Electricity Charges
Author
Discussion

Skyedriver

Original Poster:

21,974 posts

303 months

Friday 27th August 2021
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Just had another email from my current (no pun intended) electricity provider telling me they're raising charges again. Is this the third time this year?
At this rate, electric vehicles aren't just going to be expensive to buy, they're going to be expensive to run too.

page3

5,131 posts

272 months

Friday 27th August 2021
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Electricity is going up significantly, but then so is petrol.

If available, move tariff to someone cheaper.

SWoll

21,631 posts

279 months

Friday 27th August 2021
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A 50MPG ICE car is currently costing 12p per mile in fuel. A performance ICE car 20p or more per mile.

Even on an expensive tariff (25p per kW) a regular EV capable of 4 miles/kW is costing around 6p per mile, and a performance EV around 8p. Start looking at the cheaper overnight tariffs and that of course reduces significantly.

When you also add the huge number of EV's being provided as company cars offering a considerable saving in BIK it's still a lot cheaper to run an EV, especially if covering decent mileages.

TBH even if 'fuel' costs were comparable I'd still prefer to run an EV as a daily, they just do a better job of it IME. I see the running cost saving as a bonus rather than a justification.

Knock_knock

608 posts

197 months

Sunday 29th August 2021
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I've just looked at my last three monthly bills - overall I'm paying about 8.8p/kWh.

Seems pretty good for the real world.

blueacid

510 posts

162 months

Tuesday 31st August 2021
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I think as others have said, Petrol and Diesel costs right now aren't exactly cheap; the Asda near me is 130.7/l for petrol and 131.7 for diesel as of two days ago. Numbers from 135 to 140ish near here for Shell/BP etc.

Perhaps some combination between the general covid disruption, brexit grief, and lorry driver shortages are also playing their part here too.

Dave Hedgehog

15,648 posts

225 months

Tuesday 31st August 2021
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Skyedriver said:
Just had another email from my current (no pun intended) electricity provider telling me they're raising charges again. Is this the third time this year?
At this rate, electric vehicles aren't just going to be expensive to buy, they're going to be expensive to run too.
yep, very expensive, about 1.35p a mile atm



Moonpie21

591 posts

113 months

Tuesday 31st August 2021
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I don't think personal transport that is reliant on others will ever win (irrespective of electricity or fossil fuels).

The nice thing about electric vehicles is the ability to generate your own fuel... I am going for solar panels on the roof of my home and 6kWh battery storage, yes I have the luxury of being able to install it which is an option not everyone has, I understand. The price of solar has come down significantly over recent years and actually I believe the system will eliminate my household and future daily transport electricity consumption from the grid which should in theory see it pay for itself and beyond within the installation guarantee period (10 years).

Eventually I may look in to putting a small VAWT on my chimney...

I don't see any "fuel"? getting cheaper ever, so look to make myself as sustainable/independent as possible.

TheDrownedApe

1,565 posts

77 months

Thursday 2nd September 2021
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I've just switched Ocotpus go and only charge for those 4 hrs at night where it's 5p/kwh. I usually add about 100 miles in those 4 hrs with my 7kwh charger and therefore my man maths suggests it costs me... 1.4p per mile

Pica-Pica

15,848 posts

105 months

Thursday 2nd September 2021
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TheDrownedApe said:
I've just switched Ocotpus go and only charge for those 4 hrs at night where it's 5p/kwh. I usually add about 100 miles in those 4 hrs with my 7kwh charger and therefore my man maths suggests it costs me... 1.4p per mile
Octopus Go, has grabbed the gap before night storage heaters come on, it won’t always be like that!

ChocolateFrog

34,610 posts

194 months

Thursday 2nd September 2021
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Not related to domestic supplies but just watched Quentin Wilson's youtube video about driving his Model 3 to France.

760 miles cost him £68. So about a tenner less than a 320d would have done it for.

And that's now. It's going to get significantly more expensive in the future.

gmaz

5,076 posts

231 months

Thursday 2nd September 2021
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I switched to Octopus Go in June at the same time as getting solar, battery storage and an EV. Ignoring standing charges, my home electricity costs for 3 months (jun-jul-aug) were £37. This compares with last year on Bulb when it was £227.

EV charging costs for 2200 miles were about £20 as I did some long journeys and had to use public chargers, but most of the charging was from solar. This mileage in my previous diesel would have been about £270.

So savings for this quarter are about £440. If I assume the lack of solar for the remainder of the year would reduce savings to £330 for autumn & spring, and £220 for winter, then total savings are about £1,320 per year.

HW & CH are gas powered so no change there.


JonnyVTEC

3,227 posts

196 months

Thursday 2nd September 2021
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ChocolateFrog said:
Not related to domestic supplies but just watched Quentin Wilson's youtube video about driving his Model 3 to France.

760 miles cost him £68. So about a tenner less than a 320d would have done it for.

And that's now. It's going to get significantly more expensive in the future.
Cheaper in the worst case comparison and doesn’t sound like a tractor whilst offering better performance. No wonder they are popular!

Chris32345

2,139 posts

83 months

Thursday 2nd September 2021
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Moonpie21 said:
I don't think personal transport that is reliant on others will ever win (irrespective of electricity or fossil fuels).

The nice thing about electric vehicles is the ability to generate your own fuel... I am going for solar panels on the roof of my home and 6kWh battery storage, yes I have the luxury of being able to install it which is an option not everyone has, I understand. The price of solar has come down significantly over recent years and actually I believe the system will eliminate my household and future daily transport electricity consumption from the grid which should in theory see it pay for itself and beyond within the installation guarantee period (10 years).

Eventually I may look in to putting a small VAWT on my chimney...

I don't see any "fuel"? getting cheaper ever, so look to make myself as sustainable/independent as possible.
Vawt?

gangzoom

7,931 posts

236 months

Thursday 2nd September 2021
quotequote all
gmaz said:
I switched to Octopus Go in June at the same time as getting solar, battery storage and an EV. Ignoring standing charges, my home electricity costs for 3 months (jun-jul-aug) were £37. This compares with last year on Bulb when it was £227.
Its the solar and batteries making the biggest difference to your bills. Our grid electricity costs currently are nearly DOUBLE what they were 18 months ago, yet the actual bill is still pretty insignificant.



ChocolateFrog

34,610 posts

194 months

Friday 3rd September 2021
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JonnyVTEC said:
ChocolateFrog said:
Not related to domestic supplies but just watched Quentin Wilson's youtube video about driving his Model 3 to France.

760 miles cost him £68. So about a tenner less than a 320d would have done it for.

And that's now. It's going to get significantly more expensive in the future.
Cheaper in the worst case comparison and doesn’t sound like a tractor whilst offering better performance. No wonder they are popular!
One is £5k, the other £50k.

I'd bloody well hope it's better.

ChocolateFrog

34,610 posts

194 months

Friday 3rd September 2021
quotequote all
CheesecakeRunner said:
ChocolateFrog said:
Not related to domestic supplies but just watched Quentin Wilson's youtube video about driving his Model 3 to France.

760 miles cost him £68. So about a tenner less than a 320d would have done it for.

And that's now. It's going to get significantly more expensive in the future.
So what? Electrification isn’t about being cheaper than ICE. It’s about putting slightly less crap into the atmosphere.
I'd be interested in a straw poll of EV buyers.

My gut is that more people do it because of cost than for environmental reasons.

I'd go so far as to say more people get them for the performance than they do for environmental reasons.

carl0

54 posts

225 months

Friday 3rd September 2021
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I've just bought an i3 for a different motoring experience.

Nothing to do with cost, economy or being an environmentalist. I just wanted to try something different and am thoroughly enjoying it so far.

Skyedriver

Original Poster:

21,974 posts

303 months

Friday 3rd September 2021
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Firstly, thanks for all your replies, some kwh rates are way less than mine which has just risen to about 20p/kwh


ChocolateFrog said:
I'd be interested in a straw poll
My gut is that more people do it because of cost than for environmental reasons.
I'd go so far as to say more people get them for the performance than they do for environmental reasons.
Interesting comments, after 50 years of "interesting motors" inc., Lotus, TVR, BMW and various others, I was heading down the route of getting one last "Classic" to "see me out" at the age of 68 but the E10 fuel, the difficulties of maintenance at my age (68) and countless other obstacles that HM Govt., put in the way of enjoyment make me wonder if I'm going down the right route. I've long been a critic of of EV, they usually look souless, usually 4x4 look a like euro/far east white goods box with little identity, with the possible exception of the i8 but wonder if I should just follow the trend.
To this end, what is out there that will "float my boat", quick enough, with direct steering feel, handle nicely with decent road holding and poise. Something I'd enjoy driving and having parked it, would turn around to look at it as I walked away? Obviously budget is a factor, less say £20K max. nw or s/h.

TheRainMaker

7,519 posts

263 months

Saturday 4th September 2021
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Skyedriver said:
To this end, what is out there that will "float my boat", quick enough, with direct steering feel, handle nicely with decent road holding and poise. Something I'd enjoy driving and having parked it, would turn around to look at it as I walked away? Obviously budget is a factor, less say £20K max. nw or s/h.
None, nothing within your budget, even the stuff out of budget tbh.

The new EV's are all very good cars, but they really are dull and not something you would want as a hobby/ fun car.

Moonpie21

591 posts

113 months

Saturday 4th September 2021
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Chris32345 said:
Vawt?
Vertical axis wind turbine

Basically a bit easier and robust for domestic use. Can be used more of the time a good article here if interested:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EM-gCvhQhPU