It's Not Easy— Or Cheap— Being Green
Aug. 21st, 2022 10:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerOur second-half drive today was yet another object lesson that it's not so easy, being green. Again on the leg from Barstow to Bakersfield we experienced disappointing electro-mileage, about only two-thirds of the rated range. It wasn't quite as bad as the leg from Henderson, NV to Barstow, CA earlier in the day, which we finished with only 5 miles of range left. Though we did have a white-knuckle moment again.
As we were at the top of the Tehachapi Pass noticed that the battery had once again depleted way more rapidly than forecast, leaving us with only about 35 miles of range remaining— and we were still about 35 miles out from our destination. We didn't want to roll in on electron fumes again.
I asked David, who was driving, to slow down. Going slower is more efficient. Meanwhile I tried looking up charging stations in the town of Tehachapi. The apps in the car and in Apple Car Play were close to useless while driving. And the small town of Tehachapi seemed to have only slow chargers. I reasoned that an emergency electron stop would be unnecessary as the road ahead entailed a steep downhill grade. Indeed, through the combination of easing off the throttle and letting gravity do some of the work in pulling us downhill toward Bakersfield telescoped our remaining mileage. We reached the hotel with 33 miles of range left.
After checking in, stowing our bags, and going out for dinner it was time to charge up the car. There was a charging station 1/2 mile away. We hooked up the car and waited outside in the still smoldering evening heat for 30 minutes.
While there we discussed the pros and cons of driving an EV. The depleted range of driving in the high heat is a big minus. The sparse availability of fast charging stations outside of major metro areas is a minus. The fussiness of the charging pumps is also a minus. By this point we'd visited three charging stations already during the day, and at each one there was at least one pump that was malfunctioning.
"But at least it's so much cheaper than driving a gas car," David asserted.
"Is it?" I asked.
While it's true that David's not paying out of pocket for charging, it's not really free. Two years of AYCE membership in charging network was rolled into the purchase price of the car. The pumps happily tell you how many dollars you're "saving"— i.e., how much each charge would cost if you were paying as a regular member. Their rate per kWh is not cheap.
"How can you compare it to gas?" David asked.
"Figure out the cost per mile of buying each type of fuel," I responded. I started to do some arithmetic out loud while we stood in the still smoldering evening heat.
By this point the pump refilled the battery to the charge we'd had upon leaving Barstow. The market price shown on the meter was $26. For that money we could have bought 5 gallons of gas. On a trip of 131 miles (Barstow to Bakersfield distance) a gas car would need to get 26.2 mpg to get there on the same cost equivalent of fuel. Our Nissan Xterra SUV wouldn't have beaten that; it would've gotten 18mpg on this trip. Our BMW convertible would've edged out the EV with about 28mpg. And plenty of more economical cars could've thumped the EV with way better than 26mpg fuel economy.
Bottom line, this EV is not showing well in terms of fuel economy right now. Electron filling stations are few and far between, somewhat hit-or-miss to use, and— with the car way under-performing its rated range— no cheaper than buying gas.
As we were at the top of the Tehachapi Pass noticed that the battery had once again depleted way more rapidly than forecast, leaving us with only about 35 miles of range remaining— and we were still about 35 miles out from our destination. We didn't want to roll in on electron fumes again.
I asked David, who was driving, to slow down. Going slower is more efficient. Meanwhile I tried looking up charging stations in the town of Tehachapi. The apps in the car and in Apple Car Play were close to useless while driving. And the small town of Tehachapi seemed to have only slow chargers. I reasoned that an emergency electron stop would be unnecessary as the road ahead entailed a steep downhill grade. Indeed, through the combination of easing off the throttle and letting gravity do some of the work in pulling us downhill toward Bakersfield telescoped our remaining mileage. We reached the hotel with 33 miles of range left.
After checking in, stowing our bags, and going out for dinner it was time to charge up the car. There was a charging station 1/2 mile away. We hooked up the car and waited outside in the still smoldering evening heat for 30 minutes.
While there we discussed the pros and cons of driving an EV. The depleted range of driving in the high heat is a big minus. The sparse availability of fast charging stations outside of major metro areas is a minus. The fussiness of the charging pumps is also a minus. By this point we'd visited three charging stations already during the day, and at each one there was at least one pump that was malfunctioning.
"But at least it's so much cheaper than driving a gas car," David asserted.
"Is it?" I asked.
While it's true that David's not paying out of pocket for charging, it's not really free. Two years of AYCE membership in charging network was rolled into the purchase price of the car. The pumps happily tell you how many dollars you're "saving"— i.e., how much each charge would cost if you were paying as a regular member. Their rate per kWh is not cheap.
"How can you compare it to gas?" David asked.
"Figure out the cost per mile of buying each type of fuel," I responded. I started to do some arithmetic out loud while we stood in the still smoldering evening heat.
By this point the pump refilled the battery to the charge we'd had upon leaving Barstow. The market price shown on the meter was $26. For that money we could have bought 5 gallons of gas. On a trip of 131 miles (Barstow to Bakersfield distance) a gas car would need to get 26.2 mpg to get there on the same cost equivalent of fuel. Our Nissan Xterra SUV wouldn't have beaten that; it would've gotten 18mpg on this trip. Our BMW convertible would've edged out the EV with about 28mpg. And plenty of more economical cars could've thumped the EV with way better than 26mpg fuel economy.
Bottom line, this EV is not showing well in terms of fuel economy right now. Electron filling stations are few and far between, somewhat hit-or-miss to use, and— with the car way under-performing its rated range— no cheaper than buying gas.
