Cost of Charging

[clipboarder]

I live in the SF Bay area and got the Volt last week based on the advertised cost of recharging the vehicle and based on existence of two advertised EV rates from PG&E.

It turns out that the base rate in the SF Bay area is 8kw/day, which means that charging the Volt alone pushes me from $0.13/kw to $0.29/kw without using any electricity and into $0.33/kw with using energy beyond recharging the Volt. In essence it costs me $8 to recharge the Volt and not $2.70 as implied by the advertising.

In addition the EV-9A rate, designed by PG&E for EV owners would cost me the same, because as I found out after talking to PG&E it assumes a base rate that is less than what it takes to charge the vehicle alone. So, while it costs $0.05kw to charge the vehicle during off-peak, it would cost me $0.55kw during the rest of the day. There is an EV-9B rate, but requires digging up a street not owned by me to lay a dedicated electric wire, which is not going to happen.

In essence, it means that I now have to refuel the car with premium gasoline exclusively, to limit the increase in fuel-cost. I must say I'm extremely disappointed with PG&E and Chevrolet at this point, given that cost of driving was about the only reason I was able to rationalize the otherwise high cost of ownership, and now it turns out that even this aspect is going to cost me more than with my previous car.

I can't believe there has been no news about it given that the Leaf and Volt have been on the market for quite some time, and especially the Leaf would seem completely unviable financially given those rates.

Has anyone else experienced any cost-surprises like this?

[dwl]

There are several California owners here and many threads on the subject that you might want to search for. They probably answer your questions better than I can. But I was under the impression that most California owners got a separate meter and charged exclusively off-peak.

[Henry_FL]

Why would you need a second run of wire for the EV-9B rate? You should be able to have a second meter installed with the first and use the same wire from the transformer

[Voltster]

You should be able to set up you car and delay charging until off-peak hours when the rates are lower. You may want to call your power company to find out if they have any special packages for EV drivers; I'd be amazed if they don't, in the 'greenest' region of our country.

Good luck!

[ewiggins]

The estimated cost to charge is based on the national average rates, not regional rates. Before anyone buys a Volt, they should do the finances to find out what it will cost them to charge. At this point, the Volt (or Leaf) does not make sense if it cost a person more to charge the Volt than a gallon of gas

[jaksecret]

Applying only my sense of fairness and justice, something here doesn't add up.

If Chevrolet/PGE advertised something that isn't true, then they have failed to live up to their part of the implied contract, and you should return the car. If they refuse to do it, the next step I would take is to contact my Volt advisor and explain how unhappy you are, that the advertisement was untrue, etc.

But .05 for overnight charging seems like a pretty good deal--is there a reason why you can't go this route?

I used to live in California, and it seems like everything there was more complicated, for all kinds of reasons--i was just thinking about trips to the DMV, for example. Good luck, however it works out. None of us want to see an unhappy Volt owner.

[Sheffield]

I went with E9a. My bill is lower with the volt than it was same month in the prior year. The calculations are really complex, but if you work days you can push most of your use to off peak or part peak. I posted Graphs of my monthly billed costs and other data on an earlier thread here.

[SoCal Gabe]

I'm showing it will cost $4.29 to fully recharge each day (13 kw * $.33 per kw), definitely not $1.50 like I've seen on some posts. Have you looked into an estimate to even change to EV-9B? And I see what you mean about cost to get a 2nd meter, hopefully you have 200A service at your place?

According to PG&E website:
1. Monthly electricity costs shown above do not include local taxes and fees. The rates used for calculations are effective 03/01/2012
2. Monthly costs shown for E-9A and E-9B do not include the one time engineering / constructions costs that may be incurred due to electrical panel / service upgrades. *E-9B requires additional construction costs to install a second panel which may vary from $2000 to $10,000. Please consult your electrician to understand the installation costs for your situation.
3. Estimation of monthly PEV usage assumes charging of PEV at Level 2 during off-peak hours for all vehicle choices

And I just saw this, WOW PG&E are brutal:

E-9B: This option provides two meters—one for the home, which remains on the current residential rate (E-1, E-6 or E-7), and a second meter for the PEV on the E-9B rate. Therefore, the customer has two baselines. If PEV charging significantly impacts your daily energy usage or current energy use is mostly during peak hours, this may be the better rate option.

This option requires a second electrical panel and customers also will incur a $250 fee for the second meter. Although the E-9B rate option generally produces a lower monthly electric bill because of the second baseline for your PEV, the monthly savings may not justify the upfront costs of having an electrician install the second electrical panel.

[CarZin]

I dont envy you California people with your power situation. I understand your frustrations. The rates seem so complicated in California, it must be hard to really know what you are looking at with a charging cost.

I know it doesnt make you feel any better, but know that you're in the top percent of power costs in the U.S., and what you are seeing is far from normal. I pay about 6 cents per kilowatt hour (5.5 offpeak and 6.5 on peak with TOU-D with Progress Energy). I think if I were in California, I'd be installing solar panels if it were a possibility, because it looks like that is the only way to dig yourself out of your situation.

[SoCal Gabe]

HAH solar guy comes by tomorrow to go over costs with us.