I have been going down a rabbit hole of potentially buy an EV and it’s been astonishing to me, especially living in California, how unattractive it is to buy an EV.
I will give you a few reasons why:
-I have to upgrade my electric panel to support charging -I have to switch to an EV plan through PG&E, which increases my partial and peak kilowatt an hour here is the breakdown of my summer rates (winter is lower by like 10 cents for both plans)
-
E-TOU-C (current plan)
- Peak (4-9 PM): 54 cents/kWh
- Off-Peak: 46 cents/kWh
- Lower rates for usage within Baseline Allowance.
-
EV2:
- Peak (4-9 PM): 59.068 cents/kWh
- Part-Peak (3-4 PM & 9-12 AM): 48.019 cents/kWh
- Off-Peak (All other hours): 27.818 cents/kWh
- Delivery Minimum Bill: $0.37612 per meter per day.
-I have to pay someone to install a wall charger. Got a quote for $1900
-I have to pay an additional $103 a year to register an EV in CA
-On top of all these fees I don’t even qualify for many incentives as as a household we make over 300k which is honestly nothing crazy for coastal California when you factor in living expenses.
With all of these additional upfront costs and insane electric prices how does California expect people to adopt EVs?
I really want to buy one but it seems like more of a statement play and potential car performance play then a smart economic choice.
I did a cost comparison between a used Tesla Model X, a new Ford F-150 Lightning, and a new Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid. Here’s a summary including assumptions and formulas used.
Assumptions:
- Prices: $70,000 for the Tesla Model X, $65,500 for the Ford F-150 Lightning (after rebate), $56,000 for the Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid.
- Annual miles driven: 13,500.
- Gas price: $5.73/gallon, Electricity price: $0.27/kWh.
- Toyota MPG: 31.
- EV maintenance costs are 60% of a gas vehicle’s maintenance.
Formulas:
- Annual Fuel/Electricity Cost:
(Miles Driven / Efficiency) * Price per Unit. - Total Cost (5 Years):
Purchase Price + (Operating Costs * 5). - Total Cost (10 Years):
Purchase Price + (Operating Costs * 10).
Results Over 5 Years:
- Tesla Model X: Approx. $77,797.
- Ford F-150 Lightning: Approx. $78,064.
- Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid: Approx. $73,665.
Results Over 10 Years:
- Tesla Model X: Approx. $85,082.
- Ford F-150 Lightning: Approx. $90,628.
- Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid: Approx. $85,141.
Conclusion: The Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid is the most cost-effective over 5 years, while the Tesla Model X becomes more economical over 10 years due to lower operating costs.
The big unknown for me is I’m fairly confident the Toyota will be working well well beyond 10 years. We’re still yet to see how EVs and the batteries hold up over that period of time.
Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts. Coming back to the title if we feel the electric rates are at all time highs due to inflation then maybe the cost analysis is off however, I would assume gas would follow suit. I guess it depends at what percentage one would fall or increase over the next 10 years.
You’re not doing an apples to apples analysis because the vehicle models are so different and have different prices. Split it into purchase price and running costs and you’ll find the EV is cheaper as long as you don’t pay too much initially.
Several other factors to consider. First CA is moving to an income based flat fee for electricity. What this means is that the per kWh cost is going to go down, probably by a significant amount. Look up ab205. This will swing things more to electricity.
Second gas is going to be subject to more and higher price spikes going forward. There is already a reluctance to build more infrastructure. In contrast increased solar is driving the wholesale price of electricity to zero during the day. Imagine you can charge at work for business rates. (Right now on sdge I can charge during the day at work for 20c kWh which is half residential price).
Third factor in the value of your time. How much is it worth to never have to go to a gas station. Or waste time on maintenance or repairs.