After a couple of months driving a BEV my enthusiasm for them has not waned.
With local gas prices at $4.50 a gallon and electricity at 8.7 cents a Kwh, my Volvo XC40 Recharge Twin is getting the equivalent of 134 mpg.
The numbers are: 1,181 miles driven and 453 KWh charge added at a cost of .$0.087077 per kWh = $39.44 for 453 KWh. Then $39.44 / 1181 = $0.0334 cost per mile then divide $0.0334 into $4.50 = 134.73 mpg.
Your electricity is so cheap. Mine is 10.4c per kWh but it’s all renewable so I pay a little more. Congratulations on your car. Keep the faith. I’m getting a Tesla Model 3 Long Range soon. 4.2 seconds to 60, but I only will do that to show off and drive more conservatively as a rule.
I averaged 5.8 cents per kWh last year. I pay different amounts for on and off peak use, and there is also a demand charge during on peak hours.
Mine will be going up for June-July and August, then back to Sept thru May rates:
Summer (June–August)||TIER 1|TIER 2|TIER 3|
|KILOWATT-HOURS (KWH)|0–800|801–2,000|Over 2,000|
|PRICE (CENTS PER KWH)|8.5005¢|10.2214¢|12.1424¢|
Non-Summer (September–May)||TIER 1|TIER 2|TIER 3|
|KWH|0–800|801–2,000|Over 2,000|
|PRICE |7.8984¢|8.7077¢|9.6437¢|
I am considering going to their off-peak plan but it appears that ALL use between noon and 9 PM is a killer rate, (12.142 cents per KWh.)
MPGe is a measurement designed to deceive. Anytime I see car companies advertising that, I discount everything they say. It requires not one, but two assumptions of variable unknown current and future energy costs.
Then discussions like this one devolve into electricity and gas prices, which are different everywhere and not even necessarily related.
There’s a much simpler measurement of energy per mile that requires no assumption of energy costs. And a cost per mile that requires only one assumption of unknown energy costs. Either of those would be more useful. Of course, then some people would naturally think about the total cost for energy as compared to the total cost of the vehicle.
It’s just as bad the “60W” light bulbs that use 9.3 W.
I don’t think the folks commenting in this discussion are trying to predict anyone else’s experience. Quite the contrary, we are simply relating our personal experiences based on real out-of-pocket costs.
We all get bills, fill gas tanks and own calculators and computers and can figure out what things cost.
MPGe is a useful tool and is a valid way to compare battery-electric vehicles with ICE vehicles. A valid comparison should include the costs involved with the resulting claimed performance. The common denominator and the most logical method to that end is to use out-of-pocket costs. To say that individual experiences may vary is a given. That fact has always been the case and also applies to plain old EPA MPG rates because people are unique and have different driving habits and those habits, environments locations all contribute to the usual qualifier “your results may vary.”
The costs of driving a mile is “directly related” to the costs of getting around in our day-to-day lives. The fact that the term “MPGe” is new to all of us, and may be misunderstood and misused by some people does not mean that "MPGe is a measurement “designed to deceive.” It simply means that human beings are susceptible to misunderstandings and misuse of new concepts and words.
Here’s a more direct way to compare cost per mile between EVs and ICEVs.
A gallon of gasoline contains 120,286 BTUs. A KWh of electricity contains 3,412.14 BTUs. Both energy sources are measured at the time of transfer to the vehicle so the consumption rates will be an accurate indicator of each vehicle’s energy-to-miles-traveled conversion efficiency.
If an ICE vehicle gets 35 mpg that means it’s taking 120,286 BTUs to go 35 miles, or (120,286/35 = 3,436.74 BTUs per mile.) If a BEV goes 2.6 miles on 1 KWh that means it is taking 3,412.14 BTUs to go 2.6 miles, or 3,412.14/2.6 = 1,312.36 BTUs per mile.
At 4.50/gal gasoline, one cent will buy you 267 BTUs. If I choose to purchase my transportation BTUs from my electrical utility provider, my one cent buys me 392 BTUs… and those BTUs are put to work in a vehicle that uses them 2.6 times more efficiently. That efficiency is calculated by dividing the ICE BTU/mile by the BEV BTU/mile, or 3,436.74 / 1,312.36 = 2.619 times more efficient conversion to travel distance.
Also to consider, gas cars are less efficient in delivering power to the wheels compared to EVs: 25% vs 75%. Gas is used one time, completely consumed and a lot of it’s energy is released as waste heat from combustion. 85-92% of lithium battery components can be recycled to recapture lithium, cobalt, nickel, etc. There are 3 battery recycling plants in existence now and more on the way. Tesla is recycling now also and is very efficient in reclamation. Tesla batteries are estimated to last 300-500k miles before needing replacement.