Where’s the savings!!!!

[trev5150]

I gotta be honest. I have yet to see any savings from owning my 2024 Lightning extended range Lariat. The first month cost me roughly $100 to charge that was the month of December. January it looks like about $200 a month to charge. Can somebody please explain where the savings are?I love the truck but wow it’s expensive to power up!

You started driving a Lightning in December. Its not clear where you live but if it’s cold, you’re heating the batteries so they’ll function properly and you’re probably heating the cabin, using the seat warmer and heated steering wheel.

if you’re on a fairly set schedule, program preconditioning sp the batteries and cabin are warmed up using the home charging without using battery.

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[davehu]

When I reached 10k miles (about a year) I did a report. I charge at home. live in Arkansas so it's get's cold but not a lot, but plenty hot in the summer. All local driving charging at home ($0.11/kwhr): total electricity cost was $573. My previous truck, 2012 Chevy Avalanche cost me $1667 in gas alone saving me about $1,100.

If I take a trip DC fast charging it costs actually a little more than my Avy as it got better mileage on the highway where the Lightning gets less efficient. For the few trips we take to Texas we'll take my wifes Honda Pilot (30mpg) unless I need to haul something.

 

[Meddle]

I gotta be honest. I have yet to see any savings from owning my 2024 Lightning extended range Lariat. The first month cost me roughly $100 to charge that was the month of December. January it looks like about $200 a month to charge. Can somebody please explain where the savings are?I love the truck but wow it’s expensive to power up!

My 2022 Ford Bronco has a 20 Gal cap tank and gets 17 Mpg running Premium Fuel in Texas @ $3.50/gallon. Getting ~ 340 miles total costing me $70.00 would mean $0.2058 per mile cost. (This doesn't include oil changes)

My 2023 Ford Lighting Lariate has an ER capacity of 130 Kwhr at 2.3miles per kwhr totaling 300 miles range. To get 340 miles at 2.3 miles per kwhr that would be 147.8 kw. That at a cost of $0.10 kw would be $14.78 total to charge at home ($0.05 if i do off primary time) which is $0.04 per mile cost.

The savings is every month -I wanna say I did the math last year and between gas, oil changes it was $4,000 for the year.
The issue I have is 1. the cost of a EV Lariat and ICE Lariat is like $8,000-$12,000 more for the EV. 2. Texas (and many other states) are more expensive to renew registration for EV ($300 a year versus $60 for ICE)

However - with solar+battery I rarely spend on charging in most cases so the savings are probably even better.

All in all? Hey man, it's a toy that gets you from point a to point b. It's got a great team at Ford iterating on releases and features.

 

[JvdMaat]

Just found this.. Drive-Electric Fuel Savings Calculator | Department of Energy
Which (when I plug in the MA prices for gasoline and electric) shows that an EV will save us -453.13 per year.

Helpful for others in expensive electric states to see what their actual cost of EV ownership will look like.

 

[Mal106]

Just took my first trip. 360 miles cost $55 at Tesla Superchargers another 11 or so at home. Gas in my '23 Ecoboost would have been about $10 cheaper. Charging at home will be between 1/3 and 1/2 the price of gas. Considering road manners and maintenance; his thing may save some money but will never pay the difference. I love it! Smooth, fast and a frunk.

 

[chl]

From my last electric bill, my winter rate (super-off-peak on the EV and time of day plan - 1am to 5am when I charge the Truck) is $0.0152 per kWh.
But there are additional charges on my bill like Distribution Service Charges, Electricity Supply Charges and Taxes, Fees and other Charges, which are substantial - more that the per kWh rate
.
Hard to separate out the amount of those attributable to the EV charging, but it would be a small percentage of them and amount to under $10 of the total bill - 63 kWh of a 1000 kWh usage.

The total average cost per kWh for on peak (4.8 cents per kWh), off-peak (1.8 cents per kWh) and super off peak (1.5 cents per kWh), including all the taxes and other fee, comes out to about 14 cents per kWh.

I go about 100miles on 70kWh on average, which is $1.52 in electricity cost ignoring the other things added to my electric bill.

If, just for the sake of argument, I used the aggregate 14 cents per kWh, then $9.80 per 100 miles, but that is still cheaper than my old ICE Ranger by about 1/2.

NOTE-EDIT: I looked back at the plan effective rate for 1EV which included prorated fees, taxes, etc. and it is 5.79 cents per kWh. So 70kWh x 5.79 cents = $4.05 per 100 miles or about 1/3 the cost of the Ranger.

In my old ICE truck, a 2001 Ford Ranger, city driving (which is most of what I do), my mpg was 17mpg at best.

With gas at about $2.76 around here (at COSTCO), that's about $16.24 per 100 miles for the Ranger

So the ICE 2001 Ranger cost me a bit over 10 times as much in fuel costs (ignoring the other costs the utility charges for delivering electricity). EDIT: With the prorated effective rate of 5.79 cents per kWh, it is about 3 time more expensive to run the Ranger than the Lightning.

With the Lightning there are a lot fewer maintenance costs, e.g., no oil changes (synthetic is about $65 and up around here) or tune ups ($200 and up or DIY for the cost of parts), and no emissions inspection ($28 plus the time wasted in line). And no tail-pipe emissions to warm the planet and choke the air.

Other cost: Highway Use Fee for EVs: I am on a pay as you go/per mile driven highway use fee plan (VA Mileage Choice) which cost me about 1 cent per mile (1.1040 of a cent) so add $1.00 per hundred miles for not paying the use fee at the pump, up to a max of $128.14 is I drove about 11.6k miles.

I could not get the DOE calculator to work, may have too many security add-ons on my browser preventing it worm working.

 

[THX1138]

I have grid tied solar panels on my garage. Not a lot, only 12 panels. But I figure it gives me about 800+ free driving miles every month, averaged over the year. Try making your own gasoline.

 

[TaxmanHog]

So the ICE 2001 Ranger cost me a bit over 10 times as much in fuel costs (ignoring the other costs the utility charges for delivering electricity).

Are the distribution/etc fees not tolled during super off peak consumption periods?

My market tolls on the energy and distribution rates, my most recent billing cycle the composite cost is 35.79 cents a KWH regardless of time consumed.

The last two weeks seasonable weather has my efficiency around 2.1 MPK or 1.9 MPK after AC/DC conversion losses, netting a $18.84 cost to go 100 miles, my old PSD fueled at today's costs BJ's fuel station $3.319/g would cost $22.13

 

[Mal106]

Just traded a '23 Ecoboost hybred. My first trip I charged only on Tesla superchargers. The trip took about $10 more than the '23 Ecoboost. Other than home charging, the Lightning will, no doubt at least at current rates of gas and public charging, be more expensive than the '23. Taking time to charge took about 50 minutes. If I had been towing , the delta would have been more. Bottom line is that if you're looking for savings and tow or travel, keep your ICE/hybred.

On the other hand; I tow very seldome. Most of my driving is fairly local so I can charge at home at about 1/3rd the cost of the hybred. Further, I have stopped doing my own oil changes, brake changes, etc. I know the lighting won't need most of the maintenance I used to do or pay for.

Bottom line is that my trade will never pay for itself. But and that's a big but this truck is absolutely amazing. It rides noticeably better than the EB; I attribute that to weight and the independent rear suspension. The drive train is head and shoulders better. Blue cruise ain't no full self driving but it's better than nothing. It's unfortunate that it and the infotainment system require 3, yes 3, paid subscriptions but they are a real pleasure. The most useful feature IMHO, I've found in my short ownership is the "frunk". When I looked at the truck, I thought it a cute gimmick but living with it has proven it quite useful.

The Lightninh Flash was dumbed down for '25 so make sure you know what your getting but I'm after marketing some of the things it's missing and getting used to the others. The list of what its missing is long but with employee pricing, the tax credit, a 2k discount, a return of my unused mx agreement and a healthy trade ... I didn't need a horse's head in my bed to realize it was a deal I couldn't refuse. Despite the loss of features I liked in the '23; I have no regrets.

 

[MountainAlive]

Let’s not forget maintenance savings if not “fuel” savings.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Let’s not forget maintenance savings if not “fuel” savings.

Yup, 13 quarts of oil every 5k was a killer on the PSD

 

[chl]

Are the distribution/etc fees not tolled during super off peak consumption periods?

My market tolls on the energy and distribution rates, my most recent billing cycle the composite cost is 35.79 cents a KWH regardless of time consumed.

The last two weeks seasonable weather has my efficiency around 2.1 MPK or 1.9 MPK after AC/DC conversion losses, netting a $18.84 cost to go 100 miles, my old PSD fueled at today's costs BJ's fuel station $3.319/g would cost $22.13

Hmm, not sure about that possibility here in Virginia with Dominion Energy, might be.

I should have looked back at the original "1EV" plan documents to see how they bundled in some of those fees/taxes to the stated rate for the 3 time periods.

If memory serves, the Super-Off-Peak with prorated fees was about 5.8 cents per kWh in winter and 4.8 cents per kWh in summer. That was back in 2015 when they started the plan and I signed up. Not sure if they changed the rate since then though. (I should revise my post to adjust the numbers.)

Besides the EV charging, I try to run the clothes dryer during Super-Off-Peak as well as hot tub cycles, and off course the furnace fan, hot water heater and electric vampires run as well overnight, so the Super-Off Peak amount is not all EV charging. When my wife is firing pottery, the kiln (240V 48A on a 60A circuit - 11.52kW but it is digital so some on-off-on once up to set temperature) runs overnight as well.

From out last bill (March 12 to April 09, 2025):

Electric Meter: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX (03/12 - 04/09)
OnPeak Winter 392
OffPeak Winter 404
Super OffPeak Winter 207
Billable Usage (kWh) - Residential (Schedule 1EV) 1003

Current Electric Charges and Credits
Residential (Schedule 1EV) 03/12-04/09
Distribution Service Charges
Basic Customer Charge 7.58
Distribution Service kWh 20.85
All Applicable Distribution Riders 9.40
Distribution Service Charges 37.83

Electricity Supply Service (ESS)
OnPeak Energy Charge - Winter 18.97
OffPeak Energy Charge - Winter 7.32
Super OffPeak Energy Charge - Winter 3.15
Transmission kWh Charge 9.73
Fuel 20.80
All Applicable ESS Riders 36.63
Electricity Supply Charges 96.60

Deferred Fuel Cost Charge 3.46
Sales and Use Surcharge 0.79
State/Local Consumption Tax 1.57
Fairfax County Utility Tax 4.00
Taxes, Fees and Charges 9.82

Current Electric Charges 144.25

 

[K6CCC]

Just traded a '23 Ecoboost hybred. My first trip I charged only on Tesla superchargers. The trip took about $10 more than the '23 Ecoboost. Other than home charging, the Lightning will, no doubt at least at current rates of gas and public charging, be more expensive than the '23.

Let me start off with saying that charging only at SuperChargers is kind of equal to looking for the most expensive gas station that you can find. If you are going to regularly use SuperChargers, absolutely get a Tesla subscription. That alone will cut the price by something around 20 - 25%. The subscription costs $12.99 per month (plus sales tax if applicable) so if you charge at Tesla SCs more than once or twice per month, it pays for itself. And you can cancel or reinstate at any time.

Second is that most of the time you likely don't NEED to rapid charge. Even when traveling, many places offer slower charging at usually substantially lower cost - many hotels have free charging if you look around a bit. Even if you can't get a complete fill up, you can reduce the cost and time at a fast charger. Let's say for example that you stay overnight somewhere that offers free charging, but at only 6.5 KW. But you are parked there for 11 hours. You just got about 70 KWH or 53% of an extended range battery.

I bought my Lightning in late February and I keep a spreadsheet of my chargings. So far I have charged 62 time. Of those, 26 were at home (1 on the mobile charge cable on 120V, 7 on the mobile charge cable on 240V, and the rest with a FCSP), 27 charges at public charging stations that were free, and exactly 5 at Tesla SuperChargers. Several of the public charges were to make sure I knew how to use that particular network, or simply because it happened to be available and convenient. For example the last Tesla SC charge was in the parking lot of an In-n-Out Burger where we were getting lunch, and there was a possibility that I MIGHT need to charge before getting home, so added 25% while having lunch and eliminated any concern about needing to make a stop before getting home (turns out that it was not needed, but very comforting to know that an extra stop would not be needed).

Note that some of the other rapid charge networks also have discount subscriptions that can save you money if you regularly use that particular network. For example, I will be making a long one day drive next week that will involve several stops at Electrify America locations (no convenient Tesla SC locations that are Lightning compatible), but two convenient EA stations that always seem to have multiple stalls open and working (I've been watching them for a couple weeks) - Baker and Fenner, California in case someone is wondering. I am planning on buying a one month EA membership for that one trip and then will likely cancel it.

 

[Joe Dablock]

The only way EV’s make sense is charging at home. If you can’t have a home charger, then a hybrid is probably a better choice for you.
Personally, about 90 percent of my charging is at home. I so seldom fast charge, having a subscription just isn’t worth it, since even when I fast charge I use EA or Tesla which is paid via Ford pass. Also, fast chargers are still so few and far between, I’m never in a position to pick a lower price.

 

[JvdMaat]

The only way EV’s make sense is charging at home. If you can’t have a home charger, then a hybrid is probably a better choice for you.

That still really depends on where you live. I can charge for less at level 2 chargers away from home. (Home charging is $0.34/kWh, and public charging can be as low as $0.28, and many are $0.30)
Welcome to Massachusetts. (But same holds in many New England states, California and Hawaii)
We belatedly found out that EV driving costs the same (or more) as ICE. So we're just saving on oil changes and other mechanical issues the Lightning won't have.

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