[cmwade77]

Considering many already charge over $0.50 a kWh depending on TOU (Tesla, EVgo) I'm not surprised.

EvGo only charges that high if you don't have one of their membership plans.

 

[cmwade77]

EVGo is highway robbery. More broadly, they all need to find a way to get the prices competitive with and preferably better than typical equivalent cost for gas. A lot of this might rest on lobbying state legislatures to do something about electric utilities run amok in general (Eversource in Connecticut recently raised rates by 50%!) and specifically with regards to demand charges. They'll also need to start installing buffer batteries to try to reduce draw during high rate periods.

At $0.38 per KWh (my highest price on EvGo with the Max Plan), the cost breaks down to $0.08 per mile, our ICE car (a plugin Hybrid - CMAX Energi) breaks down to about $0.15 per mile based on our $5/gallon gas (and that's the cheap end here for gas) assuming we don't plug it in.

If I charge during the least expensive times, it drops to $0.21 per kwh, which breaks down to $0.043 per mile driven.

I can drop this even further by paying with my Bluedot card, which give 20% cash back for all charging. This makes the best rate $0.168 per kwh or $0.035 per mile.

Honestly, that is cheaper than our home electric rate.

NOTE: The above numbers are based on my average efficiency of 4.8 miles per kwh, but even at a low efficiency of 3 miles per kwh, it would be about $0.127 per mile driven at the worst case scenario, still cheaper than gas.

 

[cmwade77]

I too wonder how long EA will maintain one fixed price per kWh across the entire country.

As EV numbers increase there will also be a need to shoulder more of the costs to maintain the roads. A road tax on each kWh dispensed from DC fast chargers would mirror the current gasoline tax structure.

Most states are already adding the tax to license renewals, no need to tax per kwh.

 

[cmwade77]

Taxing by license renewal isn't really a fair use tax. If it's meant to help pay for road repairs it should be on a usage basis as a gas tax is now. A flat tax has everyone paying the same no matter how many miles they drive. The federal gasoline excise tax rate is 18.4 cents per gallon. It's 24.4 cents per gallon of diesel. This isn't compensated for at all by license renewals.

Simply put, we will have to rethink how we pay for roads.

 

[cmwade77]

Well, if gas is that cheap, yes, that could make a difference. But getting 20% cash back on all charging, including the monthly fee (which works of you drive a lot and use only public charging, if you don't, it isn't worth it). Also, keep in mind my cheapest home electric rate is $0.22 per kwh and cheapest gas here is $5 per gallon. So my numbers work out a lot differently. Best cash back I can get on gas is about 2%, so it makes a big difference there as well.

Also, is it fair to compare to your previous vehicles or to one comperably sized?