Ouch!! First Electric Bill since getting the Lightning….yikes!

[dirtdiver]

Have you not seen the California guys who at least 31 and some higher? Ouch
im 13¢ with taxes. they offer a nice 3.5¢ overnight charging rate. I don’t qualify because I have net metering with my solar. Plenty of saving when gas 4 & 5 $ /gallon.

Im surprised that solar makes financial sense with power that cheap. Im out here in CA where power is at $.40/KWhr.

Sponsored

 

[Labs4Lightning]

Im surprised that solar makes financial sense with power that cheap. Im out here in CA where power is at $.40/KWhr.

Good point.
for me I did self install + tax credit. 5 year payback.

I’ve seen guys post with 8-9¢. And some crazy TOU rates for overnight ev charging.

so I can see how your rates must be tough to swallow.

 

[jazzmanmonty]

Have you not seen the California guys who at least 31 and some higher? Ouch
im 13¢ with taxes. they offer a nice 3.5¢ overnight charging rate. I don’t qualify because I have net metering with my solar. Plenty of saving when gas 4 & 5 $ /gallon.

I'm in same rate of around 13 cents in Illinois. It should cost me approx. $12.70 per full charge 0-100% for SR.. 230 range = roughly 5.5 cents/mile. My current ICE averages 25.5/mpg. At todays gas prices, that's roughly 22 cents/mile. Gas would have to fall to about $1.25/gallon for EV charging cost to be equal to ICE fuel cost.

 

[hturnerfamily]

Here's GA POWER's EV Overnight Charge Rate schedule, which is a 'higher' 2pm-7pm rate, and to motivate us to move power usage needs to after 7pm, and even more to EV Charge after 11pm...
(you do need to sign up for this service change, versus the typical residential service of about .13cents per khw for all hours)

PEAK TIMES 2pm-7pm..............20.3¢ per kWh
Off-Peak ..7pm-11pm............. 7¢ per kWh
Super Off-Peak EV CHARGING ..after 11pm.. 1.5¢ per kWh

 

[Yellow Buddy]

Did you do a pole mount? How many panels on it? I'm not sure why different companies are trying to tell me I want rooftop instead.

Because a rooftop is easier for them and gives them future revenue should you need to replace a roof.

A ground mount typicall requires more inspections and subcontractors to install

 

[Amps]

A ground mount typicall requires more inspections and subcontractors to install

Thanks. A farmer friend of mine did a ~15 kW hillside rack system several years ago. The racks about doubled the cost. He recently added some panels on pole mounts and said the cost was significantly lower than the racks. I haven't seen it yet, lower panel cost may be part of the equation here, too.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

Thanks. A farmer friend of mine did a ~15 kW hillside rack system several years ago. The racks about doubled the cost. He recently added some panels on pole mounts and said the cost was significantly lower than the racks. I haven't seen it yet, lower panel cost may be part of the equation here, too.

Like mount is cheaper than a rack mount, but some jurisdictions don’t allow them. Panel cost did also go downs significantly. I was able to install 3x the solar for only 2x the cost at my own place roughly 5 years apart.

 

[RickLightning]

Ford's window sticker show a 'average Fuel Cost' of $950 for the Lightning PRO, or about $75 monthly... I would assume they are using 'at home' charging cost, but who knows how they would come up with that number. I assess mine to be about $56 monthly if I'm driving 1,000 miles per month.

(edit) Ford uses 15,000 miles per year at .13cents per kwh for their calculation, per their foot note,

Who knows? The EPA, that's who. They set the calculation, not Ford.

https://www.lifewire.com/reading-epa-fuel-economy-sticker-for-an-ev-5203611

 

[Pjlightning]

OP - Energy Engineer here. I've done a detailed analysis and I figure a daily-driver Lightning will about double my home energy consumption. Your bill seems to be about in line with what I expect for my circumstances anyway.

Thanks, really appreciate you giving it a close look. And I’ll look into any rate deals from Eversource too. Learning a lot from all the discussion here!

 

[rlbussard]

My bill in Texas with 100+ degree days every day is only $218 a month with a Mach E. I just took delivery of my Lightning yesterday so that will make it go up a bit more. I have solar, 10.78KW system and I try to only charge during the peaks of the day. It will make it a lot easier to do that since I will have 2 electric cars. When one of them starts to run low, I will swap them out with my wife and charge them during the day now. So I don't expect a major price increase. I don't usually drive more than 1,000 - 1,250 miles a month.

 

[Pjlightning]

We don't chat with each other saying a post is dumb. We're here to discuss, inform, and assist. :}

Thanks Regular150.

I appreciate you saying this.

I have learned a TON from everyone posting on this thread for 6 pages now.

Hopefully others have benefited too.

It surprises me on these boards how sometimes a few seem to assume the worst intent of a comment or post and be quick to criticize, instead of just moving on if they’re not interested in the topic. So much online gets nasty that way. A little levity, perhaps, would help. Oh well……can’t please them all.

Thanks to everyone for all the great tips and education here.

That’s what it’s all about.

now it’s time to unplug the lightning from the stove outlet before my wife kills me. ( Can’t wait for my CSP )

 

[dirtdiver]

Im here in San Diego where power is expensive ~$.40/KWH. I have 36 panels that are 6-7 years old on a pole ground mount. They are 250 watt panels. I generate an excess of about 250-350KWhr per month which is not going to be enough to support my new truck. I think in the short run I will just pay the Tier one cost of $.40/KWhr but then add some panels as I see how bad the bill turns out to be. I have the room to add maybe another column of 3 panels on the far end to both sets. Another 6 panels at 300watts would give me ~an extra 270KWhr/month. That translates to a total extra monthly capacity of 500-600KWhr which in turn translates to 1200 miles of driving per month- which is probably about right. The other option is that I could swap out my 250watt panels for something with more capacity. Thoughts?

 

[Kevin22]

Im here in San Diego where power is expensive ~$.40/KWH. I have 36 panels that are 6-7 years old on a pole ground mount. They are 250 watt panels. I generate an excess of about 250-350KWhr per month which is not going to be enough to support my new truck. I think in the short run I will just pay the Tier one cost of $.40/KWhr but then add some panels as I see how bad the bill turns out to be. I have the room to add maybe another column of 3 panels on the far end to both sets. Another 6 panels at 300watts would give me ~an extra 270KWhr/month. That translates to a total extra monthly capacity of 500-600KWhr which in turn translates to 1200 miles of driving per month- which is probably about right. The other option is that I could swap out my 250watt panels for something with more capacity. Thoughts?

Hello - We also have to deal with SDG&E. Bunch of criminal’s. They do offer an EV rate from 9pm- 5am at .10 per kw. Monthly charge to be on this plan. You really need to check it out and see if it might work for you. We have a solar system as well and have not had a real electric bill on 3 months. We have 2 Mach e right now. Just got mine last week to get me over this hump to my Lighting. I charge at work for free but my lady charges almost every night. Getting “free” energy right now. Are system will pay for itself in another 4.5 years.

 

[Sdgolfer]

Hello - We also have to deal with SDG&E. Bunch of criminal’s. They do offer an EV rate from 9pm- 5am at .10 per kw. Monthly charge to be on this plan. You really need to check it out and see if it might work for you. We have a solar system as well and have not had a real electric bill on 3 months. We have 2 Mach e right now. Just got mine last week to get me over this hump to my Lighting. I charge at work for free but my lady charges almost every night. Getting “free” energy right now. Are system will pay for itself in another 4.5 years.

Just fyi, I’m sdge ev-tou for $16/mo and it’s 12a-6a for super off peak. We run everything we can during those hours and it saves us a lot.

 

[Solar_EE]

Im here in San Diego where power is expensive ~$.40/KWH. I have 36 panels that are 6-7 years old on a pole ground mount. They are 250 watt panels. I generate an excess of about 250-350KWhr per month which is not going to be enough to support my new truck. I think in the short run I will just pay the Tier one cost of $.40/KWhr but then add some panels as I see how bad the bill turns out to be. I have the room to add maybe another column of 3 panels on the far end to both sets. Another 6 panels at 300watts would give me ~an extra 270KWhr/month. That translates to a total extra monthly capacity of 500-600KWhr which in turn translates to 1200 miles of driving per month- which is probably about right. The other option is that I could swap out my 250watt panels for something with more capacity. Thoughts?

If you have more room it's probably best to keep your old 250W panels for a while. Probably not much market for them and if they are still working then just add some 330 or even 365 watt panels. You could run your new panels with micro-inverters if they don't match up with your existing panel strings.