The difference in my home electric bill was....

[jeff_h]

For those that have just taken delivery or just about to receive their Energi, I'm wondering what the difference is in your home electric bills after implementing your daily charge routine.

 

People in different areas have different electricity rates (in some cases, by quite a bit), so these amounts may vary a bit, which is why I am hoping that some will post their 'real' experiences here rather than readers like me have to rely on figures for 'expected' electricity costs... thanks.

Edited March 22, 2013 at 06:46 PM by jeff_h

[murphy]

For those that have just taken delivery or just about to receive their Energi, I'm wondering what the difference is in your home electric bills after implementing your daily charge routine.

 

People in different areas have different electricity rates (in some cases, by quite a bit), so these amounts may vary a bit, which is why I am hoping that some will post their 'real' experiences here rather than readers like me have to rely on figures for 'expected' electricity costs... thanks.

I installed a kwh meter in front of the charger so when I get my car I will be able to provide actual kwh values for charging the battery.  That will remove the varying cost of electricity from the equation.  Mine is currently at 17.4 cents per kwh.

 

I just got my window sticker today so probably another month before I see the car.

[jeff_h]

I installed a kwh meter in front of the charger so when I get my car I will be able to provide actual kwh values for charging the battery.  That will remove the varying cost of electricity from the equation.

 

That's perfect, thanks.  I want to have some hard numbers to use, thinking of ordering one for my wife, however it would be a 2014 model... but it's never too soon to have the numbers together.

[thestewman]

Thought you might like to know that when charging the Fusion Energi battery using a 240v Leviton level2 charging station the system is

using approx 5 kw of power. It has been taking about 2.5 hrs to charge a fully depleted battery

[meyersnole]

I am using the included 120v charger, charging everyday, and have been doing so for about a month. Just yesterday I logged into the power website to see what my usage was as I did not install a killawatt or anything. I might do that for a charge, as I have one that will read 120v.

 

Anyway, I was surprised to learn that my usage was higher a year ago then it was this past month. So I guess you wont see a huge jump in your power bill.  I used 65 kWh more then the previous month.

[rprobst]

At what we pay for electricity, re-charging a completely empty battery costs right about $1. That will take me about as far as half a gallon of gas, which around here costs about $2.15 (per half gallon). So my energy bill may go up slightly, but will be more than balanced by a lower gasoline bill.

 

But it gets better: my company lets employees charge their electric cars for free. Have done that only once so far, but plan to do that as much as possible!

[pluggedin]

I installed a kwh meter in front of the charger so when I get my car I will be able to provide actual kwh values for charging the battery.  That will remove the varying cost of electricity from the equation.  Mine is currently at 17.4 cents per kwh.

 

I just got my window sticker today so probably another month before I see the car.

 

 

Thought you might like to know that when charging the Fusion Energi battery using a 240v Leviton level2 charging station the system is

using approx 5 kw of power. It has been taking about 2.5 hrs to charge a fully depleted battery

Murphy, I think we would all like to know how many kwh's it will take to charge the EV battery from 0 to full charge. Please post that number as soon as you can, once you receive your car.

 

Using the figures (assuming they are correct) of 5 kw x 2.5 hr (to charge) does that mean it takes 12.5 kwh's to fully charge the EV battery? Seems small.

[murphy]

Murphy, I think we would all like to know how many kwh's it will take to charge the EV battery from 0 to full charge. Please post that number as soon as you can, once you receive your car.

 

Using the figures (assuming they are correct) of 5 kw x 2.5 hr (to charge) does that mean it takes 12.5 kwh's to fully charge the EV battery? Seems small.

At last report my car was near Chicago at the interchange point between Union Pacific and CSX.

 

Those numbers seem high.  The battery in the car is rated at 3.8 kwh.  The charger is rated at 3.8 kw (240 volts times 16 amps).  It is not going to draw more than it is rated for.  The unknown is what is the battery charging efficiency?  Also charging a Li-ion battery requires a gradually decreasing charge current since it is very bad to overcharge a Li-ion battery.  The charger has to sneak up on full charge.  I see no way to estimate the number of kwh required to charge the battery without having the detailed specs for the entire system.  That is the reason that I installed the kwh meter.   The actual measurement will bypass having to know all of the unknowns in the system.

 

Now I continue to wait for the railroad system to move my car the final 700 miles.

[pluggedin]

At last report my car was near Chicago at the interchange point between Union Pacific and CSX.

 

Those numbers seem high.  The battery in the car is rated at 3.8 kwh.  The charger is rated at 3.8 kw (240 volts times 16 amps).  It is not going to draw more than it is rated for.  The unknown is what is the battery charging efficiency?  Also charging a Li-ion battery requires a gradually decreasing charge current since it is very bad to overcharge a Li-ion battery.  The charger has to sneak up on full charge.  I see no way to estimate the number of kwh required to charge the battery without having the detailed specs for the entire system.  That is the reason that I installed the kwh meter.   The actual measurement will bypass having to know all of the unknowns in the system.

 

Now I continue to wait for the railroad system to move my car the final 700 miles.

Keep an eye on that rail car. In another life, I used to trace rail cars for the RT French Company (mustard people) and it was not uncommon to find cars that were supposed to be in route to Springfield, MO to be wandering around in Canada somewhere.

 

We appreciate your installing the kwh meter, it will make life much less complicated for many of us.

[meyersnole]

I remembered to reset my killawatt tonight, now I just need to remember to look at it tomorrow.

[pluggedin]

I remembered to reset my killawatt tonight, now I just need to remember to look at it tomorrow.

Thanks meyersnole, you're a peach!

[TX NRG]

 

Using the figures (assuming they are correct) of 5 kw x 2.5 hr (to charge) does that mean it takes 12.5 kwh's to fully charge the EV battery? Seems small.

 

The current starts out high but drops off during the charge; it's not constant. It's a 7.8 kw battery pack with 1.1kw of that held in reserve (after ~21 EV miles are used up) for hybrid operation.

[Scooter80]

Checked my kWh meter tonight after my wife came home and threw the car on the lvl2 GE charger with a completely drained battery. I had read the meter earlier at 25.1 kWh. After the charge and the charger sitting idle for a few hours, kWh meter read 32.0. At my current rough rate of 9 cents a kWh, that's about 62 cents for a full charge with an estimated 19 EV miles. Gas is currently 3.96 a gal. Loving EV motoring!

 

So... Total for a full charge using GE Wattstation ~6.9kWh roughly = 62 cents for ~19 miles.

Edited April 9, 2013 at 06:23 AM by Scooter80

[Brad Schuck]

It all depends on when, where and how you charge your Energi. In SoCal they have programs which drop your rate to as low as 11c / kWH at night for charging your car. If you use the 120V charger and allow the 7 hour charge time the unit only draws 7 amps so the total kwH used would only be around 7. (120V * 7A = 840W) *7 hours = 6.8kWH * $.11/kWH = $.75 per charge. A reasonable cost equivalent of around $1.50 per gallon.

If you use the 240V unit the cost is prohibitive @ 9.6kW * 2.5hours = 24kWH *$.11 = $2.64 for 21 miles. The wattage is not consistent due to the charge levels, but the numbers are close. The cost of a gallon of gas is only(only?) $3.85 and you get over 40 miles on it. It's not worth it.

During normal hours the cost goes through the roof.

The cost of going green is way too much green, period. I wish I had kept my 2010 Fusion Hybrid which averaged over a 20,000 mile span, 45mpg.

Edited April 9, 2013 at 06:19 PM by Brad Schuck

[meyersnole]

Checked mine this AM, but now that I think of it I am not sure if I was completely empty or not (I know I was at least very close). So reset the killawat again to check in the AM.

 

Here is what I got from 120v charging:

7.33 kWh
Rate: .10406
$0.76 

 

That will get me about 22 miles. In my Acura that would have cost me slightly over 1 gallon of premium, or just over $4. Happy EVing! :shift:  

[Scooter80]

It all depends on when, where and how you charge your Energi. In SoCal they have programs which drop your rate to as low as 11c / kWH at night for charging your car. If you use the 120V charger and allow the 7 hour charge time the unit only draws 7 amps so the total kwH used would only be around 7. (120V * 7A = 840W) *7 hours = 6.8kWH * $.11/kWH = $.75 per charge. A reasonable cost equivalent of around $1.50 per gallon.

If you use the 240V unit the cost is prohibitive @ 9.6kW * 2.5hours = 24kWH *$.11 = $2.64 for 21 miles. The wattage is not consistent due to the charge levels, but the numbers are close. The cost of a gallon of gas is only(only?) $3.85 and you get over 40 miles on it. It's not worth it.

During normal hours the cost goes through the roof.

The cost of going green is way too much green, period. I wish I had kept my 2010 Fusion Hybrid which averaged over a 20,000 mile span, 45mpg.

 

I'm not sure where you got the 9.6kW number from. If it was simple math of 240v x the 40A rating of the chargepoint, then, no, your numbers aren't close. The car won't accept anywhere near that wattage, so your chargepoint will never provide that much. As I showed in my previous post, a full charge only took 6.9kWh, nowhere near your 24 guesstimate. That with the fact my electricity is apparently cheaper than yours makes EV and plug-in hybrid quite a bit more affordable than you guessed.

 

Sorry you feel the way you do about your car and your purchase, but maybe if you use accurate figures you'll feel a bit better? Like that it should only cost you about 77 cents to net a full charge on a 240v unit equal or similar to a GE Wattstation? Maybe a bit more during peak hours.

[pluggedin]

Checked my kWh meter tonight after my wife came home and threw the car on the lvl2 GE charger with a completely drained battery. I had read the meter earlier at 25.1 kWh. After the charge and the charger sitting idle for a few hours, kWh meter read 32.0. At my current rough rate of 9 cents a kWh, that's about 62 cents for a full charge with an estimated 19 EV miles. Gas is currently 3.96 a gal. Loving EV motoring!

 

So... Total for a full charge using GE Wattstation ~6.9kWh roughly = 62 cents for ~19 miles.

 

 

Checked mine this AM, but now that I think of it I am not sure if I was completely empty or not (I know I was at least very close). So reset the killawat again to check in the AM.

 

Here is what I got from 120v charging:

7.33 kWh

Rate: .10406

$0.76 

 

That will get me about 22 miles. In my Acura that would have cost me slightly over 1 gallon of premium, or just over $4. Happy EVing! :shift:  

I might point out that both these figures of 6.9 kWh (Scooter80), using the L2, and 7.33 (meyersnole), using the L1, are real life figures...not a math exercise. These figures tend to support what we have been speaking to for months here, in that the L2 charger will charge the car faster and use less energy doing it then the L1 will. Both men have kWh meters installed.

 

We are not picking on you Brad, just pointing out what we believe are the facts.

 

I have a L2 charger and pay .13 cents per kWh x 6.9=.897 cents per charge. However, I have solar on my house and overproduce energy every year so I took a look at my bills this morning and extrapolated what my usage for the year might be in kWh's and how much energy I will likely produce (I am ahead of last year at this point) and figure I will use about 400 kWh's more then I produce. Which will cost me about $52 to drive my car for the entire year. I'm livin' large.

[jeff_h]

I might point out that both these figures of 6.9 kWh (Scooter80), using the L2, and 7.33 (meyersnole), using the L1, are real life figures...not a math exercise.

 

Thanks guys, these are the kinds of real-world kWh numbers I'm looking for, keep 'em coming!

[Scooter80]

Thanks guys, these are the kinds of real-world kWh numbers I'm looking for, keep 'em coming!

 

Glad I could help. I'll be installing my kWh meter's remote monitoring/data logging equipment soon here (wife doesn't know I made this purchase yet, sssshhhhh) so ill be able to provide much more data much more easily.

[meyersnole]

Checked mine this AM, but now that I think of it I am not sure if I was completely empty or not (I know I was at least very close). So reset the killawat again to check in the AM.

 

Here is what I got from 120v charging:

7.33 kWh

Rate: .10406

$0.76 

 

That will get me about 22 miles. In my Acura that would have cost me slightly over 1 gallon of premium, or just over $4. Happy EVing! :shift:  

 

Looks like I was empty, this morning I read 7.30 kWh, and I know I was completely empty this time.

[apm]

Checked mine this AM, but now that I think of it I am not sure if I was completely empty or not (I know I was at least very close). So reset the killawat again to check in the AM.

 

Here is what I got from 120v charging:

7.33 kWh

Rate: .10406

$0.76 

 

That will get me about 22 miles. In my Acura that would have cost me slightly over 1 gallon of premium, or just over $4. Happy EVing! :shift:  

I have been charging my car using the 120V charger included with the car as well... so these number are really encouraging. I have been thiking about a L2 charger but I cannot justfy spending $1000.

 

I just figured out that my KWh rate is $0.1138. At this rate a full charge of 7.33Kwh will cost me $0.8344, which is not bad for the 20 miles or so I have been getting per charge. My electric bill will go up between $25 to $30 a month.

 

Also, I noticed that some of the electricity used goes to power the fans to keep the battery cool while charging. I noticed a sound the other day inside my garage, I quickly realized it was the fans in the battery compartment.

 

Regards,

APM

Edited April 11, 2013 at 06:10 PM by apm

[meyersnole]

I have been charging my car using the 120V charger included with the car as well... so these number are really encouraging. I have been thiking about a L2 charger but I cannot justfy spending $1000.

 

I just figured out that my KWh rate is $0.1138. At this rate a full charge of 7.33Kwh will cost me $0.8344, which is not bad for the 20 miles or so I have been getting per charge. My electric bill will go up between $25 to $30 a month.

 

Also, I noticed that some of the electricity used goes to power the fans to keep the battery cool while charging. I noticed a sound the other day inside my garage, I quickly realized it was the fans in the battery compartment.

 

Regards,

APM

Yes... I walk into the garage all the time and hear the car making noise. Pretty funny how that works... a normal car is quiet in the garage and noisy on the street. Our cars are noisy in the garage and quiet on the street!

[lokicat]

For CA residents, PG&E has a calculator that gives a good approximation of costs. The rate tables require a masters in calculus to figure out! Seriously, it's 3 dimensional with tiered rates versus peak/mid peak/off peak times versus seasonal periods! When I called their hotline for help, I had a support person walk me through using my actual past bills. The key for CA residents is to move to either an E-9A or E-9B plan instead of the standard E-1. The "B" plan puts the charger on a separate circuit and meter, but while cheaper monthly bills, it requires a couple grand to install all the extra circuitry.

 

Here is what my PG&E verified projects are:

 

If I fully charge my Energi once per day between 12AM - 6AM and weekends, the extra energy cost per month are:

 

E-1 - $48

E-9A - $26

E-9B - $23

 

I chose E-9A since it would take forever to recoup the costs of installing a separate circuit and meter for 9B. Both E-9 plans cost less than a buck per full charge. If I had a Tesla, the E-9B may be better.

 

My energy use for home is pretty much average for my neighborhood and pretty close to the 333 KwH per month local threshold. If you are below or above that threshold, your costs will be slight lower or higher than my projections.

[howardbc]

I bet I am not the only one who hears snide remarks from owners of regular cars like "Yeah, but I bet it will cost you a fortune on your electric bill!"

 

I don't know how to see the number of kilowatts I use to recharge my batteries, but the electrician who checked out my standard 120v outlet said it would be equivalent to plugging in another refrigerator for the 7-9 hours. I charge after 9PM when my rates are lowest. I'm assuming the car's system doesn't use any additional electricity after the batteries are fully charged. 

 

I too have solar panels, although they are not connected directly to the outlet in the garage. The solar panels don't provide all the power to my house, so I get the remainder from a wind farm (really). My electricity rate is a little higher for the wind power (9.73-9.23 cents per kw hour) but it is worth it to me.

 

Thanks, everyone, for all the great info. 

[murphy]

I bet I am not the only one who hears snide remarks from owners of regular cars like "Yeah, but I bet it will cost you a fortune on your electric bill!"

 

I don't know how to see the number of kilowatts I use to recharge my batteries, but the electrician who checked out my standard 120v outlet said it would be equivalent to plugging in another refrigerator for the 7-9 hours. I charge after 9PM when my rates are lowest. I'm assuming the car's system doesn't use any additional electricity after the batteries are fully charged. 

 

I too have solar panels, although they are not connected directly to the outlet in the garage. The solar panels don't provide all the power to my house, so I get the remainder from a wind farm (really). My electricity rate is a little higher for the wind power (9.73-9.23 cents per kw hour) but it is worth it to me.

 

Thanks, everyone, for all the great info. 

Pick up a Kill-A-Watt and put it between the wall outlet and the charger.  It will tell you exactly how many KWH it took to charge the battery.

My last charge of a fully depleted battery took 7.09 KWH.

 

http://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4400-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1366503790&sr=1-1&keywords=kill+a+watt