Conversion cost to drive

[Skidmarks68]

I dont know that this has been done yet but has anyone come up with the cost to drive a Tesla as compared to MPG at an average price per gallon?
Like if the average price per gallon was $2.50. And you average 20 MPG You go on a 200 mile round trip at a cost of $25. How much would it cost to do the same trip in your Tesla or maybe an estimate of the CT?

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[Crissa]

Two things: What you do with it vastly changes where you're charging from and how fast you're consuming electricity.

So, for me, I'm paying 31¢ a kilowatt hour at home. What do you pay? How ften are you Supercharging? Superchargers will charge you the current (hourly) going rate for electricity in your area, which could be a three cents in Texas mid-day to seventy cents in San Diego during rush hour.

The estimate is a kilowatt will be from 3 miles to 2 miles driven depending on type of use. So let's use the 3 miles per kilowatt optimal. For me, that'll be about 10¢ per mile.

$2.50 gas at 20 MPG is 12.5¢ a mile. But that truck also needs oil and engine maintenance... Out here I spend a bundle - mechanics aren't cheap - tho oil is. But ever 10K or 15K miles I need that expensive mechanic to look it over or replace some weird fluid. I spend about $300 about every 5k miles. Let's say you get off cheap with $300/15000 miles. That's still 2¢ a mile on top of the gas. So 14.5¢ a mile.

My motorcycle costs about 2¢ a mile to operate.

I did some cute charts comparing these back in November:
https://www.cybertruckownersclub.co...or-at-a-tesla-charging-station.286/post-30273

-Crissa

 

[Newton]

I roughly calculated a tesla would be the same operating costs as my prius, with free charging or low cost at home charging. if charging from superchargers (or expensive chargers) it's slightly higher.
Teslas do have fluids maybe not emgine oil, but coolants, ac stuff, gear oil. And they have ball joints ,shocks, and other wear items

Oil changes are always quoted as being a huge cost benefit, but it's like 20$ every 3 months in the prius

That being said... to be comparative costs to a boring commuter car is impressive

 

[T3slaDad]

Holy cow Crissa, 31c/kwh?! I'm so sorry!! Where I live we have EV charging rates that dip into the 4c/kwh range when charging from 11pm-4am. Outside that it's still under 10c/kwh almost all day.

Anyway, like they said before, the other costs are to be considered. My county charges significantly less for EV registration over gas. That alone saves me $200/yr. Oil changes are like $60/yr when DIY with good stuff, brakes are about $60 but one time since autozone has lifetime replacements, EVs can eat tires a little faster, 12v batteries die often (depending on climates), etc.

If you're into DIY, trust me, the time savings is the biggest savings other than day to day gas savings you'll see. And that's worth soooo much to me!!! So I'm happy to take it. Plus after 100k miles, the savings really pile up because that's when you get into more expensive gas repairs territory. Gaskets start leaking, spark plugs, fuel lines crack, electronics go bad, timing belts, water pumps, radiators, coolant flushes, the list goes on and on. That's the disadvantage of thousands of parts to make an engine go vs a few hundred with an EV.

I have done everything to cars, and they take so much time (and money over time) that I'm happy to drive an EV any day of the week! Money isn't the only thing in life ?

 

[Crissa]

Well, I do pay for the make-sure-all-my-energy-is-clean tier, but it's really just 2¢ a kilowatt more. The other tier has hydro and 'traded/unknown' in the mix.

But I live on a coast with high transmission costs and no real energy sources aside from renewable, so it's always been expensive.

-Crissa

 

[Skidmarks68]

Well honestly the cost for anything but fuel doesnt concern me right now. My family and I have driven Toyota and Lexus vehicles for the last 20 years and an oil change twice a years isnt what I would consider a big expense. The last few cars we have owned came with the first 2 years of free maintenance and oil changes free anyway. Im at a point in life where time is what I value most. I absolutely hate the need to bring my car to the shop so I hope there wont be an issue with service problems with the Tesla.
So if you can compare the cost to fuel the CT with a Prius that makes a good comparison that I can relate too.

 

[alan auerbach]

I dont know that this has been done yet but has anyone come up with the cost to drive a Tesla as compared to MPG at an average price per gallon?
Like if the average price per gallon was $2.50. And you average 20 MPG You go on a 200 mile round trip at a cost of $25. How much would it cost to do the same trip in your Tesla or maybe an estimate of the CT?

Electricity will cost one-quarter to half as much as gas or diesel but it may cost a bit to set up your garage for home charging. Other main differences:

The battery should last about as long as an ICE motor, but cost nothing for maintenance along the way (like the cooling system, exhaust system, and such). Refueling takes longer, and if not available where you're going, it's way easier to carry cans of liquid fuel than provisions for reserve electricity. And day 1 will differ because you'll need instructions on how to drive it.

 

[Crissa]

The vast majority of of your driving you'll never need to leave your house to go 'fill up' your EV truck, either.

And comparing a truck to a prius that's half its size... Well, that's sorta silly. But even if you do, there is more maintenance to a non-electric drivetrain, and it needs to count against the cost, not be hidden away.

-Crissa

 

[Ratso]

Pretty close to free when you have solar panels on your roof

 

[Frankenblob]

I dont know that this has been done yet but has anyone come up with the cost to drive a Tesla as compared to MPG at an average price per gallon?
Like if the average price per gallon was $2.50. And you average 20 MPG You go on a 200 mile round trip at a cost of $25. How much would it cost to do the same trip in your Tesla or maybe an estimate of the CT?

For now it seems/appears cheap, the "bait and hook" are in the water, ONCE the PUPPETICIANS figure out how to tax it up the ying-yang people will be snake-bitten then.

 

[Newton]

The vast majority of of your driving you'll never need to leave your house to go 'fill up' your EV truck, either.

And comparing a truck to a prius that's half its size... Well, that's sorta silly. But even if you do, there is more maintenance to a non-electric drivetrain, and it needs to count against the cost, not be hidden away.

-Crissa

I wasn't comparing it to the CT, as we have no data on the CT, and the original post asked about "cost to drive a tesla"

As far as I'm concerned, comparing costs of a higher end car to a commuter hybrid is a win.

But I highly, Highly doubt its less.

 

[Crissa]

But I highly, Highly doubt its less.

It'll always depend on what you do with it!

But yes, some hybrids have done very well. They get to share many of the benefits of an EV, but are more complex machines and have their own problems - some have done poorly, especially when only or mostly 'self charging'.

-Crissa

 

[T3slaDad]

The worst part about hybrid cars is you have to deal with the nuances of not just gas or electric, but both. The concept is flawed from the beginning. This coming from a Chevy Volt owner too.

You need to maintain not only one system, but two. Granted, the EV portion of the system is typically very small in comparison to gas on the primary gas options like prius, but you are always carrying around 2 systems, 2 are exposed to the elements, if one is unused it will prematurely fail and the vehicle will under perform or refuse to perform even though the second system is available, etc.

Ex: I drove my Volt about 30 miles a day. The range is 35 miles per charge (it's a plug-in hybrid). I had half a tank left after 6 months of driving from the time I bought it with a full (6 gal) tank. Even though I very rarely used gas, the engine and components were being lugged around with me everywhere I went. They were exposed to the high heat I live in.

Gone unused for too long, the engine and seals and other gas-related components would start to fail prematurely and visa versa. If I run into engine problems, I can't just use the EV portion and visa versa. Carrying 2 systems for city-based passenger transportation is the least reliable long term solution, in my opinion.

This being said, I'm happy we're making the shift to EV's globally!

 

[DarinCT]

When we were comparing our Prius (~42mpg) to our Model 3 in December 2019 and the cost per mile at the time was three times cheaper per mile for our Model 3. I don't remember what the cost for gas was at the time. We pay 7.1 cents per kwh for electricity between 12am-6am.

 

[Iacemoe]

I dont know that this has been done yet but has anyone come up with the cost to drive a Tesla as compared to MPG at an average price per gallon?
Like if the average price per gallon was $2.50. And you average 20 MPG You go on a 200 mile round trip at a cost of $25. How much would it cost to do the same trip in your Tesla or maybe an estimate of the CT?

Its tough to project accurately since we don't know the actual efficiency of the CT yet, or the kwh pack size.

Assume the tri-motor is a 200kwh pack. 200 kwh / 500miles of range = 0.4kwh per mile or 400wh/mile.

Then use the electricity rates in your area to determine your costs. In my area its about 12c/kwh. Charger efficiency at 95%. 200miles * 0.4kwh/mile = 80kwh / 0.95(charger efficiency) = 84.2 kwh required to charge. 84.2 kwh * 12c/kwh = $10.10

So less than half probably, but it all comes down to electricity rates in your area and the true efficiency of the CT.