EV Electricity Costs With PG&E
Posted by Max Dunn Sat, 01 Oct 2011 16:49:00 GMT
Figuring out how much electricity your electric vehicle (EV) will use is pretty easy. From the wall, 1kWh of electricity will power the Leaf about 3.5 miles (and a similar amount for other EVs). So for a normal 1,000 mile a month usage, it would take about 300kWh of electricity each month (rounding up).
This should add about $35/month for electricity at the average price of $0.11 per kWh. However, for most users it will push them up into higher tiers and be at least twice that. For us, we went from a $70/mo electric bill to $170/mo!
But wait, it gets more complicated. EV owners are required to contact PG&E and go on a special E-9 time-of-use rate plan.
The great thing about this plan is that off-peak, you can charge your EV for $0.05 to $0.06! The bad thing about this plan is that the bottom tier only goes up by 30% and then all times have higher costs. For instance, after 130% of base usage is reached, off-peak charging goes to $0.16 and then at 200% goes to $0.20!
We just switched over a few months ago and are still analyzing our bill, but it looks like it was reduced from $170 to about $120. We think with some reduction (turn off those lights kids!) and shifting our dishwasher to after midnight we can get it down to about $100, which means the EV will cost about $30 per month. Just where it should be!
Hi Max, You are one busy guy! Hope you can spare a moment… A few of us up here in Santa Rosa are fairly new Zapino owners; I found out almost by accident that ZAP was blowing ‘em out the door for $1000.00. I bought two (knowing that parts would later be hard to come by), and two other friends bought one each. One bought a complete set of replacement plastic for about $200.00. These are the 2008 models, with the 3 kW motor and “analog” voltmeter. I LOVE these things! On the SLA’s, I’m getting between 20 and 25 miles in “turbo” mode, riding hard, fairly flat ground, GPS-verified at 42 mph. There’s been a lot of recent dialog on the V is for Voltage forum. Anyway, we have read & enjoyed your blog relating your conversion to Li-ion. The last post I can find is your short test ride, with the bicycle helmet ;-)) Would be curious to know how it’s doing one year down the road… Mileage to empty, difference in top speed,etc. Do you get enough warning before the cells are depleted? It looks like the discharge curve suddenly flat-lines. With the SLAs, you get plenty of advance notice, as there is a “cogging” feeling on acceleration, and one can usually nurse another 5 miles out of it. Also, what kind of charger did you get? Thanks for any additional info. Cheers, Randy Wells Santa Rosa, CA RadioRan@aol.com