked into it a couple of times, but the payback time is still like 10-15 years.

you would NEVER make your money back with solar. You can consider it an investment into the earth's future, but not for your bank account.

 

[hcdavis3]

So you're pretty much paying as much per mile in charge as you would with a 35 mpg car.

Yup. The good news is that my trade in, only got around 21 or so mpg. So I’ve got that going for me.
My electric bill for charging my 3 is 100 bucks a month. Doing everything I can to lower the bill.

 

[SoManyM3s]

Yup. The good news is that my trade in, only got around 21 or so mpg. So I’ve got that going for me.
My electric bill for charging my 3 is 100 bucks a month. Doing everything I can to lower the bill.

not sure if you can 120 V charge at work or local grocery stores or malls have free charging, but you can use those avenues to reduce charge cost. I reduce charge cost slightly but using these methods of charging when out and about - although my work just told me not to charge my car there since the cord goes over a side walk and can trip people (the side walk is abuts the wall with the outlet). Understandable, so I'll stop getting that extra 30-40 miles for free.

 

[hcdavis3]

not sure if you can 120 V charge at work or local grocery stores or malls have free charging, but you can use those avenues to reduce charge cost. I reduce charge cost slightly but using these methods of charging when out and about - although my work just told me not to charge my car there since the cord goes over a side walk and can trip people (the side walk is abuts the wall with the outlet). Understandable, so I'll stop getting that extra 30-40 miles for free.

Thanks So. There is a free charger in the next town about 3 miles away that uses the 1777 adapter. I can use that one but it’s a bit of a pain because I’d have stay there while charging. I’m retired so no charging at work for me.

 

[GHammer]

you would NEVER make your money back with solar. You can consider it an investment into the earth's future, but not for your bank account.

How do you figure? I live in a place known for low electric rates (.08/kWh) and not the sunniest of weather and 4 years in I'm set to recoup my costs in another 8 years.

 

[IraB]

Also, the Tesla cost estimating system is reasonably conservative by using regular rather than premium gas prices and assuming reasonably good mileage. A more reasonable comparison would be for a car equivalent to a Model 3. For example, a Prius is a poor comparison as it is not comparable to a Tesla in any way. A BMW 3 series is a more reasonable comparison and depending on the Model 3, the comparison might need to be with an M3. All of these cars require premium fuel and get worse mileage in the real world than Tesla assumes in its comparisons.

Bottom line, Supercharging is quite expensive ($0.28 per kWh in places where the home electric rates are $0.08 to $0.10), but there is still some savings versus a reasonably comparable ICE car.

 

[TORQU3]

Thanks So. There is a free charger in the next town about 3 miles away that uses the 1777 adapter. I can use that one but it’s a bit of a pain because I’d have stay there while charging. I’m retired so no charging at work for me.

MA electricity rates suck! Luckily I get free charging at work, such a nice perk! I'm part of a community shared solar project so I purchase the bulk of my electricity at about half the going rate. The downside is if I drastically increase my usage, anything above my share of the solar farm output I would be buying at national grid rates. I pay a flat $130 a month to the solar farm and typically get a bill credit of $200-300. Short of buying your own PV system it's probably the next best thing.