The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #122876   Message #2699895
Posted By: robomatic
13-Aug-09 - 09:56 PM
Thread Name: BS: 230 mpg
Subject: RE: BS: 230 mpg
If you are interested in seeng how much it costs to charge a vehicle, you have available from your utility the cost of electricity which is usually price per kilowatt hour which can be lower than 10 cents in some states served by hydro (who have paid off the capital costs) and as high as 30 cents or more.

Your car battery will have an energy storage in kilowatt hours as well. Your charger should be at least 80% efficient, so you can pretty easily calculate what a 'tankful' of electricty costs. What you need to find out more practically is how far you can go on a tankful. Once you do this, you can tell what you're paying per mile. In theory your maintenance costs for an electric motor should be way lower than for a standard mechanical engine car, BUT, if you're driving a hybrid, you still have a mechanical engine to deal with. BUT, the mechanical engine should require less maintenance over the years than a regular auto because the car computer will try to run the fuel engine at constant rpms for charging purposes, which causes less wear.