These charts show how much it costs to charge an EV vs. refueling a gas vehicle

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

It has been true for years: Mile for mile, it's cheaper — generally much cheaper — to recharge an electric vehicle than it is to refuel one with an internal-combustion engine.

That has been a key selling point for Tesla and other EV makers, particularly in times when gas prices have soared, such as now. But this time there's a wrinkle: While gas prices have indeed soared in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, so have electricity prices — particularly in some parts of the U.S. that have been big markets for Tesla's EVs.

That raises a question: Is it still true that it's much cheaper to "refuel" an EV? The charts below help us find the answer.

The first chart, using nationwide figures, provides a baseline. The others use data specific to Boston and San Francisco, two markets where EVs are popular — and where electricity tends to be more expensive than the national average.







https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/these-charts-show-how-much-it-costs-to-charge-an-ev-vs-refueling-a-gas-vehicle/ar-AAVgsal

[pandr32]

1. I'm presuming the yellow line is ev, blue is gas engine

Even the link doesn't explain which is which.

[Pobeka]

2. In the Tacoma area, at $3.50 per gallon of gas, electric is 1/7th the cost per mile vs gas.

Which is dramatically better than either of these charts indicate.

[NQAS]

3. Meaningless charts

Without labels these charts are meaningless.

Price?

Time?

Baseline of what?

Re gasoline prices, wherever they are, what mpg is being used?

What is mpg equivalent for ev?

I thought the link would have is rls, but not there, or not visible on mobile device.

[NNadir]

4. Thank you. Ronald Reagan used to do this all the time, post graphs with no units.

In any case, the matter should be, but won't be, the carbon intensity per km.

[Finishline42]

5. Where did the electricity come from?

Coal and natgas fired power plants?

Nuclear?

Community solar farm?

EV panels on your roof with backup battery storage? It's the solution that changes everything.

[Caribbeans]

6. That's part of the story

The other part is when the Li-Ion HV battery dies and a replacement is $12 ,000 to $20,000 (refurbished vs new)

These Li-Ion batteries degrade as a function of cycles AND time. So even a low mileage battery will fail after some years.

The first Tesla Model S batteries are starting to fail and some are actually paying for a new battery for their 2012 -13 Tesla S. They need to hope and prey they don't need a new Drive Unit because that's around $10,000. Or a new MCU - for $3-4,000. Imagine putting $30,000 into a 2012 car.

Searching the most popular Tesla forum for "battery replacement" returns 29,000 results

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threadloom/search?keywords=battery+replacement&tab=0

Here's a Freeway in Southern California



Imagine all those batteries plugging in around the same time- lots of expensive electrical upgrades needed to upgrade the service to houses. And if you live in an apartment you can forget it.

THEN every battery made today will die and need recycling, which as of today is not cost effective - it costs around $3k to recycle a Tesla model S battery.

[Finishline42]

8. Have never owned a Tesla but did own a Prius

Put over 200,000 miles on the main battery before I sold it. Toyota makes a point of not over charging or discharging completely - makes me think that helps prolong the life.

How many of those that needed battery replacement on a Tesla consistently ran it close to 0? And to your point, they weren't built to be replaced easily.

Next gen will be more difficult to replace as they will be part of the structure, but are being touted as 1,000,000 mile battery. Once you wear out the car you park it out back and it becomes your backup battery for your home.

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-09-21/the-million-mile-car-battery-what-is-known

Selling all those 100,000's Tesla's is what brought about that development. It's especially what happens when somebody with an engineering background is the driving force behind a product - sales drive improvement and innovation.

[4catsmom]

7. Time constraints

Non-Tesla chargers (I have found) can take up to 12 hours to fully charge a car. Not a problem for daily commuter car charging but a trip of any duration may run into trouble. And I have also found that the Tesla app might tell me there are 17 charging stations in a particular city but maybe only 3-4 are available for use (rest are in hotel/bus building parking garages - private) and you don't know that until you get there and there's no station to be found.

[gopiscrap]

9. welcome to DU