Hacker News Reader

Comment by UnoriginalGuy | Hacker News Reader

> almost free to run

Legit question: How much does a Tesla cost to recharge?

I mean assuming you do it in your home and not at a free charging station. Are we talking $1/charge? $5? 50c? I just want a frame of reference. I'm talking raw electricity only (and obviously based on some average rate).

View on HN

The average battery size for the Model S is probably 85kWh (they sell them from 70 - 90), and average residential power rates in the US are ~$0.15/kWh. So the easy answer is, a Model S will cost ~$12.75 to "fill up". However, some places have residential rates closer to $0.08/kWh, or $7/tank. That's for 300mi range.

They do sell lower capacity battery versions and the entry level Model 3 will likely have a 50kWh battery for a 215mi range, so that would cost $7.50 to fill.

Most areas have night-time plans from the utilities to level demand where they charge a lot less for power, the Supercharging stations are free to use for Tesla owners, so the average cost will probably be quite a bit lower.

Does the Tesla come with charge management settings to specify how much and when it charges? Some residents have power plans with reduced or free electricity during off peak. Mine is free on weekends for example and I usually only drive 150 miles/week. I could theoretically charge for free and always have a least a hundred miles range during the week. It would be nice if I didn't have manually schedule this.

It has a daily schedule: I set mine to charge after 11pm when rates are low. I haven't seen a weekly schedule.

Power rates vary widely in the US. In Southern California, I am above $0.30/kWh. I haven't done the math recently, but I don't think it's very cost competitive with today's gasoline prices for an ICE.

SCE has an EV-Charging plan where the overnight rate (Super Off Peak in their terminology) maxes out at $0.075/kWh:

https://www.sce.com/NR/sc3/tm2/pdf/CE324.pdf

The average electric price in the US is 10-15 cents per kWh for most regions. A 60 kWh battery would cost $6 to $9 to fully charge, then. With gas at just ~$2 per gallon, it's only a ~50% discount compared to the fuel a gas car with decent MPG would need for the same distance travelled. The economics were better when gas cost twice as much.

Still a great savings at that vehicle class. Especially compelling is home charging with solar. Why not close the circle with a Tesla PowerWall and some Solar City panels? =P

It depends (d'oh) on how much charge you need to fill in and how much you pay for electricity (at time of charging). In my case I carge at work, so $0. Literally. However, my daily commute is about 50 mi. My avg. W/mi is 340, so 17 kWh @ $0.13/ kWh (PG&E, EV-rate), so $2.21 but increase by ? 10% for various efficiency losses.

I'll get solar (PV) eventually though.

The Model S comes with a standard 60 kwH battery, which at an average rate of $0.20/kwH for electricity in the US, that's about $12.00 to fill it up for 250 miles range.

60 kWh was phased out long ago. Minimal is 70 kWh now with 90 kWh being the high end.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com