Traveling by Supercharger can be more expensive than ICE

[Pwdr Extreme]

I thought Tesla said they wouldn’t make the superchargers a profit center? After paying $14.56 for driving 140 miles from home charger to Supercharger and topping off, I realized it would have been cheaper to drive my pickup. At the current cost of fuel which is $2.25 per gallon here this equates to an ICE getting 21.5mpg. Not too impressive. A regular car comparable to a Model 3 would easily get 30mpg, probably more like 35-40mpg.

Are the supercharger rates here in Montana just excessively high, or is that the normal across the nation.
Makes me really miss free supercharging....

 

[sduck]

check your math

 

[RayK]

By your calculations, assuming you paid $0.35/kWh (highest I've seen around here in San Jose, CA), your efficiency was then 297Wh/mi, yes? On the other hand if your SC cost was $0.28, then efficiency is 371.

 

[Pwdr Extreme]

$14.56 / $2.25 = 6.47. ie $14.56 would buy 6.47 gallons of fuel at $2.25 per gallon. 140 miles / 6.47 gallons is 21.63 mpg. I rounded down to 21.5mpg. I exaggerated by .1mpg. In other words, my math is accurate.

check your math

 

[Pwdr Extreme]

By your calculations, assuming you paid $0.35/kWh (highest I've seen around here in San Jose, CA), your efficiency was then 297Wh/mi, yes? On the other hand if your SC cost was $0.28, then efficiency is 371.

I didn’t look at the kWh charge, I’m simply going by two facts. One, I drove 140 miles and two, it cost me $14.56 to top off to the same 90% charge I left with.

This Model 3 isn’t overly efficient compared to my Model S. I’ve never achieved rated range in the 3 or my MX, the MS would regularly achieve rated range and often exceeded it.

 

[Sklith]

I don't know what the big deal is having to pay a little more than gasoline when supercharging, it's not like you're supposed to supercharge when commuting dialy.

 

[jkdman123]

One of the issues with BEVs is that their efficiency is affected much more by variables such as heating and outside air temp. What were the weather conditions on your trip?

 

[MXLRplus]

> 90% of a homeowner's EV recharging costs are the nighttime $/kWh rate.
An EV, ANY EV, is cheaper to refuel than any ICE. This assumes you put a value on your time when driving to a gas station.
The convenience alone is worth it to me.

 

[MXLRplus]

BTW - Check the fuel economy on cars with similar size and acceleration to the Model 3. I think you will be surprised how much a performance car costs to operate.

 

[jjrandorin]

BTW - Check the fuel economy on cars with similar size and acceleration to the Model 3. I think you will be surprised how much a performance car costs to operate.

I find it funny when people start talking about "a comparable gas car gets 30 MPG" as if a comparable gas car to a Model 3 is a prius or a toyota corrola, not the "sports sedans" that they are actually comparable to. Model 3s compare with BMW 3 series, Audi A4s, Mercedes C class, etc.

They are not in the "same class" with most cars that get 30 MPG because no car that gets 30mpg does 0-60 in 5.X seconds like a model 3 does (even the slowest one).

(I am agreeing with you... I just quoted your post to piggy back and agree with it).

 

[Cybr.Myk]

BTW - Check the fuel economy on cars with similar size and acceleration to the Model 3. I think you will be surprised how much a performance car costs to operate.

And cars with similar performance require high octane fuel.

 

[drtimhill]

I thought Tesla said they wouldn’t make the superchargers a profit center? After paying $14.56 for driving 140 miles from home charger to Supercharger and topping off, I realized it would have been cheaper to drive my pickup. At the current cost of fuel which is $2.25 per gallon here this equates to an ICE getting 21.5mpg. Not too impressive. A regular car comparable to a Model 3 would easily get 30mpg, probably more like 35-40mpg.

Are the supercharger rates here in Montana just excessively high, or is that the normal across the nation.
Makes me really miss free supercharging....

Apples to oranges. What “regular car” gets 35-40 mpg? And how does its performance compare? The Tesla should be compared to a BMW if you want a reasonable comparison.

Supercharging is the most expense way to charge your car to on the Tesla network .. but check non-Tesla chargers if you want real sticker shock. But an ICE car has no choice but to pay gas prices .. with a Tesla you can charge at home for WAY less.

 

[yerEVan]

In my Lexus CT 200 it would have cost me $11 to drive those miles.

if I had to pay $3 more every once in a while for that performance, those features and that more spacious interior. I’d have no problem shelling out that cash to do so.

If you refer someone then it’s free for a while btw.

 

[Pwdr Extreme]

LOL, and this is about typical. I’m not arguing about charging at home being cheaper, I’m not arguing about performance. If I was I would say my twin turbo Mercedes and my supercharged Corvette are both right there or better. The Mercedes and the Vette are both upper 20’s for fuel mileage, so YES, a comparable performance car is just as economical as SUPERCHARGING. And the Mercedes is certainly more comfortable and MUCH quieter. But I digress as I’m not trying to start a my car is better than your car thread. I have 8 vehicles and I enjoy all of them for various reasons.

My entire point is I feel Tesla is charging more than they should for supercharging, especially since they said they didn’t want superchargers to be revenue centers.

To the gentleman who asked about conditions, this was clear roads and about 30 degree temperature. Yes I know temp affects efficiency etc. as you can see in my sig I’ve been driving Tesla’s for awhile.

To the gentleman saying superchargers aren’t meant for commuting... UMM just how the hell DO you get from one place to another WITHOUT supercharging when the car doesn’t have the range to make it on a single charge? (I made a 340 mile trip, obviously the Model 3 isn’t going to do that on a single charge)

 

[Tiger]

Tesla has plans in place to throttle peak rates (they try to accomplish this by storing energy in battery packs near the supercharger from during off-peak hours), see Tesla tests Supercharger limited time discounts to offset expensive peak demand charges.

 

[bedoig]

Demand charges are expensive. I highly doubt Tesla is profiting.

 

[Daniel in SD]

A BMW 340 gets 32mpg highway. People can quibble about performance I suppose. Also superchargers are billed at the energy that flows from the charger to the car, indicated efficiency is not plug to wheel efficiency.
Just because it’s more expensive than gas doesn’t mean it’s a profit center. Electricity is quite expensive when you need a lot of it but only very rarely. I’m sure Tesla pays a huge amount of money in demand charges which are based on peak power draw. Then of course the stations need to be maintained and they don’t seem all that reliable.

 

[Candleflame]

i have made calculations a couple of years ago... diesel is cheaper than traveling via supercharger in the united states. mainly compounded by cheap fuel prices and relatively expensive electricity.

 

[drtimhill]

LOL, and this is about typical. I’m not arguing about charging at home being cheaper, I’m not arguing about performance. If I was I would say my twin turbo Mercedes and my supercharged Corvette are both right there or better. The Mercedes and the Vette are both upper 20’s for fuel mileage, so YES, a comparable performance car is just as economical as SUPERCHARGING. And the Mercedes is certainly more comfortable and MUCH quieter. But I digress as I’m not trying to start a my car is better than your car thread. I have 8 vehicles and I enjoy all of them for various reasons.

My entire point is I feel Tesla is charging more than they should for supercharging, especially since they said they didn’t want superchargers to be revenue centers.

To the gentleman who asked about conditions, this was clear roads and about 30 degree temperature. Yes I know temp affects efficiency etc. as you can see in my sig I’ve been driving Tesla’s for awhile.

To the gentleman saying superchargers aren’t meant for commuting... UMM just how the hell DO you get from one place to another WITHOUT supercharging when the car doesn’t have the range to make it on a single charge? (I made a 340 mile trip, obviously the Model 3 isn’t going to do that on a single charge)

I wonder why someone with a twin turbo mercedes, a corvette and a tesla is worried about supercharging prices...

 

[Fadiawesome]

yah, they recently increased supercharging prices by a lot, and heap gas makes it cheaper to drive an ice, and faster too lol. But more fun? Thats up to u to decide.