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Is it cheaper to refuel your EV battery or gas tank?
YOU DECIDE.
Just ran across this Washington Post article and found it interesting, especially since I own a 450H+. Should I refuel with gasoline or do I charge it up?
Another question this may help you answer is: Should you purchase a gasoline vehicle or an EV vehicle. The article has the math for all 50 states.
My impression is that the whole EV thing is not necessarily being touted as saving individuals a bunch of money versus ICE but, rather, the (theoretical) benefits to society as a whole for transitioning to EV from "fossil fuels". So comparing the personal impact in terms of $ on EV versus ICE is one thing but the bigger picture comparison would be the impact on society. To calculate that would be infinitely more complex since the E in EV does not come from thin air but has to be produced somehow. You would need to consider the cost of producing the E. This could be from traditional refineries or perhaps wind farms. If the latter then what did it cost to produce and maintain the turbines for the wind farms. If solar farms there is a cost for producing the solar panels and maintaining or eventually disposing of them. Also there is a cost for obtaining the materials for the batteries in the vehicles as well as what to do with the batteries when they have reached their useful life. These are just the more obvious things that need to be considered and I am sure there are myriad others. I have no clue about what a complete comprehensive comparison would find but it sounds like a good subject for some PhD thesis.
Heads ya pay. Tails ya pay. Everyone pays. Good thread/discussion. Having both options is a great offering. Sometimes gas is not available or electric goes down.
Where I am, electricity is 9 cents /kwh all the time. To fill 18 kwh battery costs around 9*18=$1.62. This nets about 65 km or less than 3 cents a km. Regardless of the exchange, driving a smallish SUV for less than 5 cents a km or mile is a good deal.
Agree completely. But you would also have to consider these same types of things for the fuel. There are costs involved with getting the oil, refining it to fuel, storage, transport, dispensing are all costs that would have to be included in the price of a gallon of gas. But I do feel the article addresses these short comings in the evaluation. It's just too infinitely impossible to determine the actual costs of either E or Gas.
So you can really only evaluate based on the knowns which is what I feel this article is trying to address. It tries to give a consumer who is trying to decide what to purchase a comparison of costs.
This is a calculator on my electric power web site. Our rates are relatively low. Assumptions driving 13,000 miles a year and gas $3.00 a gallon. So roughly $1,000 a year in saving of electric over gas.
This is a calculator on my electric power web site. Our rates are relatively low. Assumptions driving 13,000 miles a year and gas $3.00 a gallon. So roughly $1,000 a year in saving of electric over gas.
@Freds430 So how does that compare with the article for your state? Not sure which model you have.
@Freds430 So how does that compare with the article for your state? Not sure which model you have.
I have a 2017 RX 450h. I'm using 28 miles per gallon as an average. My wife has a 2023 NX 350H that averages 40 miles per gallon for her the difference would be a savings of $500 a year.
Where I am, electricity is 9 cents /kwh all the time. To fill 18 kwh battery costs around 9*18=$1.62. This nets about 65 km or less than 3 cents a km. Regardless of the exchange, driving a smallish SUV for less than 5 cents a km or mile is a good deal.
Do you fully charge the battery (to 100%) every time?
I do. We have a Co-Op for an electric company. The rate is the same 24 hours a day. So no difference if charging during non-peak hours. I believe the wife said it's $0.04 / kWh. It's right at 35-37 miles round trip to town and back. So when we go to town it's typically empty when we get back home. I haven't ever paid to charge it yet. We went to Daytona Beach for a week and the hotel had free EV charging so we used it.
I do. We have a Co-Op for an electric company. The rate is the same 24 hours a day. So no difference if charging during non-peak hours. I believe the wife said it's $0.04 / kWh. It's right at 35-37 miles round trip to town and back. So when we go to town it's typically empty when we get back home. I haven't ever paid to charge it yet. We went to Daytona Beach for a week and the hotel had free EV charging so we used it.
I was mostly asking from the battery life perspective: isn't it better to charge only to 80% to prolong the battery life?
I fill the battery to 100% every time mostly using free 240 volt. No problems in last 18 months. Will continue to do this until about year 9 when I plan to sell/trade in
I was mostly asking from the battery life perspective: isn't it better to charge only to 80% to prolong the battery life?
@dbm I don't know the answer to that question. I don't believe you can specify 80%. I think someone posted on another thread that that it isn't possible to program it that way.
FWIW, I have started to charge and decided to go somewhere and pulled the plug and ended the charge. So I guess you could sit there for 2 and a half hours and watch the Lexus App and see how much longer or how much charge time it has and end it when you want to or think its at the 80%. Sounds like more trouble than it's worth though. I feel if Lexus wanted you to charge to 80% they would have designed a mechanism in the system for you to do it that way. But I'm not aware of that capability. Hell, it can't even remember whose key it is to change the seat position half the time. So I would imagine they couldn't figure out how to make a setting to end charging at 80%. That would require math and a brain to think it up.
Sorry I couldn't give you a better response to your question.
Where I am, electricity is 9 cents /kwh all the time. To fill 18 kwh battery costs around 9*18=$1.62. This nets about 65 km or less than 3 cents a km. Regardless of the exchange, driving a smallish SUV for less than 5 cents a km or mile is a good deal.
Wow. That is certainly not the case in Ontario. Electricity costs are time of day based and will vary.
In Toronto area the average cost of electricity (Average of peak, low and mid time rates) including delivery and sales tax is $0.19 / kwh.
Also, most of these comparisons are done with regular gas cars. I would be interested to calculate the comparison of NX350h vs Tesla model Y, including the initial cost depreciated over 10 years.
Or a Tesla Model X with RX350h or RX500h to keep power levels closer to each other.
08-11-23, 07:25 AM
Is it cheaper to refuel your EV battery or gas tank?
