CBS 8 appears at a 2018 Hyundai gasoline automobile versus a 2019 Fiat EV.
SAN DIEGO — The State of California goals to have 8 million electrical automobiles on the street by the 12 months 2030. However is it actually cheaper to drive an electrical automobile (EV) somewhat than a gasoline automobile?
CBS 8 did a side-by-side comparability utilizing present gasoline costs in San Diego.
Brian Corridor is the Artwork Director at CBS 8. He drives an all-electric Fiat and he doesn’t have rooftop photo voltaic.
“It’s a 2019. It is the electrical model of the Fiat 500. And, it is just a bit automobile to scoot round city in,” stated Corridor. “If we had photo voltaic it will be nearly free to drive.”
First, Corridor charged up his EV to 100%. Then, he drove precisely 10 miles.
As a result of Corridor owns an electrical automobile, SDG&E offers him a decreased charge for charging his automobile after midnight.
“As a result of I cost at night time after midnight, I get a particular time-of-day charge which is below 20 cents per kilowatt hour,” stated Corridor.
However for this check, we’re going to assume Corridor doesn’t cost after midnight and we’ll use the typical San Diego County electrical energy charge of 36.5 cents per kilowatt hour, as decided for December 2021 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
After driving 10 miles, Corridor re-charged his automobile to 100%. It took 2.88 hours, and we multiplied that by the typical charge of 36.5 cents per hour.
“Topping up my automobile after driving 10 miles value $1.05,” stated Corridor.
So, once more, a ten mile drive in Corridor’s electrical automobile value him $1.05 to recharge.
Over the subsequent eight years, San Diego County goes to want greater than 100,000 further electrical automobile charging stations at an estimated value of greater than $1 billion, in line with the California Power Fee and present value estimates of EV charging station installations.
In consequence, there’s a debate over whether or not SDG&E ratepayers could need to foot the invoice for a few of these installations.
Will SDG&E set up a portion of the charging stations after which apply for reimbursement of the capital prices, whereby the costs present up on ratepayer payments?
Or, will the State take bids from non-public firms, and fund incentives to the non-public sector to encourage possession and upkeep of charging stations throughout San Diego?
One billion {dollars} is some huge cash, so you’ll be able to see why there’s an enormous debate over whether or not ratepayers are going to need to foot the invoice for a few of these enormous bills.
For the second a part of CBS 8’s automobile check, we use a 2018 Hyundai Kona, topping off the tank at an area gasoline station. Subsequent, we hit the street for the 10-mile drive.
The value of gasoline at a Tierrasanta gasoline station was $4.39 per gallon. After 10 miles of driving, it took a little bit bit greater than a half a gallon of gasoline to prime off the tank, costing us $2.54.
That is greater than twice as a lot as Brian Corridor paid to cost his EV after driving the identical mileage which, once more, was $1.05.
Our unscientific check confirmed that driving an electrical automobile was cheaper than driving a gasoline-powered automobile, no less than for the precise automobiles utilized in our instance. A ten-mile drive is probably not indicative of general common prices.
And, after all, the electrical automobile produced zero emissions.
Watch: How family home equipment are polluting air in California (Feb 14, 2022)