Cheap Gas is ruining EV debate

[Jhodgesatmb]

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!

Sad but true. It takes a lot of electricity to create gasoline, so big oil is being subsidized, and the utilities are gouging. I heard that all this usage of electricity for data centers is pushing prices up. But I do not know how much truth there is to that.

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[Qixer01]

No, 1 gal of gas is not equivalent to 33.7 kWh

You mean the EPA, and internet lied?

 

[ÆCIII]

You mean the EPA, and internet lied?

Absolutely! Energy measured in a lab for heat produced, does in no way equate to energy that reaches a vehicles wheels in turning force through an inefficient and heavy drive train.

If you focus on deceptive narratives instead of what's reaching the wheels and moving the vehicle a certain distance, you will always be misled.

Focus on results and what the travel actually costs per mile in each type of vehicle. Mincing narratives isn't going to fool anybody except for the most inept sheep who are too lazy or impatient to do honest testing or thorough research.

- ÆCIII

 

[resellpanda88]

Gas is only cheaper when a Republican is in office. Wait till next term when Democrats are in the seat and the price will go back to $3.99+ per gallon.

 

[ecotrials]

1 gal of gas is equivalent to 33.7 kWh. with electricity costing $.10 per kilowatt. That’s still $3.37 a gal equivalent. With this math EV fuel is more expensive. So the CT only has roughly a three gallon fuel tank.

Assuming your numbers are correct that means the CT gets around 72 mpg (assuming CT utilizes 65% of available of the 123kWh total battery capacity 8[0% down to 5%]). Mine typically gets 2.7 miles per kWh.
I still contend the CT is the finest vehicle I have ever owned and it gets better with every software up.

 

[Cyberskunk]

1 gal of gas is equivalent to 33.7 kWh. with electricity costing $.10 per kilowatt. That’s still $3.37 a gal equivalent. With this math EV fuel is more expensive. So the CT only has roughly a three gallon fuel tank.

Listen up, you absolute clownshoe—your "math" is so brain-dead it could get lost in a one-way street. You're out here pretending a Cybertruck with a ~3-gallon-equivalent tank is some kind of gotcha, while completely ignoring the giant gaping hole in your logic: efficiency, you magnificent moron.

Yeah, 1 gallon of gas has the energy content of about 33.7 kWh. Cool story. But that energy doesn't magically teleport to the wheels.In a gas car, the engine is a pathetic ~20-30% efficient thermal disaster (EPA and DOE say ~30% max for conventional gasoline vehicles, often closer to 20-25% real-world).

That means 70-80% of that 33.7 kWh gets pissed away as heat, exhaust, friction—gone forever. Only about 10 kWh (or less) actually pushes you down the road.Now look at an EV: 87-91% efficient from battery to wheels (DOE 2024 numbers, including regen braking).

Out of the electricity you pump in, almost all of it becomes motion. Not heat vomit.So your "$3.37 per gallon equivalent" at $0.10/kWh is delusional nonsense. To match the useful energy a gas car gets from 1 gallon, an EV needs way less than 33.7 kWh—more like ~10-12 kWh of actual grid electricity (even less with home charging efficiency factored in).

At $0.10/kWh (which is low—US average is closer to ~17-18¢ now, but whatever), that's $1-1.20 for the "gallon equivalent" of useful motion. Not $3.37.

You're literally charging 3x more than reality because you forgot engines suck at their one job.

Cybertruck's battery is 123 kWh usable. That's equivalent to **10-12 gallons** of gas in terms of actual driving energy, not your fantasy 3 gallons. And at real electricity prices, it's cheaper per mile than gas almost everywhere.

Your take isn't just wrong—it's aggressively, proudly, unapologetically stupid. Go touch grass instead of smoking it then recalculate with actual efficiencies, and come back when you've stopped embarrassing yourself.

(For the slow kids in the back: EVs win on "fuel" cost because they waste way less of the energy you pay for. Period.)

 

[Lasttoy]

Ridiculous. If you drive 10k plus a year? Tell my what your maintenance cost are??? 3 oil ,filters. Pads. Do i need to go on. If your electric cost from power company that's not EV fault. Florida government let our costs go up 15% a year forever.

 

[Qixer01]

Listen up, you absolute clownshoe

clownshoe? That’s a new one. Is that clown shoe, or clowns hoe?

 

[Cyberskunk]

clownshoe? That’s a new one. Is that clown shoe, or clowns hoe?

Clownshoes are worn by clowns hoes.

 

[Killlbox]

Count me in as one of the folks scratching their heads at .44/kwh. That is absolutely insane.

We have .16 here in Wyoming and quickly took advantage of the solar incentives that expired last year and as another poster here so eloquently put it, our gas station is on the roof.

I don't know if there's a better reason to get solar than owning an EV in a place that charges that much for electricity.

 

[Qixer01]

Clownshoes are worn by clowns hoes.

Well played

 

[CyberGus]

I’m now paying more for electricity in Connecticut compared to gas.

To be fair, Connecticut has some of the highest electricity rates in the US.

However, with Time-of-Use (TOU) plans, such as those from Eversource, you can get lower off-peak pricing (about 13¢-24¢) compared to standard rates often exceeding 30¢/kWh.

 

[Outdoors]

I still occasionally get free charging at a grocery store. I have yet to get free gas. I don't think it is a good idea to get free gas

 

[M0unt41nm4n]

Interesting discussion. My math works as follows...

I am measuring this against a Ford F350 that takes diesel and gets 20 mpg on the high side. So I will use the 20 mpg as my personal standard.

My CT gets about 2.2 miles per Kwh.

So 20 miles per gallon / 2.2 miles per Kwh = 9.0909 Kwh/Gallon factor for equivalency with my Ford MPG.

Currently, diesel is $3.30/gallon in my neck of the woods. So my break even for diesel is $3.30/9.0909 =$0.36/kwh. That is more or less what the local Tesla Super Chargers are priced in at around my local area. Therefore if I always charge at my local Superchargers, I would break even with current diesel prices.

However, I am lucky where my home electric rate is .125/Kwh (not including tax and fees). Using that number, my equivalent fuel price is .125 * 9.0909 =$1.136/Gallon. Pretty good where I live and a significant savings over diesel. Throw in savings on oil changes (Thats about $100-$150 for diesel, flushes, etc) I am saving a crap ton.

Now, if I had to charge at Electrify America chargers all the time, that equivalent would be $5.90/Gallon (using their new .65/Kwh). I would choke on that.

That said, once we bomb Iran, expect those EV numbers to look a lot better for many who live in pricey electric areas. Watch those gas prices go though the roof.

Update: Above I said 2.2Kwh/mile. I meant 2.2 miles per KWh. The math is based on that and this post has been updated to reflect that. Outcome is the same as that was what was meant.

 

[ÆCIII]

Interesting discussion. My math works as follows...

I am measuring this against a Ford F350 that takes diesel and gets 20 mpg on the high side. So I will use the 20 mpg as my personal standard.

My CT gets about 2.2 kwh per mile.

So 20 miles/2.2 Kwh =9.0909 factor for equivalency with my Ford MPG.

Currently, diesel is $3.30/gallon in my neck of the woods. So my break even for diesel is $3.30/9.0909 =$0.36/kwh. That is more or less what the local Tesla Super Chargers are priced in at around my local area. Therefore if I always charge at my local Superchargers, I would break even with current diesel prices.

However, I am lucky where my home electric rate is .125/Kwh (not including tax and fees). Using that number, my equivalent fuel price is .125 * 9.0909 =$1.136/Gallon. Pretty good where I live and a significant savings over diesel. Throw in savings on oil changes (Thats about $100-$150 for diesel, flushes, etc) I am saving a crap ton.

Now, if I had to charge at Electrify America chargers all the time, that equivalent would be $5.90/Gallon (using their new .65/Kwh). I would choke on that.

That said, once we bomb Iran, expect those EV numbers to look a lot better for many who live in pricey electric areas. Watch those gas prices go though the roof.

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

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