How to Figure Cost to Charge VS. Gas Mileage

[EaglesPDX]

Paying to charge (not at home) on the go is usually as bad as gas or worse.

On the road is still cheaper at $0.31 per kWh. Depends on vehicles efficiency and mpg of ICE comparison. Model 3 is 4 miles per kWh so charging for 250 miles at $0.31 per kWh for 62 kWh, $19.38., $0.08 per mile. Subaru at 32 mph and $4.00 gas would be $0.125 a mile

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[Zyvin]

Once EVs start to make a dent. Federal, state and local govt will start taxing electricity/chargers/EV ownership more to make up for all the lost revenue of gas taxes. In 10 years, it will probably be just as expensive.

I don’t know why they don’t just have interchangeable batteries. Take my dead one out, pop in fresh one. Who owns a battery powered tool, with only 1 battery? Idiots, that’s who lol.

 

[beatle]

The labor to replace a 2012-2021 Model S battery is pretty small. It was designed to be interchangeable but the idea never took off. The batteries are incredibly heavy and require very precise alignment which makes it a real challenge to replace without a lift.

In Virginia, people already pay the equivalent tax of 336.64 gallons of gas when they register an EV. ($88.20 highway use fee.) This is an annual tax.

For the OP, add a kwh or two each day to account for phantom drain. It remains to be seen what the phantom drain of the F150 is, but on my Model S I burn through 1.5 - 2 kwh each day just sitting around, and that's without sentry mode or cabin overheat protection on. That's over $6/mo for doing nothing.

That said, over the past 29 months of ownership I have charged for free at work, shopping centers, and family members' homes to the tune of $260.17 worth of electricity. Not too shabby!

 

[Yellow Buddy]

I’m having trouble relating electric to ICE MPG. It looks like from the miles I log a year, the Lightning could really be a savings for me in fuel costs, but I’m not certain what my electric will cost to charge the Lightning.
I’ll only consider the extended range, and talking to two friends who own Tesla cars, they say I’ll likely pay about $100 a month to charge. That’s a BIG difference over the $500+ I spend in fuel now, and would leave me with enough money to pay for over 2/3 of my truck payment.
But, how can I be certain, or guesstimate relatively close, what to expect? Does anybody have pointers, or links to some calculators that Geils accurate results?
Thanks!

https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbsSelect

1) Select the vehicle you currently own as the first car to compare.
2) Select the Ford Lightning (when available)
3) Select an alternate vehicle for now (ie, Rivian R1T / Tesla Model X, etc.) for rough estimates
4) Click Compare
5) Scroll down, and click the "Personalize" link
6) Complete the form. # of miles driven, cost you pay for fuel, electric, etc. Be sure to click "Other types of fuels" to enter the electrical rate you pay.

Note: The key is going to be % you drive in stop and go traffic. Estimate your percentage and then adjust until your current vehicle matches your current mpg consumption. This will ensure your electrical usage is going to be as accurate as possible.

7) Click "Personalize" to view your results. On the very bottom there's an annualized fuel cost.

It'll be more accurate when the Lightning is actually rated.

 

[dirtdiver]

If you are home charging, look at your current electric bill. Take total kWh used and divide the bill by the kWh for $/kWh. Should be around $0.15 per kWh.

Assuming 120kWh battery, 300 mile range, 2.5 miles per kWh and figure out your kWh used a month times the per kWh cost.

In san Diego the cheapest electricity for the users that use the lowest their is .24$/KWhr. wha a rip off.

 

[dirtdiver]

For me here in San Diego. 2mi/KWhr at $.24/kwhr= $.12/mile driven. Gas was at $5/gal at 20mpg =$.25/mile for gas.

So, if you ignore higher insurance costs and ignore the higher registrations cost for EV then it is about half the cost to drive EV per mile.

 

[hturnerfamily]

just like a gas vehicle, the vehicle itself is going to have it's own 'mpg', or in the case of EVs, 'mpk'(miles per kwh of charge) 'average' effeciency - but, neither of those are perfect, as just in the case of gas vehicles, WHERE you pay for fuel at any given time will effect your actual COST per mile, even though the vehicle's effeciency has not changed. We often use the term 'average cost per gallon' to try to attain some type of mpg overall operating cost figure, but it's not a perfect world, we are only 'guessing' at the number since we don't always really know what the per-gallon price will actually be at any given time, or trip.
We can certainly put pen-to-paper for our last 'trip' and use those numbers as a benchmark, but even then, is where we purchased fuel the same locations and price we would be able to buy on a regular basis, or is the driving style/type/speed/wind/weather/traffic/miles the SAME every time? NO. It's not a perfect equation.

With EVs, you have a similar problem, but you probably have more of a 'normal' rate at which you pay for that power, if we are talking about what you pay at your HOME, where the majority of your power to the vehicle happens. Having said that, some will have differeing rates at differing times of the day, or maybe even different seasons of the year. If you can use only your home's charging rate, per KWH, for your equation, it certainly will be easier and more effective that we've ever had with doing the same with gas vehicles. I would assume that electric rates don't change NEAR as often as gas station fuel prices.
As for EV 'mpk' while traveling away from the home's charger, that's a WHOLE different story. Like gas station pricing, and unless you have an app or account that tells you the KWH or Minute-of-use charges, so you can plan ahead of time, WHERE you plug in is going to make a big difference in the outcome of travel mpk cost. A GeorgiaPower ChargePoint or Walmart ElectrifyAmerica DC Fast charger might be 32cents per KWH, not including any extra fees or costs, which might equate to 3 or more times the cost to charge at home. Hopefully that's not a big part of the overall annual cost of charging, but it's certainly going to be a part of most an EV over it's lifetime.

If my GeorgiaPower utility cost is roughly 10cents per kilowatt hour, then I can certainly know what my overnight charging cost is, as an equation, for normal everyday usage, with an average of 50 miles per day - if I know the KWH of power that it takes to drive that distance(or to refill power for that distance), and considering the differences in weather/wind/traffic/speed, etc. on a daily basis. It might equate to $1.25, or it might be $1.52, for instance... but it's not an exact science, for sure.

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