Ever wonder what it really costs in electricity to run an electric vehicle in Alberta? I did.
This Sept 15, 2017 marks one full year of driving a Tesla Model S, my first electric vehicle. Thanks to some great analytics courtesy of my electricity provider Enmax and some simple record keeping of my odometer – I now have the answer.
In one year, I drove 18,386 kilometers and spent an extra $302.82 in electricity. That works out to about 1.6 cents per kilometer in “fuel” costs to drive an electric vehicle in Alberta. By comparison, I spent $1964.84 in premium fuel for my old car to drive approximately 15,000km a year – approximately 13 cents a kilometer in fuel costs!
Here’s out I calculated it out:
Enmax has a great program called My Energy IQ – when you log into your enmax account they keep track of your historical energy use, and break down the details of your kwh usage per month as well as the energy cost and delivery charges.
Since there were no major changes to my household, I simply went back and compared the number of kilowatt hours consumed in the preceding 12 months before I had an EV, to the 12 months after I first received my Tesla. It turns out I used an additional 5082 Kwh to power my Tesla at home – which for most people is enough electricity to run their home for 7 months! However, since everyone already is paying for electricity, the incremental cost of the kwh is much lower since you’re not paying the full delivery and transmission charges over again (although I understand it does fluctuate with increased usage).
I then took the amount i was charged for the electricity portion each month for the preceding 12 months, and compared it to the 12 months after. On a fixed rate, the total difference in electricity despite using an extra 5082 kwh was $302.82. From there I simply used my vehicle odomter to show me how many kilometers I drove.
What about when you fill up at Tesla Superchargers for free? I don’t have the exact breakdown of how much I used the superchargers for long distance, but even if I assumed 3000km came from supercharging and 15,000km came from my own home charging – I still am looking at a rough cost of about 2 cents a kilometer.
Despite trying to control for as many calculations as possible, I do know there is some rounding and estimations in usage, etc that may affect this slightly. However I think it does answer the question of what someone can expect to pay for electricity to power their electric vehicle in Alberta!