Spreadsheet of KWH versus Gasoline Cost for 22 Electric and Plug-In Hybrid Cars

[SMS]

I compared 11 electric-only vehicles and 11 plug-in hybrids for cost per mile on electricity (for electric only) and cost per mile on electricity versus cost per mile on gasoline. I did this at various prices per KWH and prices per gallon.

What's interesting (and infuriating) is that about two miles away from me is another city that doesn't use a for-profit utility, but that has a municipally owned power company. They charge about 11¢/KWH (Silicon Valley Power). I pay about 32¢ per KWH (PG&E).

Bottom line is that until gasoline is over $4.65 per gallon there's no point in plugging my wife's Prius Plug-In. But someone in Santa Clara should plug in as long as gasoline is more than $1.65 per gallon.

Unless you have free or low-cost electricity, the big advantage of plug-in hybrids, or all-electric, vehicles, in California, are those beautiful stickers that go on your bumpers that allow you to use the carpool lanes with only one occupant in the vehicle. Actually they have stopped issuing the stickers for the plug-in hybrid vehicles as they reached the limit, but of course the vehicle manufacturers were able to push through a bill expanding the number again.

Spreadsheet is at:

or if you're scared of TinyURLs, use .

Let me know of any errors. The data is not always easily available. Especially the real battery capacity versus the rated capacity of the battery pack if it were charged all the way (which vehicle manufacturers don't do).

[Frank]

Very interesting study. Pardon the pun, but what you pay for electricity is shocking. Private co. here in DE is about 11¢/KWH. At my 6,000 mi/yr I'd save about $180/yr with hybrid but if you factor in extra cost of the hybrid over conventional car savings would be nil.

[Stormin Mormon]

Be sure to figure in the replacement batteries at about 3 years. That expense ought to get recognized.

- . Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus

.

[trader_4]

That's what happens when you let a bunch of libs run things. I'll bet if you look at the root causes, he's paying 32c/kwh because they are funding moon beams, saving the whales, whatever, off his electric bill.

[Frank]

When the Prius first came out, I googled up cost of battery replacement and only found one reference saying $7,000 Australian. I think battery warranty may be 100,000 mi or 10 years now. I'm driving an 11 year old Subaru in perfect condition but repair like that would mean forced trade in.

[Frank]

I'm not certain about our 11 cents. I got it from googling the company. Libs are in charge here and we're all paying an extra $5 for a company developing natural gas fuel cells which are less efficient than generators and we may be paying for offshore windmills which are now defunct.

When GM abandoned their plant here, the Dems financed Fisker to build their $90,000 Karma here and they took the money and left.

Government's got no business in investing taxpayer money in businesses.

[trader_4]

11 cents sounds possible. Here, NJ, few months ago when I last checked it was about 12.5. It's come down quite a bit. A few years ago, it was ~17c. That's the number I was using, hadn't checked for quite a while. I was pleasantly surprised that it's come down.

[Frank]

I'm not certain but think bulk of NJ electricity is from nuclear. Since coal is being chased out I think most of our power comes from adjacent states. Delmarva power includes parts of Maryland and Virginia.

Found this state by state comparison googling around:

[Scott Lurndal]

The acronym you're looking for is EROEI.

Energy returned on energy invested. The higher the value, the more efficient the energy source.

[Scott Lurndal]

As usual, your conservative filter has interjected nonsense. The CPUC has instituted tiered rates to encourage conservation and reduce the need to build new power plants. The basic rate is about USD0.15/kwh for the initial basic allocation and goes up in two tiers based on usage. The highest rate is USD0.35/kwh for the top tier (but that only accounts for about 10% or less of the average customer usage, so they're paying much less per kwh each month).

[Stormin Mormon]

Using that same logic, Sharpie Pens should be

0.99 each and $14.99 a dozen, to discourage usage and need for more factories.

Customers using a store card at the gas station should pay more for gas, because they use more.

Donuts should be .89 each, and should be $13.99 a dozen to discourage over consumption.

- . Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus

.

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per SMS:

I just took a quick look, but did not see an amortization factor for the cost of replacing the vehicle's battery.

Seems like that would add significantly to the cost per mile.

e.g. $5,000 replacement cost, 1,000 charges in life of battery, 200 miles per charge.... $5.00/200 = 2.5 cents per mile... and I would think that's on the low side.

Or didn't I look closely enough?

[Ralph Mowery]

There is a growing movement to factor in a cost of how many miles they drive so a road tax can be charged. This is because roads are paid for by the tax on fuel. As far as I know there is no seperate charge (tax) on the power used for the electric cars.

[gonjah]

The Prius Hybrid (not plug-in) has a 8 yr or 100,000 mile warranty. We bought ours almost 10 years ago (2005?) with no problems. My niece has it now.

I heard (somewhere) the batteries in the Prius's are lasting longer than even the mfg expected. Also, the battery prices have been coming down. That's not to say it isn't expensive but, it's not as bad as many had predicted. You can get a refurbished Prius hybrid battery for around $1600. New probably about $1000 more if you shop around. One thing I know is...don't buy it at the dealer.

[Malcom "Mal" Reynolds]

and those that use electricity from nukes should pay into a trust fund so that the waste can be safely guarded for the 1000s of years it will take to half-life down to lead

[Anonymous]

My neighbor, an ER doc, tells me that approximately

60% of hospital patients are being treated for health problems that are completely preventable.

Basically, we as a nation eat too damn much and as a result are obese.

[Ashton Crusher]

Good job. Looks to me that for a lot of people gas will cost about twice as much per mile as electric. I say that based on people doing the recharge at night when rates are lower. If I had an electric or hybrid I'd charge it at night when my electric is about 9 cents a kWh. That's going to get me a cost per mile on electric of about 3 cents a mile. At any realistic gasoline price I'd be paying at least twice as much per mile.

[Ashton Crusher]

Where did you dream up a 3 year battery life?

[Reggie]

when everybody starts using a lot of electricity at night, the nighttime rate will go up.

[CRNG]

On Wed, 10 Dec 2014 09:27:16 -0800, SMS wrote in

We pay $0.112/kwh (flat rate) in N.W. Alabama where the electricty is generated by T.V.A., the largest electric power provider in the U.S.