Charging an Electric Vehicle In Public Can Cost Triple What Fueling Up a “Gas-Guzzler” Does

I've had an avid interest in e-powered vehicles since the sixties when a system was advertised in Popular Science and Mechanics Illustrated by using a large electric jet starter motor which was powered by a series of 'deep cell' marine batteries which in turn were powered by a generator which was spun by a small gasoline engine; and interestingly is how the "submarines" at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA. are powered, except a diesel engine is use to spin a large generator which then provides power to a large electric motor which turns the propeller.

So when the current offerings of e-powered vehicles were first offered it piqued my interest, especially the hybrids such as the Prius, but at the time I already had several vehicles, some of which were capable of obtaining 47 mpg, a Fiat 4dr. 500L, and two large Honda touring motor-cycles so an e-machine was not to be.

However at the present time I'm down to a VW Jetta and a Chevy Silverado with a 5.3 L engine which shows 43 mpg when running on the optional four cylinder configuration on the freeway at 70 mph (!?), and three bikes, each of which are capable of 45 to 55 mpg; but still am considering a used E-Vehicle, such as a Tesla or the fiat 500E which is an absolute blast to drive.

But here's the rub, for long range driving such as from my home in So. Cal. to either Austin, Tx. or Portland, Or. my travel time is greatly increased by several hours due to recharging the batteries.

And one of the problems NOT being mentioned IS now that we in California are faced once again with "rolling brown-outs" or blackouts just how useful is an all-electric vehicle, or hasn't anyone spoken of this before, (?), because in all the research I've done it has Never once been mentioned, (!).

The primary fix, in my opinion, is to equip these vehicles with an array of solar panels on the roof to charge the vehicle in order to provide them with the ability to travel long ranges without adding an unnecessary amount of hours to the trip, meaning having to stay overnight in some instances when a series of charges have added too many hours to keep safely driving to your destination.

Also, one final item re safety, is due to the amount of onboard fires due to the batteries currently being used there is a serious need for an on-board extinguisher system similar to that used on race cars which has also yet to be addressed.

Out of the three vehicles we drive, all 90s area we average about 15mpg. All can be worked on easily and at low cost. So if you equate what it would cost to replace these with a new ev or petro vehicle its cost prohibited. Long story short i just can't see spending 150g or more on 3 new vehicles on something I'm unable to maintain at home. Neither one is backyard friendly.

My tesla model 3 cost 10 dollars to add 300 miles of range as I took my car from 10% to 95%

Funny you use one of the most expensive EV chargers out there. Thst not even a true supercharger.

Your mistake was using EVGo....They charge by minute.... because apparently they sell time not energy. The lower the charge rate the more money per kWh. They have also modified their attenuation algorithm 2 or 3 years ago to make it slow down more quickly (more money for them)....I haven't gotten any software updates for my Nissan Leaf so it wasn't me.

Use Charge point or Electrify America or just about every other single charging company because most of them will charge you for the energy you receive, not the time you spend connected to it

Eventually EV ranges will get up to say a 500 mile range with quick charge times, but for the foreseeable future, car trip vacations are impractical with 30 minute charge times combined with no at home overnight charging. I’ll stick with my large comfortable F150 with plenty of luggage and gear capacity.

I drive about three total hours a day. My 2019 Prius gets 52mpg avg after driving 90k miles. I drive fast and I am not easy on the throttle. I enjoy the efficiency of combining both techs. There is no plug in, my driving style did not change from the sports car I had before. I save enough fuel on a monthly basis, to pay for the car if you compare it to my Dodge Ram 3/4 ton that gets 12.7 mpg without a trailer.

Do your homework Dodge gets less than 22 hwy and 15 in the city.

The only EV I would consider is the Rivian or the Hummer, granted the Cybertruck seems to be modular which kinda draws me in.

However if I am in the middle of nowhere and I need a charge, I can’t use my external battery pack that is also a jumper. One might opt for solar panels to try and charge their EV, however you would need quite a bit of them in order to get a significant charge.

I am not jumping on the EV bandwagon yet, maybe never I don’t know.

I am happy with my truck and ai don’t worry about the MPG, I get about 250-270, if I baby it 300miles. Plus if I decide to do a cross country trip , I’ll strap on some Jerry Cans or bring a buddy that has a fuel tank in his or her bed.

Repairs on Tesla can be expensive but the repairs on any car can be expensive if you take it to the dealer but in the two Years that I'v owned my model 3 other then a flat tire I have had none knock on wood but even if I did the warranty is quite extensive also because I put solar also on my house no Tesla solar because it was before Tesla got it’s act together on solar, I have payed a total of $50 dollars for energy since 2019, and have put some 20,000 miles on my car that’s .0024 cents per mile as for repairs what repairs as previously mentioned there is the computer the Batteries the motor with basically one moving part,
No oil changes, no coolant, brake wear is minimal due to regenerative braking, if you live in a state that cares no smogging as well car pool lanes can be yours I prefer not because I don’t want sticker on my car, and because of auto pilot “not self driving” I don’t feel the need the cruse control is incredible not infallible you are still responsible for continual monitoring but by holding ones wrist on the steering wheel while the car pretty much dose the rest, can it be better what can’t be heck I’m not perfect that’s why 99/100 Tesla owners of Tesla don’t say I think my next care will be a Ford.

Are any jurisdictions applying a road tax to EV charge costs?

What the [bleep] were you doing "topping up" at a DCFC?!? The reason no one uses a DCFC past 80% is that the battery pack can't take the charge a DCFC can provide at that state of charge (SOC). The car's battery management forces the charge rte to taper aobove 80%.

You were paying a DCFC price, but the charger was only giving you an L2 charging rate because the car wouldn't let it charge faster. Doing so would have harmed the batteries.

I know EVs are a new thing to many, and it takes time for people to adjust. But seriously - if you're getting paid to provide information on the topic, PLEASE do some homework to avoid spreading disinformation, and it might also prevent putting a patently false click-bait title on the article.

Be better.

You averaged 18kw of charging speed, so you decided to fast charge at ~85% battery remaining. That's not when someone should use a fast charger, if you were charging from 10% SOC you would have gained ~27kwh instead of just over 9. The point of a fast charger is to go from a low state of charge to approx 80% not from 80-100% unless it's absolutely necessary as the higher the battery charge is the less energy can be safely put into the battery, it's just a less efficient use of charger time.
So really for that $10 you could have gained over 100mi if you were smart about it.

I'm impressed by how much my fellow readers know on the subject of EVs.
And I'm curious, what do you guys think is the best SUV to get right now:
Hybrid or EV?
Make and model?

Also, which, in your opinion, is the best VALUE, overall, including price, operation costs, and maintenance?

If you have one, is it the right one?
Or, is there another that you wish you'd waited for?

I'm getting out of a gas SUV, and aiming to go green, on my next one. However, I'm not as familiar with hybrids or EVs, as you guys seem to be, and would welcome your insights.

Thank you.

Waiting for the new Lucid Air with 500 mile range...

I have a 2019 Nissan Leaf SV. I charge at a DC Fast Charger in Stowe VT that is a 4 minute walk from my house. From 20% to 80% battery charge , which gives me about 100 miles, costs $2.60 and takes 35 minutes.

I have used the Tesla Supercharger network for all my road trips in the Model 3 for the last 3 years. My average price per kWh is $0.209. That's for a total of 2344 kWh of energy. So to add 9.51kWh to my car would cost $1.99.

I charged for 2 hours at a Chargepoint and added about 20 miles and the display said $1.63 but when I got my credit card bill I see a $10 charge. What's up with that. Does anybody know why Chargepoint does that?

No doubt that we EV drivers pay far more on the road for equivalent energy than petrol users, but it doesn't really matter much because electric motors are far more efficient. It evens out at the end, especially when noting that most of the time we get are juice from home were it's cheaper.

This is one of the reasons Tesla is leading in sales. Super charging does not cost that much. 5 to 7 dollars for 80 percent charge. 50 to 70 dollars or more to fill-up a f150 or Taurus. EV go may charge a lot but supercharger do not. There may be other level 3 charging that is free. Report on that

Our family has owned two Tesla’s for the past five years. To all the people using EV cars, the idea of CHARGING BY THE MINUTE REALLY DOES NOT MAKE SENSE. EV’s charge at different rates. Some charge quickly to 80% and other take twice as long. Why would a charging station charge by the minute when we are buying energy in the form of Kilowatt. It should not matter how long it take to secure that Kilowatt. The charging station should charge by how much energy you take onboard.

Think about it, does your electric company charge you for power at home by the minute,, NO! It would not make sense and would not represent your actual energy usage. Do we buy gas by the minute NO! We buy gas by the gallon and the gallon represents a measure of energy that we can see as miles per gallon.

Has no one else thought about this?? Many states mandate EV charging by the minute, that’s highway robbery.

I bought a 2021 Hyundai Ioniq electric. I live on the East Coast in Maryland about 20 mi south of DC and after owning the car for about 6 months I have to say it's been really good. I read all these stories online about how expensive EV 's are to charge but so far I've had no trouble finding free charging stations ready available all over my area. The electric company I get my power from in my home only cost $0.07 a kilowatt hour so it would cost me about $2.70 to charge my car from 0% to 100. I do charge it from home but I would say it is probably a 50-50 mix between public charging stations and home charging. All the public stations I use are free .The majority are level II so those stations do take a bit longer to get decent range. But I have found several free fast charging stations near me. If I'm running low on battery I typically stop at a public station as I currently only have 120 volt level I charging available for me at home but if I'm going to be in for the night and I have at least 40% battery level 1 charging works fine by the time I leave the next day I have plenty of range. I have taken several 100 mile one-way trips into Virginia to see family and friends and have had no issues finding free public charging stations somewhere on the route. So it is shocking to me when people talk about how expensive these cars are to charge I can legitimately run this car off of free power from public charging stations or charge it at home for a very affordable price. I am about to install a level II charger in my garage so that will make charging that much faster and allow me the option of almost charging strictly at home. But if you download several apps on your phone such as plug share, EVgo or charge point you can find plenty of free stations to charge your vehicle. I charged my car one time at a Tesla Super station where I had to pay for charging time it was rather expensive for 50 minutes of charging it ran me about $21 so yes that would have been more expensive than a gas equivalent for the 160 mi of range I got but now owning the car and being plugged in lpun intended to what's available out there with free charging public stations, I no longer pay to charge my car outside of my home. I am going to take a 300 mile road trip this week and using the apps I've found many free charging stations directly along my route that I will stop to charge my battery. I really do think you have to find out what type of charging is available to you how many free stations are in your area and where you'll be driving the car to be sure that it will work for you and the type of driving and mileage you do. But I got to say so far I don't regret switching from gas to all electric it's been great and the savings is better than I imagined. I don't know about everyone's area but a helpful tip I have found is almost any brand car dealership that sells EVs has free charging most hospitals that have parking garages also have charging stations, malls and newer condo and townhouse communities have public charging stations I do think the network still has a lot of room to grow but the area I live in is pretty rural and I have nine charging stations in my county so they are out there. So I find it hard to believe these large metropolitan areas such as Boston New York and other places are so expensive to charge one of these vehicles. But I can only speak for my experience. So if anyone is looking to take the leap to an electric car do your research before you buy one and if you have the charging stations and the company you get your electric from is affordable I say do it and don't look back. Also I do think Teslas are wonderful cars but they are expensive now that they EV market is heating up there is a lot more great affordable EV alternatives Tesla might be the king with range and electric car performance but if you're looking at it from a saving standpoint I feel like the less expensive models are great alternatives to Teslas.

It's not like DC fast chargers are the only option. They are actually more rare than any other kind. I never use pay chargers anyways, because I charge up my car at work for free, that gives me 250+ miles per charge. I never need to charge at home. (If I do charge at home, I use the portable 110v charger that comes with every EV so I didn't spend a couple thousand or more to add a charger to my house.) I've had my Bolt since the end of June. I never had to go to a charger where I had to pay. I also have only had to fill up my SUV once. (My wife uses it to drop the kids off and pick them up from school, which is about 1.5 miles from our house, and they were homeschooling last year, and didn't go to school all summer.) However that 1 fill up cost me more than what I have spent using the Bolt every day for months. Gas is around $5/gallon here in the bay area. When I filled up my SUV, it was over $60 for 1 time. When I was driving my Accord, it was costing over $120 a week to fillup and go to work 5 days a week.

Face it, EV cars can be much more cost effective. No, they aren't for everyone. Especially those who say they like to take long trips across the country. But if you have a daily commute of 120mi. I would say it's a good cost saver. All you have to do is know your range, (Like you do with gas cars, so you don't get stuck on the freeway)

I pay about $10 Canadian for 300 miles.
Not sure why you picked the most expensive place to charge, and paying per minute after 80% charge is your own fault.

Click bait?