The cost of driving an EV?

Crissa

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Miles per kiloWatt-hour (mpWh) 2.85
Cost per kiloWatt-hour (cost) 17¢

(cost/mpWh) 0.17/2.85=6¢ per mile

Miles per gallon (mpg) 17
Cost per gallon (cost) $4.79

(cost/mpg) 4.79/17=28¢ per mile before oil/transmission/coolant maintenance

-Crissa
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Throwcomputer

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Miles per kiloWatt-hour (mpWh) 2.85
Cost per kiloWatt-hour (cost) 17¢

(cost/mpWh) 0.17/2.85=6¢ per mile

Miles per gallon (mpg) 17
Cost per gallon (cost) $4.79

(cost/mpg) 4.79/17=28¢ per mile before oil/transmission/coolant maintenance

-Crissa
More accurate than my dividing the real mileage per year by the estimated max range per charge to figure out the approximate number of charge ups per actual total mileage. Which gave me a general comparison of cost for tank of gas ($50) vs cost of charge up ($10-15).

Now I'm more looking like a $1,500-2,100/year saving vs my original estimate of $1,200/yr depending on total mileage. Especially when that driving can really be weighted towards less total mileage but predominantly city driving, and everyone seems to be suggesting the ct range should be better with lower speed stop and go mileage, which is the inverse efficiency of an ice truck.
 
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ajdelange

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You will find city driving a little more expensive than suburban but highway driving more expensive than either. The sweet spot is average speed of 45 - 50 mph. Efficiency is lower in city driving because of frequent starts and stops and although regen recaptures much of the energy wasted in those it doesn't recover it all. OTOH on the freeway drag (whose consumption per mi increases with the square of the speed) begins to emerge as the dominant load.
 

Crissa

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Yes, EVs don't waste any energy with engine idle, spin up, or engine cooling. So sitting in traffic only costs you cabin comforts which is only a few watts.

High speed, on the other hand, incurs a high aerodynamic drag.

So the sweet spot for mileage per energy unit tends to be at a lower speed. City driving can get a 50-100% better range than highway.

-Crissa
 

Ogre

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So the sweet spot for mileage per energy unit tends to be at a lower speed. City driving can get a 50-100% better range than highway.
Which is kind of infuriating in a way because it leads to entirely misleading range numbers. I get *how* the range is set. But I wish they shipped with dual ranges the way ICE vehicles do. The sticker would probably read something like this for the Model Y:

Range
City: 326 miles
Highway: 220 miles

The only way I can see hitting that 320+ number is if I ran a taxi or delivery service and spent the whole day driving around the city and suburbs.

My Subaru on the other hand I can consistently hit its max range simply by driving like a grandma.

This is the single biggest frustration buying the Model Y. Super happy we didn't buy the Model Y SR which was available when we bought our MY. We'd have been very frustrated. This is also why I upgraded to the tri-motor truck.
 


Throwcomputer

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Which is kind of infuriating in a way because it leads to entirely misleading range numbers. I get *how* the range is set. But I wish they shipped with dual ranges the way ICE vehicles do. The sticker would probably read something like this for the Model Y:

Range
City: 326 miles
Highway: 220 miles

The only way I can see hitting that 320+ number is if I ran a taxi or delivery service and spent the whole day driving around the city and suburbs.

My Subaru on the other hand I can consistently hit its max range simply by driving like a grandma.

This is the single biggest frustration buying the Model Y. Super happy we didn't buy the Model Y SR which was available when we bought our MY. We'd have been very frustrated. This is also why I upgraded to the tri-motor truck.
Well for once it finally pays to be a city dweller. My whole life has been frustrating looking at my city mpg in relation to others highway mpg.

Shoe is on the other foot finally. Get used to it! :)
 

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Well for once it finally pays to be a city dweller. My whole life has been frustrating looking at my city mpg in relation to others highway mpg.

Shoe is on the other foot finally. Get used to it! :)
Well the CT isn't exactly a city friendly vehicle in any other way so enjoy that part anyhow!

Once I get my Cybertruck to take care of my road trips and cycling habit, I might consider selling my Model Y and getting an Aptera or an Arcimoto for the city driving I do. I wish the federal subsidy extended to the Arcimoto... that would make it nearly free.
 

ajdelange

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You will see some pretty crazy stuff posted here (It IS the internet after all) so I often like to put some real data out there for people to consider. Here is a plot of actual consumption vs. trip length. I do this because I observed early on that longer trips (which are clearly done out of the city) are more efficient than shorter ones (in the city). I gave the reasons in my last post.
Tesla Cybertruck The cost of driving an EV? Consum


There are three things to be taken from this data. The first is that out of the 13 short trips three showed consumption better than the rated consumption (shown by the solid black line), two showed consumption right at the rated consumption and the other 8 consumption worse than the rated consumption. For the longer range trips (which are, obviously done on highways) the consumption is larger but not by that much. The worst trip on the graph represents perhaps 10% higher consumption and thus about a 9% loss in range. The caveat that goes with this is that none of these trips involved exceeding an 80 mph speed limit by 10 mph. If you drive these cars at 90 mph you will get into some real consumption increases and significant range losses. Other aspects of your driving style reflect on this too. If you can't resist goosing it out of every stop sign and traffic light (and that is hard to do) you will go through tyres pretty quickly and they aren't cheap. The third, and perhaps most significant thing shown here is that YMMV. Hills, weather conditions etc. can cause considerable variation so the observation that in city and on freeway will cost you a bit but not much must be interpreted as trends, not forecasts.
 

Diehard

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What do you guys think is efficiency difference between CT and M3 at 40 mph hilly roads with traffic lights? Basically if they drive the same way side by side for 100 miles, what do you think is the energy use for each? I am guessing the tires and efficiency of how regen works would be mainly where the difference comes from and drag difference should be minimal. What do you think?
 

ajdelange

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Well for once it finally pays to be a city dweller. My whole life has been frustrating looking at my city mpg in relation to others highway mpg.
As shown it isn't going to help you. It is in fact going to cost you a little but not much. You are still way better off than ICE drivers!
 


ajdelange

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What do you guys think is efficiency difference between CT and M3 at 40 mph hilly roads with traffic lights? Basically if they drive the same way side by side for 100 miles, what do you think is the energy use for each? I am guessing the tires and efficiency of how regen works would be mainly where the difference comes from and drag difference should be minimal. What do you think?
I don't know what the rated consumption for the 3 is so I'll have to WAG it at 240 Wh/mi. I don't know what the CT's consumption is either but it is thought that it will be around 450 Wh/mi. Thus for a 100 mile trip on level road I'd guess the 3 would use 24 kWh and the CT 45 kWh.
 

Diehard

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I don't know what the rated consumption for the 3 is so I'll have to WAG it at 240 Wh/mi. I don't know what the CT's consumption is either but it is thought that it will be around 450 Wh/mi. Thus for a 100 mile trip on level road I'd guess the 3 would use 24 kWh and the CT 45 kWh.
Ouch, I didn't think I would take that much of a hit driving slow in the back roads. I am sure I will see real world numbers by the time it is my turn.
 

Crissa

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That's exactly why for motorcycles you see this:

Tesla Cybertruck The cost of driving an EV? D4E28FE2-A282-4C7D-8CF2-DCFAF35C3111


-Crissa

PS, Adje's numbers are meaningless distraction. You need to know the mix of driving speeds and loads, the pedal style, etc. The overall distance of the trip tells us none of this. All they tell us is that his drives share about the same mix of slow/fast/weighted driving, or at least a mix that cancels it all out.

I have more variance in range driving my Mazda 3 than his trips show in his X.
 
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Throwcomputer

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Well the CT isn't exactly a city friendly vehicle in any other way so enjoy that part anyhow!
A few other benefits for city ct owners...

1.)Armored vehicle prevents casual damage from parking where everyone and their mother nudges you as they get into and out of their spots. They can keep their bumper diapers... My steel truck will do worse damage to them.

2.) Not so unique to ct, but definitely aided by it's armored appearance... Bigger vehicle always wins. People gtf out of your way when you drive a large truck with lots of cosmetic damage. Even more so when you drive a larger truck that looks like a tank.

3.) Parking assisted crab mode.
 

Ogre

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A few other benefits for city ct owners...

1.)Armored vehicle prevents casual damage from parking where everyone and their mother nudges you as they get into and out of their spots. They can keep their bumper diapers... My steel truck will do worse damage to them.
(y)

2.) Not so unique to ct, but definitely aided by it's armored appearance... Bigger vehicle always wins. People gtf out of your way when you drive a large truck with lots of cosmetic damage. Even more so when you drive a larger truck that looks like a tank.
This is balanced by the fact that small cars are more nimble. An armored mini-tank would be the best of both worlds here.

3.) Parking assisted crab mode.
This is a good news/ bad news thing. Smaller cars don't need rear wheel steering to get in and out of spaces.

But also brings up a big negative of driving a mega-truck (of any flavor, Ford/ Dodge/ GM started this mess). It's tough to park a mega truck in the city without being a bit of a jerk.
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