Is my math correct? Is it really this cheap to operate?

[kps713]

I have had my 2025 Lightning FLASH for a little over a year now and have a little over 17,000 miles on it. I decided to do a calculation of what it costs me per 100 miles to drive my truck. I live in the Phoenix metropolitan area and during the summer I average about 2.3 miles per KWh and in the winter I average a little over 2.6 miles per KWh. I decided to use 2.5 as an average for my calculations so I use about 40 KWH per 100 miles. I have a FCSP at home and charge exclusively at home except when I drive to LA or up to the mountains. My FCSP shows that I use between 7.1% and 7.5% more energy to charge my truck each time I charge. I decided to use 8% to be conservative which means to add 40 KWh to the truck I will use 43.2 KWh from the power company. I charge only at night starting at 10 PM and the rate I pay through my power company is 5.943 cents per KWh off-peak in the summer and 3.495 cents per KWh during super-off-peak hours (10 PM to 3 AM) in the winter. If my calculations are correct then the cost to drive 100 miles is $2.57 (43.2 * .05943) in the summer and $1.51 (43.2 * 0.3495) in the winter. Why would I ever spend money on gasoline again if my calculations are correct?

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[frautumn]

the rate I pay through my power company is 5.943 cents per KWh off-peak in the summer and 3.495 cents per KWh during super-off-peak hours (10 PM to 3 AM) in the winter

This is only the cost for the energy, not for the distribution. Check your electric bill, there are other (sometimes 5 or 6) charges (per KWhr) besides energy.

 

[Lightning Rod]

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[SpaceEVDriver]

The advertised cost per kWh on our utility plan is
Winter: $0.12351 off-peak, $0.03495 super off-peak, and $0.32543 peak
Summer: $0.12345 off-peak and $0.34396 peak

For us, last month’s effective rate was $0.15/kWh.

I believe Arizona requires the utility to give you the $/kWh effective rate. Find that on your bill and use that cost rather than the advertised rate.

 

[kps713]

This is only the cost for the energy, not for the distribution. Check your electric bill, there are other (sometimes 5 or 6) charges (per KWhr) besides energy.

Got it. Those additional charges add $.02690 per KWh to the calculation. That raises my summer cost to $3.72 per 100 miles and my winter cost to $2.67 per 100 miles. Still way better than ICE.

 

[B177y]

Why would I ever spend money on gasoline again if my calculations are correct?

 

[richguy82]

Jesus those are cheap rates! My super off peak is like 11 cents and last year our dear governor approved Duke Energy rate hikes of 3 cents per kWh to that across the board for all hours of the day as a “hurricane recovery” fee. Publicly traded utilities are an absolute scam. Our surrounding counties have municipal energy utilities that are significantly cheaper (and statistically more reliable). I put in solar before the end of 2025 because of this and STILL waiting on permission from the utility to operate them. It costs more, is slow to deal with, and is less reliable. This arrangement with Duke energy benefits no one but Duke (and probably the governor ). Sorry for the rant .

 

[TaxmanHog]

Got it. Those additional charges add $.02690 per KWh to the calculation. That raises my summer cost to $3.72 per 100 miles and my winter cost to $2.67 per 100 miles. Still way better than ICE.

Pure envy coming from a guy who is paying 35 cents a KWH in the cold north east winters ~1.1 MPK

 

[DavidS]

If you want a reason to move to Wisconsin, the effective rate is about $0.17/kwh. We’ll call that 8 cents per mile. EA membership rate is $0.36/kwh.

 

[shutterbug]

This is only the cost for the energy, not for the distribution. Check your electric bill, there are other (sometimes 5 or 6) charges (per KWhr) besides energy.

APS rates, as advertised on their site are all in, include all the fees. It does not include charging losses. I think about 10%.

I also get EV SmartCharge Monthly credit of $5.00 per EV.

Weekends and holidays use Off-Peak rates.

 

[shutterbug]

The advertised cost per kWh on our utility plan is
Winter: $0.12351 off-peak, $0.03495 super off-peak, and $0.32543 peak
Summer: $0.12345 off-peak and $0.34396 peak

For us, last month’s effective rate was $0.15/kWh.

I believe Arizona requires the utility to give you the $/kWh effective rate. Find that on your bill and use that cost rather than the advertised rate.

APS advertised rate IS the effective rate. Look it up.

 

[Zaptor]

I have 24+kw of solar... my effective rate all but months with snow on my panels is 0.00/mile
Indeed, why buy an Ice again???
-Zap

 

[Heliian]

That's why I went with an EV.

Our electrical rates in Ontario are stable and affordable.

Our gasoline rates in Ontario are unstable and expensive. Bonus is I don't stop at gas stations and get compelled to buy expensive snacks.

 

[bmwhitetx]

APS rates, as advertised on their site are all in, include all the fees. It does not include charging losses. I think about 10%.

I also get EV SmartCharge Monthly credit of $5.00 per EV.

Weekends and holidays use Off-Peak rates.

Unusual for residential to have a demand charge. Typicaly that is a 15-minute average. That can add up. Since the charger is on full time, then whatever your typical highest demand was you can add 6-11 kW to it while charging based on your charge rate. That could be an extra $100+ demand charge on your bill. Sometimes demand is time limited and doesn’t apply off-peak though.

So many variables, it’s hard to speculate. At one time I did rate analysis for a living. I would love to do a bill analysis here. @kps713 , can you DM me the PDFs of a summer and winter bill along with a note on how you charge? Also good would be bills before your EV. I’ll get your rate schedule from your provider. You should be able to see past bill history on their website.

For EV, I think an incremental rate calc is more proper and not an all-in average.

 

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

Ontario's Ultra-Low-Overnight rate recently went Way Up ...to 3.9 cents/kWh plus fees and delivery.
To get an average cost of Utility, I took a year of billings, and divided by the total kWh for the whole year, and got 7.95 cents per kWh (in Canadian $, ie about 6-cents/kWh in USD).
Even with our cold winters, I average $4.80/100miles (160km) which is about $3.50/100miles in USD, from home charging. DCFC on the hwy is a lot more typically $25CAN/$18USD per 100 miles.

In summer the energy per 100-miles drops and like @Zaptor I have solar that makes the electricity 'feel like it's free' - if I ignore the cost of building the solar that is...lol.

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