One reservation you may have about buying an electric car is the price of electricity. Certainly, you’ll save on the cost of gas, but what impact will the charging of your EV have on your electric bill?
Even though you may want to be eco-friendly, you still need a cost-effective vehicle in order to drive.
Let’s crunch some numbers to determine if owning an electric car is worth it.
The True Cost of Electric Cars
A gallon of gas will cost basically the same price at any time of day, but this is not always true of electric power. Many municipalities and states charge less for power at night because of load balancing. In short, electricity is cheaper at night because it’s not in as high of demand.
In all likelihood, you’ll be charging your car in the evenings when you’re home from work.
To figure out how much it costs to charge a car at home, multiply your car's kilowatt-hours per 100 miles (kWh/100 miles) by the electrical cost for the time of day when you will be charging your car. This will show you the cost of driving 100 miles in your vehicle.
Depending on where you live, the average cost of driving 100 miles can vary. For example, we will assume electricity costs $0.11 per kilowatt-hour. In Washington, it actually costs even less than this. If your car uses 34 kWh to drive 100 miles, then your cost per mile works out to around $0.40. This means it would take $2.64 to fully charge a car that has an EV with a 70-mile range.
In other words, way way cheaper than gas.
Consider the Electricity's Source
It is also important to keep in mind the source of your electricity. If you live in a state like Ohio or Pennsylvania, a great deal of the area's electricity is produced from coal. While an electric vehicle creates no emissions from its actual operation, a huge amount of carbon might be burned to create the electricity in coal-powered states. In Washington, this is thankfully not a significant problem because of the state's hydroelectric power.
Bottom line: As you can see, charing your EV every night is far cheaper than fueling up at the pump. Keep in mind also how you plan on charging your vehicle. There are several types of car charges available. We can help you determine which is best for you. To schedule an appointment with Rawhide Electric Services, call (360) 382-1180.