A really interesting article in the Washington Post today. It matters a lot where you drive and how you charge. Which may be partly why we seem to talk past each other on this thread. https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2023/electric-vehicle-charging-price-vs-gasoline/?itid=hp-top-table-main_p001_f003
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The key sentence way down in the article was this:
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This assumes, as the Energy Department estimate, drivers recharge at home 80 percent of the time
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For those who can charge at home, it almost always is cheaper (and more convenient by far).
For those who have to use paid charging stations all the time (like some apartment dwellers), it now can definitely be more expensive than gas in some areas. Even with gas expensive in the Bay Area and a robust charging network, when we rented a Tesla for a week were were paying more for the Tesla charging station than an equivalent range in gas.
Many hotels often offer free charging with paid parking.
So I’ve heard though we called several in the area we needed to stay and none did. They all pointed us to the same pair charging area near Target in the area.
Yes, well we charge 95% of the time at home. So I don’t think it’s a crazy assumption, especially for those who own their EVs rather than renting them while on a trip.
As I said, it all depends on where you drive and how you charge, and I’ll add, when you charge. Gas here is $4.50 per gallon at Costco and I charge at $.08 per kwh. I come out way ahead. Those who cannot charge at home will need to take that into consideration when weighing the pros and cons of an EV in their situation.
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You are making it sound like it’s free to charge at home…it isn’t.
It depends as the poster said. It really is pittance compared to gas prices here in my area. The poster did provide their numbers.
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They did not. They said “I charge at $.08 per kwh”. That is not “free” but it doesn’t cost as much as gas. Similar for me too.
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Not free perhaps but very very inexpensive for many. Our cost per 1k miles in our EV is around $25 with home charging. No solar but time of use plan. Cost per 1k in our comparable ICE vehicle was around $150+.
I’d gladly pay more to charge an EV on road trips vs an ICE but in practice we don’t.
Ongoing maintenance costs, not mentioned in the article, are lower in the EV,
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Our state doesn’t have time of use…but we do have solar. I just haven’t found the perfect EV for my tastes…yet.
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In the SFO Bay Area…I’m charging at effectively .42 kwh… That’s with a medical baseline which extends the lowest tier of .37. An EV plan would provide at most a .28 kWh but if I use any electricity during peak hours 4 p.m. to midnight the charge is about .58 kwh. Yes, real numbers. spent 90 minutes talking to our utility provider. Was told it’s best to stay with the medical baseline.
The local super charger is .37 kwh. But constant supercharging isn’t good for the battery…plus it’s a PITA.
Gas is between $4.90 - $5.45. Per the Tesla app, I’m not saving much if anything. According to the Tesla app I’ve saved $29 in gas over the past month. It would take a long time to amortize the additional cost of the EV (in addition to the shorter tire life, installation of EV charger, additional plug adapters)
So, the car is fun…but certainly not smart financially in my area based on utility costs. In fact the ONLY saving grace is the fun level…I’m out of the EV market in my area for the foreseeable future.
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Same. I would buy an EV tomorrow if one that matched the specs and types of vehicles we own was available. The only contenders either aren’t actually on the market yet or have multi-year waits.
Or are very very costly. We own two Volvos and are happy with the cars but their EVs are way out of our price range right now.
My current car is a Volvo. One of the cars I have a deposit for is the new EX90 EV, but they have delayed even the start of orders until next year and haven’t started production so it is more aspirational vaporware than product. The Rivian is the only EV vehicle so far that checks all the boxes on paper – and I loved the demo drive. But the backlog for orders is 2-3 years for the SUV and even users who love it report all kinds of QC issues at the moment. Tesla had similar issues in their early years for the intrepid early adopters.
I want something smaller. I actually looked at the Bolt…and now that they are revamping it, I might look again.
The smaller Volvo EV is what I’m waiting for.
I’d really like a small sedan…
Curious if you had a chance to look at a polestar 2. Might be larger than you want but it’s a nice sedan option
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I did…it’s a little too big. I like the size of the Tesla 3. And I love the sapphire blue. But I am quite sure others will come up with a sedan I like as much eventually…
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We saw one in a local showroom. Very nice car… but it is a sedan. The 3 is coming, apparently. Maybe we will be ditching our X then. Most likely, not. We drive our cars into the dirt. 23 year old beater truck mods in agreement. 
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The Tesla Model 3 is about the same size as a Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, or Hyundai Elantra. But perhaps that says more about how large the latter three “small sedans” have gotten to be.
The Chevrolet Bolt is similar in form factor but a few inches bigger in each dimension than the discontinued Honda Fit.
For us there is no going back to a sedan, probably ever. We’ve used them by necessity a few times as rental cars and everyone in my family dislikes everything about them from the low ride height to the lack of seating capacity to spread out. Very personal take – others feel the opposite of course.
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