Taxman's Lightning Chronology

[TaxmanHog]

If your electric rates keep going up, it looks like getting a Tesla membership and using superchargers may be the lower cost option.

If I used the Foxboro Tesla station in off peak hours (0000 to 0759 hrs) at 23 cents a kWh, I could drop the energy cost to around 17.2 cents a mile# for a savings of $647 at the expense of lost sleep.

#off peak member cost = [[[0.23*17312]+[12.99*36]]/25877] = 0.172 $/mile

Going forward cost at home another 36 months assuming similar efficiency & kWH consumed
Home [[0.41*17312]/25877] = $0.2743, the Tesla cost savings would be $2,647

Edited for future savings potential, maybe a midnight hobby is in order once a week?

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[Grumpy2]

Your power cost would certainly justify solar if possible.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Your power cost would certainly justify solar if possible.

I don't know if investing in an "owned" system might be worth it in the long haul, the system would need to be installed on our garage roof where that building has separate electric service, previously I calculated it could accommodate ~ 18 to 24 panels depending on size, what are your thoughts on annual production for southern New England & what would a system cost?

 

[Grumpy2]

Others have personal experiences, I have only studied our own situation. We intend to own our house about 10 more years due to our age. Our electric rate is about $0.12/kWh. Projected studies make it unlikely to be a good decision for us.

As your costs are 3 times that, if you plan on keeping the house I would suggest a closer look. On the Oregon coast we are famous for rain and cloudy weather, yet solar panels are rapidly appearing.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Others have personal experiences, I have only studied our own situation. We intend to own our house about 10 more years due to our age. Our electric rate is about $0.12/kWh. Projected studies make it unlikely to be a good decision for us.

As your costs are 3 times that, if you plan on keeping the house I would suggest a closer look. On the Oregon coast we are famous for rain and cloudy weather, yet solar panels are rapidly appearing.

Our life plans are similar, ~10 years to secure a return on investment.

I did a quickie google search, they suggest a system cost of $2.50 to $3.25 a watt.

I'd need to size and factor a system that could generate 6000 kWh a year with over design for worst performance in over the year (winter)

What size system did you consider to offset the energy consumed by your truck & home?

 

[Grumpy2]

What size system did you consider to offset the energy consumed by your truck & home?

I have detailed records of 2 years of history and 60-70 kWh are the upper limits of our daily 240v charging at home; and often much less per day. So far in 2025 we gone 10,800 miles; charged the equal to 60.6 full 100% cycles or 5,818 kWh involving 1,884 kWh DC and 3,934 kWh AC. I generally use the middle 55-60% of the SR battery.

I was looking at charging cycles of about 60 kWh per day average. I didn't consider a system that could power the house. I did however imagine switch gear could allow certain circuits be switched when "excess" power was available, but didn't research how complex and expensive that would be.

I did only a brief review by considered 60 kWh/4-6 hrs sunlight leading to 40-45 typical 400 kW panels. I would also need stationary battery capacity for that 60 kWh since the truck may or may not be at the house the entire time.

Guessing at costs and my 10 years sunset, I was concerned about all the unknown of something I have no personal knowledge. I was also aware of how inefficient current panels are and believe improvements are coming within 4-5 years possibly. At home our power costs $0.116; our trips often include our cabin $0.086; and our kids house $0.096. Just too cheap to go solar for us as AC charging cost less than $400 so far this year.

I believe if my electric power cost 3 times what it does, my investigation into solar would have been far more serious especially with the Fed help that was available.

Good Luck.

 

[tearitupsports]

The financials of solar, or solar+battery, are rapidly changing. For instance the upcoming removal of the 30% tax credit, and many areas no longer offering 1:1 net metering make it harder for new adopters to have the same direct and easily calculated return (if you are only doing solar for financial reasons.
That being said, the time of use markets have opened up a window of opportunity to actually have a much faster payback on a smaller system with battery backup.
For instance I got my small 5kW system 8 years ago. It has almost paid for itself using 1:1 net metering. It has only offset, but not eliminated my electric bill though. I would have needed a 20kW system with 1:1 net metering to eliminate my electric bill (especially with the truck added).
This past year I played with the HIS system and now have a Sigenergy battery backup system (16 kWh currently).
Here in the TX market, many of us have competitive retailers, which offer gimmick plans. One of which is "free nights". From 8pm to 6am, the electricity is free. during the day you pay an absurdly high (in TX) rate of 32 cents/kWh. With my small battery and 5kW solar, I can run my whole house on just that during the peak hours. I just re-charge the battery at night for free, as well as charge the truck only during that time as well. I have effectively eliminated my bill, and have a 2-3 year payoff on the battery system.
The nice thing is the battery is also my emergency backup power as well (and the truck can be plugged into the system for extra).
I don't know what is available in MA or OR, but you guys might want to consider if there are time of use plans where you might have similar paybacks.
I am a little younger (not much) but I actually used money stored in safe fixed income, and moved it to the solar which is also a stable and safe fixed income. My solar + battery come out to be around $20k before tax credit and about $14k after.

 

[TaxmanHog]

No TOU programs for my region & electric company. I'm not confident I could get a contractor to install a system before the expiration of the tax credit.

 

[Zprime29]

No TOU programs for my region & electric company. I'm not confident I could get a contractor to install a system before the expiration of the tax credit.

My brother in OR is trying to get solar but only one company will even give him a quote. It took 10 weeks from quote to install when I put mine on in 2018. The supply of panels is there, it's just a matter of the right installer being available.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Wrap up of the 2025 and life time cost of operation for my 2022 Lariat-ER.

Energy includes battery conditioning on the plug as well as off-the plug remote starts to condition the cabin. The misc cost's jumped this year due to an insurance premium increase.

The energy logs show Emporia=4008 kWh & FCSP=3938 kWh, while the spreadsheet total energy of 4085 kWh includes a couple DCFC sessions during this year, 98.1% of my charging is at home.

Though the Lightning is not as economically rewarding, it is still a joy to drive.

 

[Scorpio3d]

$1108 increase in maintenance! Tires?
Not sure if solar would be feasible for you, but I would definitely look into it with those electric rates! ROI would be massive.

 

[bmwhitetx]

Please please please change your 3rd column from KW to kWh.

 

[hturnerfamily]

my son just called to ask about whether he might need a compact 120v generator to go along with his compact battery/inverter pack 120v POWERStation that will run his new business, a mobile "Coffee/Expresso Bar" for Weddings and Special Events, in 'off-grid' outdoor settings:

his initial concern was that the Powerstation might only be able to support about 2 hours of continuous output for his Expresso machine's 'boiler/heater' elements, and he might need to 'recharge' the Powerstation during a longer 4 hour event...

He landed, though, on another option: the Powerstation allows for DC input, whether from solar, or, even better, a separate battery... which I thought would be a 'best' idea, as an additional battery would be QUIET and more easily transported, without the need for gas/oil and the noise, of course.
A golfcart battery might just be the answer.

while we discussed this, his eyes got big, and he suddenly realized that his DAD already 'had' the answer: a truck that could not only support all his Coffee/Expresso machine needs on the open Tailgate, but also all the POWER he could possibly need to run his business ALL DAY! Maybe he can find a good used one... it might be less than a Powerstation and extra golfcart battery! Who Knows!

 

[EV Engineer]

You'd have to run the numbers. But you have an interesting use case. If 98% of your charing is at home and electricy is that expensive- what is your average daily KwH use?

If you get serious about solar from what I've looked into DIY is absolutely the way to go. Do you have a lot of space for a ground-mounted system? Easier than the roof and absolutely DIY.

This guy is fascinating.

Offgrid Solar Beginner Crash Course: Build a 10,000W Solar System

DIY would cost you 1/2 of what a company would cost. I think this system costs $4k or so (prices fluctuate). Then you'd have to figure out how many panels you need to get the amount of KhW / day to refill the truck.

I think this entire system would be less than $8k .

 

[TaxmanHog]

Please please please change your 3rd column from KW to kWh.

Fixed, LOL

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