Quote:
Originally Posted by DannoXYZ
Have to use some real-world examples here comparing actual usage and costs incurred.
Commute miles = 1000 miles/month
Ninja 250 MPG = 55 to 65 mpg, let’s average to 60mpg
Petrol = 3.71 to 3.89, average = 3.80 dollars/gal
1000 miles/month / 60 miles/gallon * 3.80 dollars/gallon = 63$/month in petrol
Or if I drive auto that gets 30mpg = 126$/month in petrol
Now let’s compare to using Chevy Volt.
2.7 miles/kWhr charge - https://www.valleychevy.com/how-much...-a-chevy-volt/
86.7% L1 charging efficiency - https://www.sae.org/publications/tec.../2015-01-1152/
I currently use about 450kW/hrs per month at home. First 200kW/hr tier-1 costs $0.24, thereafter, tier-2 costs $0.32. My last month’s utility bill was ~200$ (includes gas). PG&E lies about temperatures, many many days in 90s last month with couple over 100-F.
So basically charging Volt @ home will cost me tier-2 $0.32/kWhr. This is reality of actual utility bills. My friend Nicole who uses Volt for commuting says she pays $0.28 tier-2 due to low-income subsidies (PG&E still gets their $0.32). That comes to:
1000 miles/month / 2.7 miles/kWhr = 370 kWhr/month
370 kWhr / 0.867 ChrgEff = 427 kWhr/month from wall (about same as my entire household usage)
427 kWhr * 0.32 $/kWhr = 137$/month (120$/m with gov. subsidy)
Or more than petrol auto getting 30mpg. If i buy used Prius hybrid that gets 50mpg, it’ll only cost me 76$/month to commute those same miles and Volt will never cost less to purchase or operate. I’ll stick with Ninja 250 for lowest operating costs and way faster commutes given Bay Area traffic. |
A power outage (oh, the irony!) ate the reply I had typed up, but I'll try to recap the main points I had...
2.7 miles/kWhr seems low. That page shows a Gen2 Volt, but the article references the very early Gen1. I've personally gotten 3.8mi/kWhr in my Gen2, and I drive very NOT-eco and was running the A/C at the time. It's going to depend largely on your speed, so each person's results are going to vary based on where/how they drive.
Your electric rates start at double the national average and go up from there. Using my actual electric rates and the increased efficiency with your example numbers, it would cost me about $51, 19% less than your Ninjette numbers. Using your rates and my adjusted efficiency, it would work out to $97 for you ($85 for your friend). I figure it would be the equivalent of ~$3.50/gal gas - slightly cheaper than what you're paying, but not huge savings like I'm seeing. Generally speaking, if you're getting bent over on electric prices, an EV may not be all that helpful.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaliGrrl
I don't have our numbers, but I was filling up one of our cars every week, $50 or so to fill the tank. We sold one of the gas cars, bought an electric, and if we use that a lot, I only had to fill the gas car once a month, and the power bill went up $20.
For us, that was useful. We've been driving the gas car more and more miles overall lately, so we're buying more gas for the car, but it's still less than we had been spending.
Electric vehicles have their place, but aren't for everybody. It depends on your commute, can you charge at home or somewhere, where else you go, and if you have or can rent a second car for those trips too far for the electric. Hubby also has an electric motorcycle and that's his first choice when we go out. We will choose routes that include charging for an hour or so at a lunch stop. If we go on a non-friendly route he'll take the gas bike, but he prefers the electric given any chance.
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That's what I love about the Volt, especially in this area. It's designed to be an EV for an average driver's average driving needs, but it's instantly a regular ICE car with "unlimited" range as soon as you run out of battery. You do give up some battery capacity and some of the EV simplicity by adding in the ICE, but for me it's pretty much perfect. I frequently use no or little (as in tenths of a gallon) gas in my daily driving, but I've also taken several trips of a few hundred miles without even thinking about it (in just the 3 months I've had the new Volt). If I lived in a more urban area and/or had more charging stations available around here, I'd have to think a lot harder about getting a pure EV. But right here, right now, the Volt is just about perfection.
Ok, enough of me gushing about the Volt. Let's get back to agreeing how horrible the LiveWire's charging setup is.
