EV and EV Charger economics
At Solar United Neighbors, we focus on solar and think that everyone that can possibly get solar at their home should use that to power their electric vehicle. Since some folks won’t be able to have their own solar and will be using community solar or buying solar power from other sources, we are including savings by using electricity that you purchase compared to the cost of gasoline below. This doesn’t include fewer car repairs and brake jobs due to regenerative braking. Recent data shows that EV’s cost 50% less to maintain and fuel over their lifetime.
As an example, a 2020 Standard Range Tesla Model 3 uses 24 kilowatt hours (kWh) to go 100 miles. Using a national average of 14 cents per kWh, that means that this electric vehicle costs $3.36 in electricity to go 100 miles or $403.20 to go 12,000 miles (the national average for what most drivers drive annually). The cost of gas is currently lower than usual due to the pandemic but using the national average of $2.20 per gallon and 25 miles per gallon, a gas powered vehicle would cost $8.80 in gasoline for 100 miles or $1,056 annually going 12,000 miles. Using 2019 data in a non-pandemic year, gas prices averaged $2.65 per gallon so this annual number would have been $1,272 in a gas powered vehicle. This is just an example based on average numbers but shows that driving an EV can save $600-$900 annually by using electricity as a fuel rather than gasoline.