EV charging costs
Discussion
I normally charge at home and I’m currently sat at a charge point thinking jesus this is expensive so started to do the maths.
My car is a 75kW and I normally get an average of 160 miles between charges (can be more or less depending on length of drives and time between charges, weather etc) but I’d say 160 is an average.
But this charger that I’m currently at is charging me 49p per kWh. Meaning a cost from empty to full of around £36.75.
I’m not clever enough to do the exact maths but to me, £36.75 would buy me around 4.75 gallons of petrol? To do 160 miles is 33.6 mpg equivalent? (Someone check my maths).
I’m sure I’m now paying something like 30p per kWh at home since the recent hike. So yes a bit cheaper but still that only works out around 55mpg the same as I can probably get from a decent diesel car.
Have I gone wrong somewhere or is the benefit of cheap miles by owning an EV a thing of the past? 4 years ago I seem to recall I was on an E7 tariff paying about 5p per kWh. Then it was worth it. Now I’m not so sure?
Debate……….
My car is a 75kW and I normally get an average of 160 miles between charges (can be more or less depending on length of drives and time between charges, weather etc) but I’d say 160 is an average.
But this charger that I’m currently at is charging me 49p per kWh. Meaning a cost from empty to full of around £36.75.
I’m not clever enough to do the exact maths but to me, £36.75 would buy me around 4.75 gallons of petrol? To do 160 miles is 33.6 mpg equivalent? (Someone check my maths).
I’m sure I’m now paying something like 30p per kWh at home since the recent hike. So yes a bit cheaper but still that only works out around 55mpg the same as I can probably get from a decent diesel car.
Have I gone wrong somewhere or is the benefit of cheap miles by owning an EV a thing of the past? 4 years ago I seem to recall I was on an E7 tariff paying about 5p per kWh. Then it was worth it. Now I’m not so sure?
Debate……….
Use the 7.5p/kWh EV only tariffs like Octopus? Plus there are various free chargers around. I would only use the fast chargers on a long journey.
Are driving at 100mph everywhere to get that kind of range from 75 kWh? I’m up around 280 with that. Maybe 260 on a motorway around 70mph.
Are driving at 100mph everywhere to get that kind of range from 75 kWh? I’m up around 280 with that. Maybe 260 on a motorway around 70mph.
Don’t get me wrong if I charge it to 100% then go on a steady drive in decent temps I can get 230 miles, but I don’t drive like that very often.
I sometimes don’t even do 50 miles in a week. It’s difficult to calculate as I don’t run it to zero or charge it fully every time but the 160 is what I work out to be an average if I did 0-100%. Let’s not forget I lose around 6 miles per day phantom drain.
I sometimes don’t even do 50 miles in a week. It’s difficult to calculate as I don’t run it to zero or charge it fully every time but the 160 is what I work out to be an average if I did 0-100%. Let’s not forget I lose around 6 miles per day phantom drain.
Pica-Pica said:
The Octopus Go rate that people rave about, is now 7.5p per kWH, between 0:30 and 04:30 and a whopping 37p per kWh at other times.
(I have no EV but fixed my Octopus electricity rate last September for two years - I could read the runes)
And look at the standing charge daily cost….last year I was paying 17p a day. Can’t see how they can argue that has gone up …..yet it has.(I have no EV but fixed my Octopus electricity rate last September for two years - I could read the runes)
delta0 said:
Use the 7.5p/kWh EV only tariffs like Octopus? Plus there are various free chargers around. I would only use the fast chargers on a long journey.
Are driving at 100mph everywhere to get that kind of range from 75 kWh? I’m up around 280 with that. Maybe 260 on a motorway around 70mph.
That sounds great in principle, but to get that 7.5 kwh rate, you're paying extra - 33.9p per kw/h currently as opposed to 27.35p/kwh on the flexible tariff. That's all day, every day on every electrical appliance and light bulb in your home. I can't even begin to try the maths on that comparisonAre driving at 100mph everywhere to get that kind of range from 75 kWh? I’m up around 280 with that. Maybe 260 on a motorway around 70mph.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I actually think people haven’t worked it out yet. It’s too complicated and hidden behind things like non real world economy figures (yes an ev can be ok if driven on a long run, in nice temperatures, slowly). It’s not until people get told the truth about phantom drain, short journey real world economy, in winter temps, coupled with the ever increasing electricity prices will people start to calculate that the premium prices for EVs over the ICE equivalent aren’t worth it.
lornemalvo said:
That sounds great in principle, but to get that 7.5 kwh rate, you're paying extra - 33.9p per kw/h currently as opposed to 27.35p/kwh on the flexible tariff. That's all day, every day on every electrical appliance and light bulb in your home. I can't even begin to try the maths on that comparison
Yeah, I'm due to swap onto that rate in August and TBH I'm considering coming off GO.I'm no longer burning 10kWh a day in the car, my wife loves the tumble dryer during the day (heat pump model likely), only the dishwasher overnight do I have any dominion over.
Flat rate might have to be the way forward.
audi321 said:
I normally charge at home and I’m currently sat at a charge point thinking jesus this is expensive so started to do the maths.
My car is a 75kW and I normally get an average of 160 miles between charges (can be more or less depending on length of drives and time between charges, weather etc) but I’d say 160 is an average.
But this charger that I’m currently at is charging me 49p per kWh. Meaning a cost from empty to full of around £36.75.
I’m not clever enough to do the exact maths but to me, £36.75 would buy me around 4.75 gallons of petrol? To do 160 miles is 33.6 mpg equivalent? (Someone check my maths).
I’m sure I’m now paying something like 30p per kWh at home since the recent hike. So yes a bit cheaper but still that only works out around 55mpg the same as I can probably get from a decent diesel car.
Have I gone wrong somewhere or is the benefit of cheap miles by owning an EV a thing of the past? 4 years ago I seem to recall I was on an E7 tariff paying about 5p per kWh. Then it was worth it. Now I’m not so sure?
Debate……….
I get 80mpg equivalent at current electricity / fuel prices (29.5p/kwh) - but then I only ever charge at home.My car is a 75kW and I normally get an average of 160 miles between charges (can be more or less depending on length of drives and time between charges, weather etc) but I’d say 160 is an average.
But this charger that I’m currently at is charging me 49p per kWh. Meaning a cost from empty to full of around £36.75.
I’m not clever enough to do the exact maths but to me, £36.75 would buy me around 4.75 gallons of petrol? To do 160 miles is 33.6 mpg equivalent? (Someone check my maths).
I’m sure I’m now paying something like 30p per kWh at home since the recent hike. So yes a bit cheaper but still that only works out around 55mpg the same as I can probably get from a decent diesel car.
Have I gone wrong somewhere or is the benefit of cheap miles by owning an EV a thing of the past? 4 years ago I seem to recall I was on an E7 tariff paying about 5p per kWh. Then it was worth it. Now I’m not so sure?
Debate……….
audi321 said:
I actually think people haven’t worked it out yet. It’s too complicated and hidden behind things like non real world economy figures (yes an ev can be ok if driven on a long run, in nice temperatures, slowly).
It’s not until people get told the truth about phantom drain, short journey real world economy, in winter temps, coupled with the ever increasing electricity prices will people start to calculate that the premium prices for EVs over the ICE equivalent aren’t worth it.
Aye but economy is only part of the attraction. I like BEVs because they tend to be - pound for pound - more refined and faster for daily driving, and I am happy to pay a premium for that. Lower running costs are icing on the cake. And I am lucky enough to be able to keep an interesting ICE for the weekend.It’s not until people get told the truth about phantom drain, short journey real world economy, in winter temps, coupled with the ever increasing electricity prices will people start to calculate that the premium prices for EVs over the ICE equivalent aren’t worth it.
lornemalvo said:
That sounds great in principle, but to get that 7.5 kwh rate, you're paying extra - 33.9p per kw/h currently as opposed to 27.35p/kwh on the flexible tariff. That's all day, every day on every electrical appliance and light bulb in your home. I can't even begin to try the maths on that comparison
I made an exact post just last week on here because like you, I couldn’t possibly see how that saving in those 4 hrs would offset the extra you pay all other times. I did the some quick maths and couldn’t have been more wrong.
Assuming you charge once per week, on the oct go tariff it will cost £5 to fully charge.
Without oct go it’s £15-20.
So you are saving £10-15 pw but paying around 10p kWh more all other times.
Providing you use less then 150kwh pw for everything else, you are better off. My typical weekly usage was around 100kwh.
Ultimately however, I switched to oct go last week simply because it was fixed for 12m. So even at the full 30p kWh it’s still far less then I’d have been paying otherwise (and even more so in oct).
The big cost is still depreciation.
Our local EV charge point is expensive, might be the same 49p/kwh, but that needs to be seen in context of most people only using it when they have to, maybe once a month? It only flavours the average unit cost a little.
30p kWh is 10p per mile. My diesel shed is now about 18p per mile just on diesel. 10 miles per litre, 45mpg.
If I did any city miles, I'd get worse mpg, the BEV would look better.
Personally, working from home, when I get a BEV, I will get solar panels, then some of my charging cost will be the cost of not getting 5p /unit export tariff.
If grid electricity keeps getting dearer, then a home battery may one day be viable, assuming they get a lot cheaper.
As more EVs hit the streets, the costs of octopus Go type tariffs might rise a lot, there is only a finite amount of low cost offpeak electricity from wind and nuclear.
Our local EV charge point is expensive, might be the same 49p/kwh, but that needs to be seen in context of most people only using it when they have to, maybe once a month? It only flavours the average unit cost a little.
30p kWh is 10p per mile. My diesel shed is now about 18p per mile just on diesel. 10 miles per litre, 45mpg.
If I did any city miles, I'd get worse mpg, the BEV would look better.
Personally, working from home, when I get a BEV, I will get solar panels, then some of my charging cost will be the cost of not getting 5p /unit export tariff.
If grid electricity keeps getting dearer, then a home battery may one day be viable, assuming they get a lot cheaper.
As more EVs hit the streets, the costs of octopus Go type tariffs might rise a lot, there is only a finite amount of low cost offpeak electricity from wind and nuclear.
Just what the hell cost is electric charging going to be when the chosen sacrificial goat apparatchik announces what method is eventually chosen for adding lost fossil fuel duty revenue, be it tax on the charge or road pricing/tolls, or maybe a combination of taxes to ensure all the genuine working people of the country get hammered.
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