Somebody check my math on monthly charging cost?

[Gullwing]

As part of my continued research, I'm trying to estimate how much I'll be spending per month charging based on miles. Here is my calculation, first attempt so not sure if I'm doing this right or not.

~650 miles per month
~2.0 miles per kWh = 325 kwh per month for charging? (looking at a few threads 2.0 seems about average for an ER Lightning)
I pay .15 per kWh for electricity so...

.15 x 325 = 48.75 (round up to $50 to be safe)

Does this look correct?

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[bmwhitetx]

Your 325 kWH is battery kWh. There are charger losses so wall kWh will be higher. I average about 10% higher.

 

[RickLightning]

Yes, but...

- Increase amount by 10% for the losses. So 325 / .9 = 361

- make sure you're including all non-fixed costs for electricity, i.e. anything that is per kWh. I have like 6 lines, all but the $8.50 monthly.

- you may find you can switch to a peak and off-peak plan. We did years ago. Right now, our off-peak is .15 fully loaded except for the monthly fee. Peak is higher. Of course the fixed monthly fee has to be allocated, but not to the vehicles, because we'd pay it regardless.

 

[Zprime29]

That's probably a safe bet. Unless you plan on driving all of those miles at 75mph+ and/or towing something large (bulky) and/or drag racing every mustang you come across, you will likely see a higher efficiency. I'd say the 10% extra in losses that others mentioned is already baked in by your very conservative driving efficiency estimate.

 

[Gullwing]

Thanks all for the sanity check! I would agree with @Zprime29 that I'm probably being a bit conservative since most of my driving would be less than 65mph, but it wouldn't hurt to add a bit of cushion.

And of course, no guarantees on not racing the occasional mustang.

 

[ExCivilian]

I'm probably being a bit conservative

Keep in mind you're likely going to double your monthly mileage once you start enjoying $50/month in "fuel" costs. I've put 14K on my truck after roughly 8 months of ownership...

 

[Zprime29]

Concur with @ExCivilian, I'm at 6 months and 11k miles. The last 7 years I've averaged 15k in a year.

 

[DenverDan]

Keep in mind you're likely going to double your monthly mileage once you start enjoying $50/month in "fuel" costs. I've put 14K on my truck after roughly 8 months of ownership...

Yep, totally agree. I drove 14k over last 8 months as well, use the truck a lot more than my old one which averaged only 8K per year.

 

[The Weatherman]

At that rate per kilowatt hour. And those miles, I’ld say you are pretty close. $60 ought to be about right.

I drive a little less and I am paying .115 per and my bill has moved up about $45-50 a month.

 

[Skidrowe]

Do you have free charging at work? I charge at a 3-6kwh rate for free (technically $4 per month) at work most days. So my realized monthly cost went down significantly when I went from charging at home every 5 days to charging at home 1-2 times per month.

 

[RST]

I keep detailed charging records for my Lightning as well as my wife's ID.4.
Since it's first charge by me, (April 23rd, trip #1 reset to zero)

Miles - 1,913.6
Metered kWh - 728.7 (actual kWh taken from electric meter before & after each charge)
Aver $/kWh - $.1280 (variable rate)
Total Cost - $93.24
Cost/mile - $.049
Miles/kW - 2.63 (from figures above... computer in truck reports 3.1 mi / kWh for this 1913.6 trip)

I drive slow, 2 lane roads, rural, hilly country.

 

[Gullwing]

Do you have free charging at work? I charge at a 3-6kwh rate for free (technically $4 per month) at work most days. So my realized monthly cost went down significantly when I went from charging at home every 5 days to charging at home 1-2 times per month.

I work from home most days so no free charging for me. It does help keep the miles down though.

 

[Blaster]

Also keep in mind winter efficiency will be lower, I got about 1.5 mpk in VT last winter.

 

[sotek2345]

Also keep in mind winter efficiency will be lower, I got about 1.5 mpk in VT last winter.

He is in Virginia though, so the hit shouldn't be as bad. I think his 2.0mpk estimate is about right year round. I am about there for year round usage in upstate NY.

 

[hturnerfamily]

my GA POWER overnight charging costs works out to about $1 per day, with an average of 2,500 miles per month, so far...

BUT.... that does NOT include the Georgia 'EV Road Use Fee' of an additional $200 per year when you register/renewal your tag...
and does not include DC Fast Charging, when traveling, of course.

all that being said, it pales in comparison to any gas or diesel 'truck' that I might have been driving for the same miles... I would hate to know how much that would be : /

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