Cheap Gas is ruining EV debate

[CyberGus]

It was a lot. Now we are getting closer to par.

citation needed


My costs:

• 6¢ per mile for electricity ($500 yearly savings vs. ICE per Tesla App)
• $0 for oil changes
• $0 for transmission fluid and engine coolant
• $0 for belts, filters, and spark plugs
• $80 for 1 windshield wiper lol

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[Cybertruck2024]

citation needed


My costs:

• 6¢ per mile for electricity ($500 yearly savings vs. ICE per Tesla App)
• $0 for oil changes
• $0 for transmission fluid and engine coolant
• $0 for belts, filters, and spark plugs
• $80 for 1 windshield wiper lol

Look at the original post. We don't all live in the same places, electricity costs are much different across this country.

It cost me $5k to install my second Level 2 charger in my garage. If electricity and gas prices are near par, then this install can pretty easily make EVs more expensive over the running cost of a ICE vehicle and it mandates a meaningful upfront payment. Public charger near me is $0.41 per kWh, so not installing home charging would also be more expensive than gas.

I had to get my M3P brakes replaced after 3 years. The Tesla service people said that they've had a lot of angry people because brakes need replacement more regularly than ICE vehicles when you live someplace there is salty roads six months a year. On top of this, energy loss in the cold has double the impact on EV than ICE.

Let us not forget tires wear faster on heavy EVs.

If you live in a nice weather state with cheap electricity, EV is cheaper to run. If you live in the northeast, I am not so sure this is an easy fact.

Source: I am living it. 2021 it was clearly cheaper to run an EV, 2026 it isn't so clear.

 

[DittoDan]

How is that possible to pay more than the Supercharger rate? Peak pricing? Do you have off-peak plans?

yea, our supercharger rates here in Michigan are 0.42 kw, how is he paying 0.44 kw? Off peak here (with all fees and transmission costs) are about 0.16 kw. Peak is 0.29 kw.

 

[TyPope]

Many others on this forum with a CT have seen (and posted) around 0.55 Kwh per mile (550 wh/mi), or as much as 800 to 900 wh/mi but that's often when pulling a trailer. So your reference to 2.2 kwh per mile (2200 wh/mi) simply doesn't add up. There are numerous posts in here where CT owners are getting under 600 to 700 watt hours per mile on road trips, which is only about a third of the 2200 watt hours per mile you are citing.

So show us a image of the trips with wh/mi usage on your CT screen, and then we can compare your screen image with others?

- ÆCIII

I've averaged 385W/mile for just over 30k miles so far. That's 2.59 miles/kwh. I don't tow much though.

EDIT: Forgot the photo. It's a little blurry but you get the gist. Also, I've averaged 380.3 Wh/mi over the 32,034 miles I've driven. That's 2.62 miles/Kwh.

 

[Fugue]

Needing to spend a few thousand dollars to add home charging to then pay par versus gas is not a winning sales pitch to those outside the EV world.

For many people, that could be skipped.

Assuming the average American drives 40 miles per day, and a Model 3 can gain 5 miles per hour on a standard 15A 120V outlet, that's only eight hours of charge time needed. Easy for people with garages.

 

[Cybertruck2024]

For many people, that could be skipped.

Assuming the average American drives 40 miles per day, and a Model 3 can gain 5 miles per hour on a standard 15A 120V outlet, that's only eight hours of charge time needed. Easy for people with garages.

Fair point. Also proof of why this conversation is a challenge, because everyone's costs and usage are so varied.

My last thought on the matter, when I first got my M3P, the Tesla app said I was saving $800 a year versus gas cost. Last year the number went down to $250. The number of miles driven is roughly the same, since it is now my partner's daily driver. Using Tesla's own math, that is a significant reduction. I used to tell people all the time they should buy a Tesla to save on this gas cost, I haven't had that conversation much in the last year.

 

[pricedm]

.13 cents at home in Arizona charging
But 100% free on the road
Thank you Free super charging

What does suck is getting in one of my gas cars and saying crap i need to stop and get gas
what a pain in the ass

So true!

Or when I forget to bring a credit card (Metro Denver has few tap-to-pay gas pumps) and forget to check gas fuel level and have to detour b/c I forgot to get liquefied dinosaurs aka gasoline before embarking on my trip.

 

[Gaximus]

Gas is cheap because of all the EVS, supply and demand. This is a good thing, this is what we wanted. When gas starts to run out, prices will go back up.

 

[EWELON]

also again if youre changing cars every 3 years ICE cars will always be cheaper, and the carbon footprint will always be bigger. the longer you sustainably own and drive an EV, the cheaper it becomes and the cleaner the air becomes.

im only 48 but I went into buying the CT with the naive mindset that it would be the “last car ill ever buy”

 

[CyberGus]

Gas is cheap because of all the EVS, supply and demand. This is a good thing, this is what we wanted. When gas starts to run out, prices will go back up.

Gas will never run out, because we'll be fully electrified long before then

Energy prices fluctuate, to be sure. I never thought that Skynet would end the world not with nukes, but by hogging all the power lol

The good news is that solar+battery is competitive with fossil-fuel plants. The higher electricity prices will spur more supply to meet the demand.

If I lived where power cost north of $0.40/kWh, I'd seriously run the numbers and convince a bank to loan me the money to install a solar farm from Tesla Energy to sell to the grid.

 

[SlegMD]

.06- .08 per kWh at home rate, ultra-off peak and off peak.

Accidentally charged during peak hours a week ago and got a $58 dollar demand charge

$110-125per month for gas (45mpg vehicle),
CT is $40-48 per month

Sadly I have solar at home but I am not home during the day to take advantage of free energy slurp

 

[Gigahorse]

cheap fuel has gotten to the point where I’m now paying more for electricity in Connecticut compared to gas. Never thought gas would be $2.69 a gallon. My utility rate is .44 p/kw which pushed my cost over gas. Just F’ng shocking. I don’t miss gas stations, but the “EV’s are cheaper” argument is out the window!

For the cybertruck specifically there was never a real gas edge.
Similar sized ICE truck costed about the same to gas up vs supercharge unfortunately.
Cheap gas now makes CT more expensive and M3 and MY about the same.

 

[Fugue]

Fair point. Also proof of why this conversation is a challenge, because everyone's costs and usage are so varied.

Agreed. It's silly. At the heart of this debate is comparing two energy markets, which are both unpredictable. Then add use cases, and you can really get into the weeds before getting to the elephant in the room, which is personal preference.

I talk to lots of truck guys who simply don't like EVs and won't consider them, regardless of total cost of ownership. I prefer EVs. A gas equivalent Cybertruck would have to be free for me to consider it, and even then I wouldn't be happy about the maintenance and trips to get gas.

What does suck is getting in one of my gas cars and saying crap i need to stop and get gas
what a pain in the ass

See, that's what I'm talking about!

 

[HighTechJoe]

I just got a CT because I was so sick of the hassle of gassing up constantly, plus oil changes and other maintenance. Prices are only a small part of it for me. It helps that I've got a large solar array. I calculate my costs at my export rate of $.04 per kWh.

 

[Gaximus]

Gas will never run out, because we'll be fully electrified long before then

Energy prices fluctuate, to be sure. I never thought that Skynet would end the world not with nukes, but by hogging all the power lol

The good news is that solar+battery is competitive with fossil-fuel plants. The higher electricity prices will spur more supply to meet the demand.

If I lived where power cost north of $0.40/kWh, I'd seriously run the numbers and convince a bank to loan me the money to install a solar farm from Tesla Energy to sell to the grid.

I don't think we will run out. But we will get low, and the prices will spike, giving us that "final push".

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