 |
|
If you do it yourself, it can be pretty cheap. Even if you
Posted on: June 28, 2024 at 17:08:12 CT
JeffB MU
Posts:
72858
Member For:
21.60 yrs
Level:
User
M.O.B. Votes:
0
pay someone, it pays off pretty quickly in fuel savings.
I think it cost us about $120 in materials for a little plastic conduit, the wire and the 220V outlet.
Of course we were very fortunate. My brother-in-law has a degree in electrical engineering & he put it in for us. Our circuit breaker box is in the garage and we only ran the line about 25 ft or so to put it near the garage door so we could also charge out in the driveway if we want to, for ourselves or visitors. We also had an empty space in the breaker box & enough spare amps for it. That side of the garage wasn't drywalled either, so it was pretty easy to drill holes in the studs to put the conduit in. I believe we could have put in Romex instead of conduit if we wanted, but it wasn't that expensive for the conduit.
If your circuit breaker box is in the basement or on the other side of the house the run might be a lot longer. If you don't have room in the circuit breaker box you might have to add a secondary one.
If you are comfortable doing such things, it saves having an electrician do it. My father-in-law taught his sons how to do that. He was a carpenter with no special electrical training. His other sons have added circuits like that to their own breaker boxes as well.
We are on the Ameren program where the rates go up and down based upon peak usage. We charge at night when rates are cheapest & figure it costs a little under 2 cents per mile for fuel. That would be roughly equivalent to a car that gets 150 mpg if gas prices were $3.00/gallon, or 125 mpg at $2.50/gal, or 175 mpg at $3.50/gal.
If you put up solar panels you could fuel up & potentially have zero monthly fuel costs.
You also don't have to worry about oil changes, mufflers, tail pipes, catalytic converters, oil pumps, fuel pumps, fuel injectors & thousands of other parts.
fwiw, the 'green' aspect didn't really weigh into our decision much, though it is a lot nicer to be able to warm up the car in the garage & not worry about carbon monoxide. Ditto if you are stopped in traffic & so on.
Ameren is closing coal plants and putting more and more solar and wind generation online, but we were just looking at the economics of it.
The convenience, quiet ride and immediate torque and acceleration are a bonus.
Downsides are charging for longer trips, but that is mostly a non-issue for us. We have a bunch of vehicles and a bunch of drivers so we can just choose the best vehicle for the task. We have taken the EVs on relatively short trips... maybe 300 mile round trips and it isn't that big of a deal to make a stop & charge up a bit while you take a break and grab a bite to eat. The range on our Bolts is 259 miles, but that varies based upon temperature, speed and to a lesser extent wind. In cold temps the range can go down quite a bit. In warmer temps it can get better than the ratings. The air conditioner doesn't seem to have much if any noticeable effect on the range, but the heater does. Models that use a heat pump are supposedly quite a bit more efficient in heating the cab, however.
Overall, the EVs are great cars for around town. I would take a minivan for a long trip with the family, though.
I think it cost us about $120 in materials for a little plastic conduit, the wire and the 220V outlet.
Of course we were very fortunate. My brother-in-law has a degree in electrical engineering & he put it in for us. Our circuit breaker box is in the garage and we only ran the line about 25 ft or so to put it near the garage door so we could also charge out in the driveway if we want to, for ourselves or visitors. We also had an empty space in the breaker box & enough spare amps for it. That side of the garage wasn't drywalled either, so it was pretty easy to drill holes in the studs to put the conduit in. I believe we could have put in Romex instead of conduit if we wanted, but it wasn't that expensive for the conduit.
If your circuit breaker box is in the basement or on the other side of the house the run might be a lot longer. If you don't have room in the circuit breaker box you might have to add a secondary one.
If you are comfortable doing such things, it saves having an electrician do it. My father-in-law taught his sons how to do that. He was a carpenter with no special electrical training. His other sons have added circuits like that to their own breaker boxes as well.
We are on the Ameren program where the rates go up and down based upon peak usage. We charge at night when rates are cheapest & figure it costs a little under 2 cents per mile for fuel. That would be roughly equivalent to a car that gets 150 mpg if gas prices were $3.00/gallon, or 125 mpg at $2.50/gal, or 175 mpg at $3.50/gal.
If you put up solar panels you could fuel up & potentially have zero monthly fuel costs.
You also don't have to worry about oil changes, mufflers, tail pipes, catalytic converters, oil pumps, fuel pumps, fuel injectors & thousands of other parts.
fwiw, the 'green' aspect didn't really weigh into our decision much, though it is a lot nicer to be able to warm up the car in the garage & not worry about carbon monoxide. Ditto if you are stopped in traffic & so on.
Ameren is closing coal plants and putting more and more solar and wind generation online, but we were just looking at the economics of it.
The convenience, quiet ride and immediate torque and acceleration are a bonus.
Downsides are charging for longer trips, but that is mostly a non-issue for us. We have a bunch of vehicles and a bunch of drivers so we can just choose the best vehicle for the task. We have taken the EVs on relatively short trips... maybe 300 mile round trips and it isn't that big of a deal to make a stop & charge up a bit while you take a break and grab a bite to eat. The range on our Bolts is 259 miles, but that varies based upon temperature, speed and to a lesser extent wind. In cold temps the range can go down quite a bit. In warmer temps it can get better than the ratings. The air conditioner doesn't seem to have much if any noticeable effect on the range, but the heater does. Models that use a heat pump are supposedly quite a bit more efficient in heating the cab, however.
Overall, the EVs are great cars for around town. I would take a minivan for a long trip with the family, though.
Please explain why this message is being reported.
MESSAGE THREAD
If you do it yourself, it can be pretty cheap. Even if you - JeffB MU - 6/28 17:08:12