Cost of Level 2 charging vs cost at my rate

[DAZ]

I've had a 2012 Prius Plug In since January 2013. Prior to my i3, I charged at home and work about six days a week. Battery size on the Prius is 4.4kWh. In the five weeks I've had my i3, I charge about every third day, none at work.

I've researched the electricity rates from Dominion Virginia Power. Straight residential rates are:

Generation kWh Charge

Billing Months of June - September
First 800 *ES kWh @ 3.795 cent per kWh
Over 800 ES kWh @ 5.773 cent per kWh

Billing Months of October - May
First 800 *ES kWh @ 3.795 cent per kWh
Over 800 ES kWh @ 2.927 cent per kWh

*Electricity Supply

Plus Transmission kWh Charge @ 0.970 cent per kWh
Plus I'm sure other numerous billing charges, surcharges, utility taxes, etc.

Dominion Virginia Power does have two other residential plans with electric vehicle charging at slightly reduced rates that would require the installation of a separate meter.

How do the above rates compare for other parts of the country. High, low, reasonable?

My thinking, don't worry about charging at night, since there's no advantage. When I need a charge, plug in and charge, regardless of the time of day. Just thinking out loud.

 

[WoodlandHills]

You have low rates: here in Los Angeles we pay from 13 to 22 cents per KWh depending on season and level of usage. Our special rate for EVs is from 12 to 13 cents per KWh depending upon season and then only between 10PM and 8AM excepting weekends.

 

[jadnashuanh]

New England has some of the highest rates in the US...depending on the season and usage, it never gets below $0.15/Kw, and $0.18-0.19 happens delivered cost which includes all of the admin fees. This varies by location, even town to town.

Places that have lots of hydro or nuclear can be cheaper. Vegas probably wouldn't be Vegas if they paid what most places pay for electricity. They got a sweet, long-term deal when the Hoover dam was built, but I think that has expired. But, a big hydro source nearby certainly helps.

 

[tiburonh]

I've had a 2012 Prius Plug In since January 2013. Prior to my i3, I charged at home and work about six days a week. Battery size on the Prius is 4.4kWh. In the five weeks I've had my i3, I charge about every third day, none at work.

I've researched the electricity rates from Dominion Virginia Power. Straight residential rates are:

Generation kWh Charge

Billing Months of June - September
First 800 *ES kWh @ 3.795 cent per kWh
Over 800 ES kWh @ 5.773 cent per kWh

Billing Months of October - May
First 800 *ES kWh @ 3.795 cent per kWh
Over 800 ES kWh @ 2.927 cent per kWh

*Electricity Supply

Plus Transmission kWh Charge @ 0.970 cent per kWh
Plus I'm sure other numerous billing charges, surcharges, utility taxes, etc.

Dominion Virginia Power does have two other residential plans with electric vehicle charging at slightly reduced rates that would require the installation of a separate meter.

How do the above rates compare for other parts of the country. High, low, reasonable?

My thinking, don't worry about charging at night, since there's no advantage. When I need a charge, plug in and charge, regardless of the time of day. Just thinking out loud.

Wow, your rates are obscenely cheap! Why would anyone in Virginia ever feel any need to conserve electricity in any way?

 

[Jeffj]

They are probably not nearly as cheap as the bills suggest. Here in CO, the "base rates" for electricity are reported in the 3 to 5 cents per kWh range also, but by the time you add in the transmission fees, the surcharges, the taxes, etc., the rate is actually 10.5 to 14 cents/kWh. In other words, the additional fees increase the base "cost" by 2-3x. Its actually really difficult to find out the number, short of just looking at your bill across a number of months and doing the simple division of bill total divided by kWh consumed.

National average is quoted quite frequently at 12 cents per kWh. Certainly a lot of variation in the actual rates depending on where you live.

 

[DAZ]

They are probably not nearly as cheap as the bills suggest. Here in CO, the "base rates" for electricity are reported in the 3 to 5 cents per kWh range also, but by the time you add in the transmission fees, the surcharges, the taxes, etc., the rate is actually 10.5 to 14 cents/kWh. In other words, the additional fees increase the base "cost" by 2-3x. Its actually really difficult to find out the number, short of just looking at your bill across a number of months and doing the simple division of bill total divided by kWh consumed.

National average is quoted quite frequently at 12 cents per kWh. Certainly a lot of variation in the actual rates depending on where you live.

I agree. No shortage of taxes and fees added to the bill. I plan to charge day or night as required.

 

[Jeffj]

From your original post, if you don't have "day/night" tiers, then yes, plug it in whenever so it'll always be ready.

In CO, we unfortunately don't have a low-rate EV charging time, so there is no financial advantage to waiting. There is a social/environmental advantage in that if you shift power consumption to the middle of the night then you reduce peak load and reduce the need to build a new power plant (as opposed to charging during the day), but no financial advantage.

 

[mindmachine]

Here in Ohio I have AEP, but there are several companies around the state. Also in Ohio we are allowed to pick our supplier of the electricity itself, but the delivery services are fixed to our location. While I have AEP for delivery I have First Energy for the generation. I pay .0649 cents per kwh for that and the delivery has so many surcharges plus the actual delivery service cost. Overall I pay around .13 cents/kwh. AEP charges for generation is .088 cents/kwh, so with AEP I would be paying .153 cents/kwh. However the more I use the lower my rate and at times I am down around .12 cents/kwh. This happens because only the delivery portion is applied based on usage but the surcharges are fixed. The add on list is getting out of hand as there is a customer charge, infrastructure charge, management charge, billing charge, ect.... There are no rate tiers offered for time of use and no electric vehicle discounts.