Is it cost effective to plug-in?

[cjochumson]

I looked at my electric bill last night and found out that I pay 33 cents on the highest tier for my power. And since all the charging is now at this highest tier charging my battery is at the 33 cent per KW rate. I'm currently using the 110 volt charger. So to charge a 6.7 KW battery it's costing me $2.21 which gets me 15 miles down the road. So 45 miles which is close to what I get when my battery is depleted (I get 52 actually) is going to cost $6.63. Gas here in California costs around $3.90 right now. So basically the electricity is costing me almost twice what the gas would cost.

So my question is. Why should I plug-in?

Now of course I could pay to install a 220 volt charger, have my electric company come out and install a special use electric meter which will allow me to charge at midnight and possibly then I'm told my rate would be somewhere between 12 and 15 cents a KW. This works out to about $3.00 for 45 miles on electric charge. So I would save 90 cents after every 3 full battery charges. Even if I charged and drove every day of the year and saved .33 a day it would take way too long to pay off the cost of installing a charger, etc. (.33 * 365 = $120) Even if I only paid $1000 to set up the 220 volt charger it would take over 8 years to get my money back.

So I'm really wondering why owning a plug-in makes any sense. My friend has a 2013 Honda Accord which gets 28/35. I suppose paying for the cost of the hybrid might make economic sense and payback within x number of years assuming you drive a lot! But what's the argument for the plugin since gas isn't $6.00 a gallon.

 

[GreenRide]

I'm in CA as well & called PGE [Pacific Gas & Electric] company to see if I could get a favorable rate. They put me on a program called Electric Vehicle Rate (E9A) because I only charge using 110v at night majority of the time. I pay 0.16 - 0.17 cents per kWh after midnight. Like you, I didn't see the need in installing a charger.

 

[rinthos]

I think effectively it depends on the specifics of your situation.

For example, if having this vehicle (and the associated california hov-lane sticker) saves you significant time each day (I get approximately 2 hours back each day, 1 hour reduction of commute each direction), that has some sort of implicit value to it. And if you can additionally charge for free at your office, there's ~$10/week in savings there.

Additionally if you can avoid any gasoline for neighborhood runs (grocery shopping, or just shopping locally in general), and can charge for free @ some of the store shopping lots, then no cost there as well.

But to be fair, I can completely see where many situations the economies of scale don't add up.

In summary, there are a lot of financial incentives for these vehicles, but you'll have to do your homework relative to your specific situation to figure out where the break-even point is.

 

[silva]

It is only cost effective to plug-in if the cost of electricity is less than 20 cents (assuming $4 for gallon of gas). So I do not plug-in in the summer.

 

[rinthos]

Don't quite agree w/ your 20 cent target.

I get a range of 10-15 miles per charge. Playing minimums...4 charges = 40 miles.

Assuming I get 40MPG on hybrid mode (which is what I seem to get)...
1 Gallon of gas = 4 charges.
if 1 gallon of gas = $4, then less than $1 per charge makes this a cheaper alternative than gas...but just note that means I need to stop and charge 4 times, or return a charger 4 times... so much more time consuming...the value of time...well that's up to you

Price for electricity here varies based on time of day, so charging each night can be as cheap as 10 cents / kwhr, so 40 cents..that's a bit cheaper than $1

In terms of premium cost of the plug-in vs say...an accord touring v6...after rebates in California, the Accord Plug-in is about 4000 more.
How long it takes you to make that up...well don't plan on selling the car for a long...long....long time.
---

 

[comet17]

Can anyone clarify how many kWh is takes to fully charge the battery? I've seen 6.7 some places and 4 in others.

So if I'm paying $0.10/kwh for electricity, does it cost:

1. 6.7*$0.10 = $0.67 to charge the car

or

2. 4.0*$0.10 = $0.40?

thanks all!

 

[rinthos]

6.7 is the rated usable capacity...chances are you've got 2 bars on the gauge / ~20% of the battery actually there when you plug-in to charge. If you have a completely depleted battery..you've got other problems.. So that's where the variance comes from.
Remember, with only 2 bars left, you'll have 0 EV miles, but technically battery is >= 20% remaining.

Hope this helps clarify the variance.

 

[lh128]

Actually, each charge only takes in about 3.3 kWh of power.

The reason is, the battery keeps about 50% as reserved power: 1) in case you need more acceleration on the road; 2) to help extend battery life.
The "two bars" means 50%, not 20% (as one would naturally assume)

I use public stations a lot, and I can see how much power is taken because some stations charge by $$$/kWh.
And I only use those stations if < $1 / hour or $0.5 / kWh. Anything higher isn't worth it.

 

[rinthos]

Actually, each charge only takes in about 3.3 kWh of power.

The reason is, the battery keeps about 50% as reserved power: 1) in case you need more acceleration on the road; 2) to help extend battery life.
The "two bars" means 50%, not 20% (as one would naturally assume)

I use public stations a lot, and I can see how much power is taken because some stations charge by $$$/kWh.
And I only use those stations if < $1 / hour or $0.5 / kWh. Anything higher isn't worth it.

Almost... Your 3.3 kWh for seems accurate w/ ~2 bars left, but note when all bars are full, you're not really at 6.7. Closer to 4.7. The other ~2 actually seem to be reserves that rotate through charge/discharge cycles when the software determines they should. So in theory that's how Honda is able to meet the extended warranty period of the battery. Gives them an ~33% extra life on the entire battery pack that way. If we got the entire 6.7 as 'usable' on day one..well range would be better by about 35%, but battery pack wouldn't likely hit 10 years

 

[lh128]

Actually, each charge only takes in about 3.3 kWh of power.

The reason is, the battery keeps about 50% as reserved power: 1) in case you need more acceleration on the road; 2) to help extend battery life.
The "two bars" means 50%, not 20% (as one would naturally assume)

I use public stations a lot, and I can see how much power is taken because some stations charge by $$$/kWh.
And I only use those stations if < $1 / hour or $0.5 / kWh. Anything higher isn't worth it.

Almost... Your 3.3 kWh for seems accurate w/ ~2 bars left, but note when all bars are full, you're not really at 6.7. Closer to 4.7. The other ~2 actually seem to be reserves that rotate through charge/discharge cycles when the software determines they should. So in theory that's how Honda is able to meet the extended warranty period of the battery. Gives them an ~33% extra life on the entire battery pack that way. If we got the entire 6.7 as 'usable' on day one..well range would be better by about 35%, but battery pack wouldn't likely hit 10 years

That totally make sense!
I was wondering for days that how they came over stadium effect, because the power consumption seems very steady at 5.7kW until it stops at "full charge". If the battery is really fully charged to 100%, I would expect consumption in the last half hour to decrease to maybe 1kW or even lower.