and the 0-60mph can be insane in an EV, but I don't own one (yet).

BUT, I ran across an Amazon item that made me wonder...

Electric Vehicle (EV) Charger,240V Indoor/Outdoor Car Charging Station with Level 2

That's a chunk of voltage... IF you charge your car at your home, is there a significant increase in your electric bill? As far as I know that is the max voltage for any home in the U.S., and for the most part only AC's, ovens, and clothes dryers need that kind of voltage.

SO... with all the money you are saving by not buying gasoline... is there any significant expense for charging your car at home?

Heck, for that matter... when a very cool gas station like Buccee's in Texas (they are the coolest gas stations/Car Stops ever!) has built in charging stations, do y'all have to pay for that?... like you would at a gas pump? If so, are charging you per amp or something?

Sorry to be so long-winded and EV ignorant, but seriously... is there a value (or cost) similar to buying gas on a regular basis? If so, what might someone pay to charge (at home and charge at stations) per month compared to us daily gas burners?

I'm not anti-EV... I just haven't seen any that made me want to switch yet.


Thanks,
David

 

Oh, and I also assume they do not require oil changes (or spark plugs) like a gas engine, BUT are there other parts and components that need to be replaced regularly, like capacitors, resistors, batteries, or connectors?

 

(I am assuming this is not a troll, regardless of that likelyhood.)

Yes, and EV makes good use of high power that is availabe from 240V circuits, but not available from 120V circuits, which are limited to 20 amps. All EVs can charge from 120V, but that is too slow, taking 8 or so hours for a typical days driving needs, and more than 24 hours for a full charge to an empty battery. So, 240V is just far more convenient, allowing full charge overnight, and a quite useful charge in a couple hours. And then, for longer trips, far higher power DC charging can do a 0% to 80% charge typically around 20 minutes. Bottom line is that for most EV owners who do most of their driving in town and around 50 miles per day, no 240V charger (EVSE) is needed, and for the occasional longer distance trips, DC chargers are not bad, but will take a little more time, especially if not cooridinated with meals stops and such. Not a bad trade off for NEVER needing to stop for gasoline and dealing with smelly gas pumps.

My electric bill is about $15 a month higher than before we had an EV, while our gasoline bill is about $60 a month less. For a comparable vehicle (small car EV vs ICE, or full size SUV EV vs ICE, etc.) the EV will typically get 3 to 4 times the miles per dollar when charging at home, or 1 to 2 times the miles per dollar when charging from DC charging stations. Note however, that even for long trips, they begin with 100% charge from home and typically recharge overnight at hotels for free, while only paying the 2 to 4 times higher electric prices an DC chargers for perhaps half the total trip miles.

FYI, EVs are rated on their window sticker in MPGe for efficiency, just like ICEs are rated in MPG. The MPGe is Miles Per Gallon *equivalent* where the equivalent is the exact same amount of energy used per mile. Electrical energy is measured in kWh (kilo-watt-hours) while gasoline energy is rated in joules (or other energy units-makes no difference). A gallon of gasoline (regular or premium - no difference) has the same energy as about 26 kWh of electricity. While the price of electricity varies a lot, and the price of gasoline also varies, the residential cost of electricity in most places on a yearly average basis is roughly the same as the average price of gasoline most places on a yearly average basis for the same amount of energy. That is, my home electricity (mid day wintertime -- lower at night and higher in the summer) is about 11 cents/kWh and my local gas stations charge about $3/gallon, which means the price is virtually the same for either. However, my EVs MPGe is well over 100 while a similar compact SUV is likely to get around 30 MPG. The ICE will cost about 3 times more for fuel than the EV. Does't matter if the electricity is paid monthly on the home electric bill, or weekly at the gas pump; EVs are far cheaper to drive with respect to fuel costs.

EV charging away from home can run anywhere from free to four times more than what you would pay at home. Typically, 240V chargers in, say, mall parking lots will be twice as expensive as home charging, while high powered DC charger are 3 - 4 times more, while hotels and some shopping centers and various other places simply don't charge, as they figure the less than $1 worth of electricity consumed while eating lunch was well worth getting more business through the lure of free charging. The means of pricing charging at such places also varies, with a $/kWh rate most typical, but also $/hr is sometimes used, and sometimes a combination of both. Also, some charging networks have lower fees for members who have a credit card on file and higher fees for non-members who use a credit card at the charger.

Nearly all EVs (and a multitude of mobile phone apps) have charger locations known and allow filtering by power levels (240V or DC levels), by network (Tesla, EVgo, Blink, etc.), and some with real-time updates on availablility that includes how many chargers are occupied and unoccupied and how many might be out of order (you know, like the white tape put over the gas pump handle of an out-of-order or out-of-fuel gas pump). Also, nearly all built-in EV nav systems will include charging stops optimized for long trips that really add no complexity to using the nav system.

As to your second post re other maintenance, there is both scheduled maintenance and unscheduled maintenance for both ICEs and EVs. Both have tires, windshield wipers, washer fluid, and inside cabin air filters, however, EVs are heavier, and tires typically will only get 80-90% of the life of an equivalently sized ICE. Also, both have a differential (or two for AWD), and those differentials need lube changes typically every 100K miles. Since parts not associated with the drive train, like seats, windows, lights, radios, are more or less identical, and generally have zero scheduled maintenance, nothing more need be said about those parts. Looking at drive train scheduled maintenance, ICEs typically have 5K or 10K service intervals that include oil changes and tire rotations and various fulid inspections (far more fluids than with EVs), and longer service intervals for engine tune up, brake line flush, transmission flush, radiator flush, power steering flush, spark plug replacements, and many other items. EVs use all-electric AC, power steering and power brakes which are far more reliable for many reasons, and have no scheduled maintenance except for typically 3 years brake line flush. Note that 90% of most EV braking is done with the motors geting power regenerated to the battery in the process of braking, so most EV brakes can go for life without ever needing new pads or rotors, but the brake fluid does still need replacing, just like the differential lube. The only other parts of an EV drivetrain are the motor(s), battery (separate high voltage battery for the motors and a small 12V battery for lighting and such), and drive electronics/motor controller. Electric motors are typically good for over a million miles, and the high voltage battery is typically good for 250K miles and typically warranted for 100K miles. The electronics can go forever, but can also fail. The motor controller is cheaper than either an ICE engine or transmission, and far less likely to fail in 500K miles than either the engine or tranny of an ICE.

Summary: EV scheduled maintenance: 10K miles for tire rotation, cabin filter, and general inspection. 3 years for brake flush. 100K miles for differential lube change. ICE scheduled maintenance is all the same for an EV, plus a WHOLE LOT MORE dealing with the engine and transmission and radiator. Likewise, unscheduled maintenance for an ICE is likely far more frequent than for an EV.