How much does it cost per mile to drive your EV?

[FlyingVan]

This question is more or less directed to current owners of EVs. I am not focusing on other aspects of an EV, like power, acceleration, range, etc., but purely on a cost of 'fuel' per mile driven.

I own a 2016 Prius that gets about 65 miles to a gallon of gas. In my area right now gas is under $3 a gallon, so rounding it to 60 mpg and $3 a gallon, my Prius costs me 5 cents a mile.

I compared this to a Chevy Bolt that I was interested in buying. From the numbers I can find online, owners of this vehicle report around 4.5 miles per kWh. Electricity at my house costs around 11 cents per kWh. If I owned this vehicle and charged at home it would cost me about 2.5 cents per mile in 'fuel', so about half of what the Prius costs.

However, prices at public charging stations range from 30 to as high as 50 cents per kWh according to what I can find online. Is this what you are experiencing? If this is correct, if I charged my EV at public chargers, it would cost me way more per mile than driving my Prius. The break even for me would be about 23 cents per kWh where it would cost the same to drive my Prius or a Chevy Bolt. Anything over 23 cents per kWh would cost more to drive the EV.

Anybody keeps track of what it costs to drive your EV per mile? Am I correct in my calculations? It seems that if you charge at home it is worth to own an EV, otherwise an EV is more expensive to operate.

 

[Jetronic]

It's the calculation I made to decide if electric or PHEV would be worth it for me. It isn't. I would also add, you want to break even and get into the black before the vehicle reaches 10 years, as the chances of expensive repairs go up (ideally a battery vehicle is gone by then). I couldn't break even, even with tax credits....

 

[Astro14]

Fuel cost per mile is interesting.

To make the decision, though, I would want to know:

• “Fuel” cost/ mile
• Wear rate on other components - the other cost/mile
• Scheduled maintenance cost
• Unscheduled/repair cost
• Insurance cost
• Depreciation

 

[demarpaint]

Fuel cost per mile is interesting.

To make the decision, though, I would want to know:

• “Fuel” cost/ mile
• Wear rate on other components - the other cost/mile
• Scheduled maintenance cost
• Unscheduled/repair cost
• Insurance cost
• Depreciation

I'd also add in upgrades to house, if needed, to charge at home. People sometimes lie to themselves to justify costs, etc. FTR this applies to any and all purchases.

 

[Ws6]

I drove 26k miles this year. My cumulative mile average is 2.9 per kwh. My kwh, delivered, is 12 cents, not counting what my solar generates (11.4kw system). This equates to a total energy usage of 8,965.5kwh at a cost of $1075.86. This implies 100% charging efficiency, however, which we know is not reality. I believe 90% efficiency grid-to-battery is a rough estimate, so we end up with a total cost of $1183.44/26,000=4.5 pennies per mile. In a low 11 second awd daily driver that comfortably seats 4 and some luggage.

My setup cost was $400 to wire the garage and $400 for the charger.

I would say this car eats tires, but Im getting the same tire life from it as my other performance non-EVs in the past, so I can't really claim that.

So far in 26k miles it has needed zero PM items aside wiper fluid and balance and rotate, which is a wash with a gas car, but has not needed any oil changes or air filter changes, which is a benefit in cost.

My insurance has gone up $40/mo, but some of that is just normal increase in the current economy. Id say its $20/mo more vs my Acura RDX if we remove the inflation factor.

I pay $120/year tax for owning an EV in my state.


Comparison, my acura rdx got 24.2mpg cumulative, and with 91 octane selling for $2.9/gal, that is $3115/year. Plus oil changes ($80) and diff fluid change ($175).

Overall, driving a 576hp EV has saved me $2-2500 this year vs my Acura RDX, minus the startup cost $800 for infrastructure, which wont factor next year.

 

[MrHorspwer]

It seems that if you charge at home it is worth to own an EV, otherwise an EV is more expensive to operate.

To create an analogy:

It's cheaper to prepare food at home than it is to go out to a restaurant.

If you don't have a kitchen to prepare food, eating is going to be expensive.

 

[John105]

I'd also add in upgrades to house, if needed, to charge at home. People sometimes lie to themselves to justify costs, etc. FTR this applies to any and all purchases.

The very strange thing is if we get a cool car like a BMW M3, or a something that we "really" wanted, we don't tell ourselves or others that there is some sort of financial benefit or justification. We openly admit we're wasting money, that marginal benefit is not more than marginal cost, but that we always wanted such a car and we love it. Why not just do that with an EV? Admit that a person simply wanted it. In both cases? The individual has disposable income that they are willing to part with, to get what they want. my .02

 

[demarpaint]

The very strange thing is if we get a cool car like a BMW M3, or a something that we "really" wanted, we don't tell ourselves or others that there is some sort of financial benefit or justification. We openly admit we're wasting money, that marginal benefit is not more than marginal cost, but that we always wanted such a car and we love it. Why not just do that with an EV? Admit that a person simply wanted it. In both cases? The individual has disposable income that they are willing to part with, to get what they want. my .02

I agree 100%, and as I alluded to earlier I am guilty too some might say. FTR I plan on buying within the next year, possibly sooner either a 2024 Jeep JLUR X, or a 2025. For no other reason than I want one. Wasteful, certainly, I don't care. Justification: I'm getting old. FTR it will be the X, not the xe. It could be the last new ICE vehicle I buy.

 

[RhondaHonda]

My costs for the Model Y are basically the same as @Ws6. I’ve only driven 11,513 miles but used 4,004 kWh according to the app. Figure a similar 90% efficiency and I’m at 4.6 cents per mile at my delivered $0.12/kWh.

It’s substantially cheaper to drive than the Raptor and Corvette I had before but not the only reason I bought it. My insurance cost is also up some too, $40-50 if I had to guess when comparing to the increases seen on the Suburban.

I do not drive it like you drive that Prius to get 65 mpg either.

 

[ME_Andy]

We have a Chevy Bolt and your numbers for 4.5mi/kWh are right on. It's very cheap to drive and pretty fun, too.

 

[Cujet]

It bears repeating, there is no way the 11c per kWh is what drives the wheels. Not even close.

1) The power purchased is up to 30% more than what comes out of the battery (and displayed on the dash) due to inefficiencies.
2) The power purchased is not 11c per kWh. Take the total electric bill and divide it by the kWh consumed. With taxes, fees, charges, and variable rates, the power is much more likely to be 20 to 22c per kWh.
3) Many municipalities use two tier pricing, 11c up to 1000kWh, 18c above that. An EV drives the bill into the 2nd tier.
4) HOWEVER, FPL has a BARGAIN, if you pay them to install a separate EV charger, $30/mo + tax fees etc, unlimited charging. 4c/mi at 1000 miles per month.

 

[barryh]

Reading the miles/KWh display in your car is like reading the MPG display in an ICE cat i.e. it's not accurate and in the the case of the EV it's considerably less accurate than the ICE.

From what I've read 10% charging losses is a bit optimistic.

You have charging cable losses
Losses in the charger itself.
Battery charging losses (Coulombic efficiency which varies with charging rate)
Battery temperature management

When it's all taken into account you are doing well to better 15% losses.

Tesla have some data they actually admit to which I expect would be the very minimum losses you are likely to see:

Using the 2021 Tesla Model Y as an example, Tesla's own data—buried deep in 49 pages of certification documents filed with the EPA—shows it took 87.868 kWh to add 77.702 kWh to the battery of the Long Range version. That's a 13 percent overage. For the Model Y Performance version, adding 81.052 kWh to the battery required 92.213 kWh, or 14 percent more

 

[RhondaHonda]

2) The power purchased is not 11c per kWh. Take the total electric bill and divide it by the kWh consumed. With taxes, fees, charges, and variable rates, the power is much more likely to be 20 to 22c per kWh.

I came up with the 12 cents by dividing my total bill for 2022 by total kWh used. I’ll do the same for 2023 but I’m positive it’s within a couple cents. Delivered price after all costs, taxes and rates is what I use.

For reference last month was 9.5 cents per kWh delivered.

 

[y_p_w]

Haven’t really thought about it. But the cost of electricity is obviously the key. Right now in our part of California, PG&E electricity for the “EV2” plan is about 27 cents/kWh. It does get tricky in that the entire home goes to that plan, but peak rates are 4-8 PM. But there are savings from the off peak rate from 12 AM to 3 PM for the entire house too, so it

However, I could compare that to the municipal utility I once used, which has time of use or tiered rates where the maximum tier is about 16 cents today. And that’s not an EV plan.

So with a Tesla Model 3 RWD with an official rating of 100 miles/25 kWh (which is pretty accurate in our climate) that’s about $6.75 per 100 miles, but there could be some wiggle room for assorted stuff including that it’s my father’s car and he prefers to drive it in creep mode which by its nature means less recapture by regenerative braking. The primary car they were driving before was getting maybe 18 MPG and the cheapest gas around here right now is about $4/gallon. So the electricity is clearly cheaper. Even at the max Supercharger rates around here it would be cheaper. But my dad hates going to gas stations and the times were we’re using Superchargers he seemed kind of annoyed. For him, the convenience of charging at home overnight is one of the key benefits.

A relative is getting a Kia EV6 and we were talking about it over dinner. She lives in a condo with only a few units and the only current electricity in a shared garage is on a shared meter among the homeowners. It’s mostly to operate the garage door openers/lights and perhaps they could justify small stuff like a 12V battery charger. So plugging in a Level 1 charger is going to ruffle some feathers and she can’t just use an extension cord from her unit. She says she might get an electrician to install a 240V outlet connected to her meter, which the other owners can’t stop her from doing by law and where they weren’t concerned anyways. But she doesn’t have anything now and doesn’t really know much about NEMA plug types other than she’d like something she could take on the road. But her key now is that her current employer has free EV charging at work and she can obviously find other charging options. So what she has now is either free or more than what home electricity would cost. I’m not sure if she quite got it, because she was asking about possibly coming over to charge in my parents’ garage in a pinch knowing they have a Tesla. I know Kia is moving to NACS, but not with current deliveries. I wonder if they come with an NACS adapter now. But for now I gave her some suggestions for a mobile J1772 charger, and I think she’ll get one that she might be able to use when visiting her parents. But right now the juice is likely going to be free.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Regarding the fuel cost, I would ask you consider the following:
Can you charge at home? If so, what are the electricity rates? Do you have 240v available? If you don't drive much, 110v may be acceptable but I wouldn't do it. A 240v circuit could cost $100 to $10K depending on your circumstance.

If you can charge at work, that's a nice perk. Oftentimes subsidized by your employer. I do know of people who charge at work and use 110v at home, but again I wouldn't count on that.

If you rely on Superchargers, the cost sky rockets. What's the availability in your area? And then there's the cost of your time. Please note there are times and places where there are lines for chargers; this is far worse than lines for gas at Costco... I wouldn't own an EV if I couldn't charge at home.

My case is about as good as it gets. I installed solar panels for the house; charging the car serves to maximize the benefit of the solar project investment. The additional cost of electricity cannot be more than $10 per month; probably less. But I did have a 240v circuit installed for $600 all in and later a Tesla Wall Charger for about $600 more, all in.

I do not drive the Model 3 more than about 250 miles in one day, and that is probably 2 times per month. I top off at a Supercharger for $5 to $10 if necessary. I have learned to not worry about it.

So in a nutshell, the cost of electricity in my case is $20 per month max, but my case is about as good as it gets. The beauty of an EV can be starting every day with a full tank; beats the snot outta gas stations. But that assumes requisite charging capability and driving use.

One more point: The #1 reason EV owners go back to ICE is charging issues. You are asking the right questions.

 

[alarmguy]

It bears repeating, there is no way the 11c per kWh is what drives the wheels. Not even close.

1) The power purchased is up to 30% more than what comes out of the battery (and displayed on the dash) due to inefficiencies.
2) The power purchased is not 11c per kWh. Take the total electric bill and divide it by the kWh consumed. With taxes, fees, charges, and variable rates, the power is much more likely to be 20 to 22c per kWh.
3) Many municipalities use two tier pricing, 11c up to 1000kWh, 18c above that. An EV drives the bill into the 2nd tier.
4) HOWEVER, FPL has a BARGAIN, if you pay them to install a separate EV charger, $30/mo + tax fees etc, unlimited charging. 4c/mi at 1000 miles per month.

You make an excellent point and a good reminder to many that inefficiencies to charging the battery and also any charger inefficiencies (heat in both cases) result in losses of actual energy that people are not calculating into the equation.

Correct me if I am wrong, you would need the actual electric meter reading in kWh at the source (house, charge point) record how much electricity you used charging the vehicle and then record how many miles that you traveled. Taking a reading in the EV dashboard only tells you how much electricity the vehicle used not the waste that was created.

Ok one point I know you live in Florida there are many less expensive places where electricity is much cheaper than your assumptions as you used more electricity the tire cost goes down. I suspect the OP in TN is one of those, as I was in SC and now I am in NC

Our electric is a fixed 10 cents kWh 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and our "service charges" are also fixed in the same way. So our base cost is always $29.75 and only additional variable is minor stuff, coal ash management at .00333 per kWh and maybe not as minor sales tax of 6.75%
Anyway any additional electricity I use starts bringing down my cost further. Since we are still new in this home I am trying to figure out averages I suspect we will average annually 800 kWh a month which is around 15 cents total cost for electricity but that cost goes down much further if we had an EV since all the costs are fixed at 10 cent kWh and 6.75% sales tax.

Frustrating, out of the few times I want to do a screen shot of my bills, the utility website isnt working. This is a photo of my Sept 2023 bill. I suspect this amount will be average for the year. New home incredibly energy efficient.

Anyway, all costs are fixed except the sales tax and actual electricity used at 10 cents kWh

 

[alarmguy]

I came up with the 12 cents by dividing my total bill for 2022 by total kWh used. I’ll do the same for 2023 but I’m positive it’s within a couple cents. Delivered price after all costs, taxes and rates is what I use.

For reference last month was 9.5 cents per kWh delivered. View attachment 202777

You dont have sales tax on your electricity there?

 

[RhondaHonda]

You dont have sales tax on your electricity there?

We do, it was $7.42 of that total.

Just did all of 2023. Total all in cost was 12.8 cents per kWH. I used 22,173 kWH and spent $2,837.13 on electricity.

The lowest month was May at 8.9 cents and the highest was August at 15.7 cents.

 

[Torrid]

I'd also add in upgrades to house, if needed, to charge at home. People sometimes lie to themselves to justify costs, etc. FTR this applies to any and all purchases.

I don't know so much about lying, but I will say that does get pretty deep into it, but it's important if overall cost is the goal. Realistically I think most land on EVs other than wanting that kind of driving experience on actual charging costs VS actual fuel costs and likely don't consider all the other costs. They've already made peace with buying a new vehicle.

It would take me a bit to go through and calculate out both cars and I can do that, but I'm not sure how closely it actually translates off the top of my head. Both cars are used in completely different manners, depreciation has been a lot friendlier to the GTI, but the maintenance costs are borderline astronomical and all I've done is scheduled maintenance. Now that it is out of warranty though I'll likely do the work myself, short of DSG servicing. If I had to guess off the top of my head the Tesla is likely still cheaper because of the service costs alone, but with the fuel economy the GTI is capable of on the highway I don't think it would be a runaway win. Compared to my F150 or the Ford Edge the Tesla replaced, I'm sure its massive especially considering the serious amount of unscheduled maintenance costs the Edge saw. Really I don't think it'll be that black and white but in my personal experience cost day to day has been a lot more predictable with an EV and that almost makes any part of it worth it. I'm not sure I'll care about depreciation after 8-10 years of ownership. I've never had anything that held real value after a lot of miles other than my F150, though it cost a lot per mile in fuel. Heck I should calculate that one out too. It didn't have to limp home after a deer strike either.

I will try to revisit this later when I get time.

 

[alarmguy]

Haven’t really thought about it. But the cost of electricity is obviously the key. Right now in our part of California, PG&E electricity for the “EV2” plan is about 27 cents/kWh. It does get tricky in that the entire home goes to that plan, but peak rates are 4-8 PM. But there are savings from the off peak rate from 12 AM to 3 PM for the entire house too, so it

...

You cant know the full cost until you supply actual payment and kWh used. This is a national forum, every electric bill is different with additional costs and structures so the only fair way to compare is actual payment divided by kWh used.