chill's Journal: EV -- One Year In Report

I'm coming up on one year with my EV, a 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 Limited AWD (20" wheels) and thought I'd give an update, mostly focused on costs.

I have a 48A (11.2 kW) Leviton Level 2 home charger and charge almost exclusively at home. My electricity cost is $0.135 per kWh including taxes and surcharges. I don't live inside city limits, which would add another $0.045 per kWh in my area. I do not have variable pricing, that's the one residential rate and it can be adjusted annually with the approval of the State Public Utility Commission. The reality is the price has historically changed every 3 years or so, so it is very stable.

Gasoline in my area has averaged about $3.45 per US gallon over the last year. Gas prices are very volatile and can change multiple times a day but usually fluctuate weekly or so by a few pennies. But a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, or upcoming "driving" holiday, random Middle East whatever, and gas can bounce around.

I am very casual about running about, meaning I don't plan or combine trips and can easily make 2-3 runs to the same shop in a day if I forgot something. If I developed some discipline I could cut my milage by close to half, but as it is I approaching 22,000 miles in my first year. I live in a quiet neighborhood about 6-7 miles from all the major shops, from groceries to home improvement. I drive normally, meaning heat (cabin, steering wheel, seats) in the winter and cooling (cabin, vented seats) in the summer, and open windows when it is nice enough.

So, let's do some basic math. First the electric. Over the last year, winter and summer, I've averaged about 3.75 miles per kWh in fuel efficiency. It dips to about 3.3 in the dead of winter, where temperatures dipped into the 20s F for a couple weeks. It usually hovered just below freezing for lows in January and February. In summer my efficiency will rise to 4.3 or higher, with the temperatures hanging around in the low- to mid-90s F and evening lows in the upper 60s to low 70s. I have my car scheduled to charge at night, starting at 1:00 a.m. just because and with how I drive I can usually top my car off (80%) in 2 hours of charging.

Taking 22,000 miles and dividing it by 3.75 miles per kWh gives 5867 kWh of total electricity used by my driving. Multiplying that by $0.135 / kWh gives me $792 in "total" electric fuel costs for the past year. I put "total" in quotes because when I bought the car it came with 2 years free charging from Electrify America and I've used that option maybe a dozen times. (50 kWh average fast charge * 12 sessions * $0.135 cost to offset means I saved an extra $81 over the $792. I'm not counting that because it is a limited time offer and I have to drive 20 miles or so for the nearest EA charger and I only do that if I have some other reason to be near one.) So, $792 as a working number.

I traded in a 2014 Chevy Silverado 1500 that was getting around 17 MPG on average. Yes, apples to oranges in vehicles, but that is what I had. So, 22,000 miles divided by 17 miles per gallon gives 1,294 gallons of gasoline that would have been used by my old vehicle. At $3.45 per gallon average price, $4,465 in total fuel cost, meaning a straight fuel cost comparison has be saving $3,672 for the year with the EV and charging at home.

Adding in the extra $200 I get charged for EV registration in my State to offset the gasoline taxes collected for road maintenance, and $300 a year in higher insurance premiums brings the savings to $3,172 on the EV. But, gotta add the 4 x $80 oil changes the truck would have needed but the EV doesn't, one every 5,000 miles, and that brings me back to $3,492 annual savings. The truck was starting to get to the point of constant maintenance, so my savings were even greater, but that's more "new car vs old car" and not really an EV vs ICE thing. Well, there are a lot less parts that need service on my EV, but again "new vs 13 year old, 250,000 mile".

I did all this math on the whiteboard in my home office and showed my son who was driving a 2021 Mazda CX-50. His fuel costs were averaging $450 per month, with a 60 mile commute twice a week, plus young family running around. Two days later he traded the Mazda in for a 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E. Same monthly payment, but extended out for one extra year. $200 per year in added insurance costs, and $200 in EV registration. But his fuel costs dropped to $50 per month by charging at home. So, month one paid for the insurance and registration. Months 2 thru 12 offset 66% of his car payment, so definite win for the EV.

Obviously the numbers depend on how much you drive, but the more it is the better it comes out for the EV.

The extra bonus, both for me and my neighbor, are that we've had four multi-hour power outages in the last year. The Ioniq has V2L, meaning I plug an adapter into my charge port and an extension cord / power strip into that and I have 1.9 kVA of 120V power to keep our refrigerators, freezers, and Internet routers running for days. (The UK and EU version of the car do 3.6 kVA or 230V, depending on your local mains levels.)

#DoTheMath #DidTheMath