I have been going down a rabbit hole of potentially buy an EV and it’s been astonishing to me, especially living in California, how unattractive it is to buy an EV.

I will give you a few reasons why:

-I have to upgrade my electric panel to support charging -I have to switch to an EV plan through PG&E, which increases my partial and peak kilowatt an hour here is the breakdown of my summer rates (winter is lower by like 10 cents for both plans)

  • E-TOU-C (current plan)

    • Peak (4-9 PM): 54 cents/kWh
    • Off-Peak: 46 cents/kWh
    • Lower rates for usage within Baseline Allowance.

  • EV2:

    • Peak (4-9 PM): 59.068 cents/kWh
    • Part-Peak (3-4 PM & 9-12 AM): 48.019 cents/kWh
    • Off-Peak (All other hours): 27.818 cents/kWh
    • Delivery Minimum Bill: $0.37612 per meter per day.

-I have to pay someone to install a wall charger. Got a quote for $1900

-I have to pay an additional $103 a year to register an EV in CA

-On top of all these fees I don’t even qualify for many incentives as as a household we make over 300k which is honestly nothing crazy for coastal California when you factor in living expenses.

With all of these additional upfront costs and insane electric prices how does California expect people to adopt EVs?

I really want to buy one but it seems like more of a statement play and potential car performance play then a smart economic choice.

I did a cost comparison between a used Tesla Model X, a new Ford F-150 Lightning, and a new Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid. Here’s a summary including assumptions and formulas used.

Assumptions:

  • Prices: $70,000 for the Tesla Model X, $65,500 for the Ford F-150 Lightning (after rebate), $56,000 for the Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid.
  • Annual miles driven: 13,500.
  • Gas price: $5.73/gallon, Electricity price: $0.27/kWh.
  • Toyota MPG: 31.
  • EV maintenance costs are 60% of a gas vehicle’s maintenance.

Formulas:

  • Annual Fuel/Electricity Cost: (Miles Driven / Efficiency) * Price per Unit.
  • Total Cost (5 Years): Purchase Price + (Operating Costs * 5).
  • Total Cost (10 Years): Purchase Price + (Operating Costs * 10).

Results Over 5 Years:

  1. Tesla Model X: Approx. $77,797.
  2. Ford F-150 Lightning: Approx. $78,064.
  3. Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid: Approx. $73,665.

Results Over 10 Years:

  1. Tesla Model X: Approx. $85,082.
  2. Ford F-150 Lightning: Approx. $90,628.
  3. Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid: Approx. $85,141.

Conclusion: The Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid is the most cost-effective over 5 years, while the Tesla Model X becomes more economical over 10 years due to lower operating costs.

The big unknown for me is I’m fairly confident the Toyota will be working well well beyond 10 years. We’re still yet to see how EVs and the batteries hold up over that period of time.

Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts. Coming back to the title if we feel the electric rates are at all time highs due to inflation then maybe the cost analysis is off however, I would assume gas would follow suit. I guess it depends at what percentage one would fall or increase over the next 10 years.

  • Lordofthereef@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    My understanding for the states charging you more to register is to make up for the road tax they are no longer collecting via gasoline sales. I do think this is an imperfect way to do things because it doesn’t take into account the usage of the vehicle in any meaningful way. I could be driving a few thousand miles a year and I’m paying the equivalent of someone driving 10k+. At that rate, why not just do a flat charge for all cars and forget about the taxes built into fuel?

    • BoringBob84@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      it doesn’t take into account the usage of the vehicle

      Exactly. It was a bad deal for me during the pandemic when I was working from home and hardly ever driving.

      But then again, the federal government gave me $7,500 of my taxes back and the state government waived about $3,000 in sales taxes on my purchase price so I cannot complain.

    • BoringBob84@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      why not just do a flat charge for all cars and forget about the taxes built into fuel?

      This unfairly burdens people who do not drive often - for example, retirees on a fixed income.

      The state of WA did a pilot project on an odometer tax. This seems like a good compromise, although people who drive often in other states would get a raw deal (i.e., paying gasoline taxes in the other state and odometer taxes at home).

      Every tax is unfair to someone. I would prefer many different taxes at low rates (if we could trust the government to keep the rates low).