According to Edmunds.com 1.9% of all new vehicle purchases in 2021 were Electric Vehicles (EVs). With the increased costs of gas, more are expected to be sold this year in spite of supply issues and an average transaction price for a new EV of $60,054 in February.
Before figuring out if it is actually less expensive or more expensive to personally own an EV, there are costs to society that have to be considered. The first is the electrical energy to keep electric car batteries charged, whether generated from coal, gas, oil, nuclear, wind or sun; the use of EVs requires more power generation and increased distribution infrastructure.
In many areas in the county our current residential infrastructure may not capable of bearing the increased demand. According to Edmunds.com, a home charging system for a Tesla requires 75-amp service. Currently the average house is equipped with 100-amp service. For each 25 homes in a typical neighborhood a typical current electrical infrastructure can only support three houses with a single Tesla, each. Luckily in our area, San Isabel Electric reports normal panel sizing for members is 200-amp.
Another consideration is the production of batteries, the materials needed for their manufacturing, and the disposal of the batteries when they can no longer be used. Technology is rapidly improving in this area.
A third cost to society in general is the cost to maintain public roads and bridges. If gasoline is not purchased, the gasoline tax is not paid; therefore the owners of EVs will be using the roads and bridges, but not paying for their maintenance. That infrastructure money will have to come from another source.
Personally the convenience cost of owning an EV is something else to consider, especially in our area where we often drive long distances. The most frequent current complaint from EV owners is the inconvenience of having to find a charging station and waiting for the EV to re-charge during longer trips. This is especially difficult when an EV is left in a parking area at an airport and the owner returns late at night after a trip of a week or longer. Often, the EV will need to be charged up before making the trip home.
So, what is the actual cost of owning an EV? It is a complicated questions based on a variety of assumptions. The first step is to analyze is the cost of the electricity used to charge the vehicle’s battery. This cost depends on when and where you charge and what rates your utility company offers; if your employer requires payment for charging at work; the amortized cost of installing a home charging station; and/or the cost of a home solar system for charging purposes.
The cost of charging an electric vehicle is measured in Kilowatt-Hours per 100 miles (kWh/100). This rating is on the car’s EPA fuel economy sticker and in the owner’s manual. The Federal Department of Energy also keeps track of fuel economy on their site for both electric and plug-in hybrids. Their information is available on their website at afdc.energy.gov.
The least expensive way to charge an electric vehicle is at a free public charging station, which typically takes the longest and are becoming more difficult to find. Forpay public charging stations typically charge by the hour. The cost will depend on the speed of the vehicle’s charging system and the charging stations capability.
To figure out the cost of charging the vehicle at home, where most owners charge their vehicles, multiply the vehicles kWh/100 figure by the electric rate for the time of day you would be charging to determine the cost per 100 miles. It is also possible to determine the cost of an individual charge by multiplying the amount of kilowatts it takes to recharge a fully depleted battery by the electric rate per kilowatt.
San Isabel Electric charges a monthly access fee of $30 with an on-peak rate of $0.149 per kWh; the first 1,000 kWh off-peak rate of $0.076 and over 1,000 kWh off-peak rate of $0.062. To qualify for these rates, member-owners must provide a proof-of-purchase of an EV, install electric storage heating equipment (ETS units) or battery storage unit (s) approved and installed by the company.
The cost of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) is a cost to factor in. An EV can be charged at home on standard household current of 120 volts, which in EV terminology is called Level 1 charging. If your EV has a battery under 10kWh, this will be sufficient, but the charging time is slow.
An EV will charge faster with 240-volt circuit, called Level 2 charging. Prices for quality Level 2 systems range from $200 to more than $1,000 before installation. San Isabel Electric is currently working on a pilot program to offer charging/storage systems.
The average national cost of an EVSE installation with a short and uncomplicated ten-foot wiring from the electrical service box to the charging station is between $800 and $1,300. The biggest variable in this cost is the permitting fees and requirements. San Isabel Electric does not have any permitting fees, but does require systems to be installed by their technicians.
Installing a residential solar power system for powering the car and for the household is another option. For a Chevrolet Bolt, which is one of the more efficient EVs available, at least a 3.6kW system is needed at a cost of about $7,000. Then you would need a storage battery to hold power for the overnight charging which is likely to double that cost.
The upfront cost of solar will be higher but it will pay for itself much quicker. The national average installed cost of a 6kW system for household use is $12,920 after applying the 30% federal tax credit according to EnergySage. San Isabel Electric partners with a Pueblo solar company who can calculate the cost of a system based on the member-owner’s usage.
In May of 2020, Car And Driver investigated two models in the United States market that were available with both gas and electric power to determine whether gas or electric vehicles are more expensive. Although the information is dated, it does offer a meaningful comparison and provides other factors to consider.
The Hyundai Kona/Kona Electric and the Mini Cooper two-door/Mini Electric were used to compare their first three years of overall ownership costs not including financing or insurance costs. They used 15,000 annual miles driven for a three-year mileage count of 45,000.
Maintenance costs were based on AAA’s 2019 Your Driving Costs Analysis disregarding the Mini and Hyundai free maintenance offers in order to ascertain as near as possible a true comparison. Generally, with less moving parts, an EV has lower maintenance costs.
They used the EPA’s gal lons and kWs/100 with the national average price of gas in February 2020 (the Mini requires higher-grade fuel) of $2.44/$3.11 per gallon and the average charging per minute rates without the membership fee of Electrify America’s up to 75-kW stations of $0.22 per minute.
The final comparison was depreciation, always an educated guess. For this purpose, AAA’s depreciation metrics, Vincentric was used to calculate three years-worth of depreciation. In general, an EV depreciates quicker primarily due to the higher initial cost.
Based on purchase price, fuel/electric and maintenance costs and depreciation over a three-year period, the total cost-of-ownership of the comparison vehicles was: Mini Hardtop: $41,454 Mini Electric: $49,312 Hyundai Kona: $39,817 Hyundai Kona Electric: $55,311
Two years later, costs have changed and technology has improved many options of EVs. In addition, today, there are rebates available to help off-set the higher purchase costs of an EV. San Isabel Electric offers a rebate and has a comprehensive list of others on their website.
If you are considering an EV and want up-to-date; real-world ownership and charging costs, try an online calculator by a reputable source, starting with San Isabel Electric’s webpage.
Sources: Brittany Flowers of San Isabel Electric and others as noted.
