Back in the mid 2010’s I drove a Nissan LEAF for my solar estimating and canvassing work. It had a nice graphic wrap and was great advertising for the electrified future!
An Igloo cooler submerged streetside. It held an extension cord plug for the EV!
There were no public charging options near my apartment building. In 2017 I wrote a blog post about costs to charge an electric car.
Since the 2010’s we have seen many customized streetside solutions. EV owners running electricity to the curb themselves.
This year Seattle City Light plans to install a Level 2 charger just 3 blocks from my apartment building. I wish it were closer but it’s a “start” – pun intended!
Here is the recently announced list of new EV charging locations. Can’t wait to see it happen in upper Fremont!
Folks have had to get creative!
This block in Fremont will soon have an EV charging station.
EVs and Solar PV seem to go hand in hand. Both are electric and supplant the need for fossil fuels. Interested in powering your car and/or your property with solar? I can help you select the right solar system size. I am also able to give info on charging equipment and forecast your annual cost based on miles travelled.
This property owner installed a larger Solar PV system to accommodate future EV use.
Consumers are increasingly seeing the value in clean transportation by virtue of the cost savings of switching from gas to electric. EVs are proving themselves to be more economical and efficient than driving a traditional gas powered vehicle.
Did you know that they are fun to drive and super quiet as well? As a former EV driver I miss the ease of maneuvering and maintaining such an efficient machine.
Gas is expensive. Driving electric is 50-75% less expensive than driving with gas. Bringing gasoline to market is complex and costly to the consumer. Gas transportation is also WA State’s largest contribution to the CO2 emissions causing global climate change.
Purchase Price Info. New all-electric sedans are priced competitively to other new cars. Usually in the $30K range. Popular 2019 EVs have an approximate range of 200 miles when fully charged. This is plenty for the average commuter. Generally, the more expensive the car, the more battery capacity/storage it has.
Incentives
Utility Rebate in WA: New Nissan LEAFs: Seattle City Light, Snohomish PUD, and other “Public Power” utilities have a $3500 rebate available until January 2, 2020.
WA State Rebates: $2500 tax rebate on new EVs less than $45,000. $1600 tax rebate on used EVs less than $30,000.
Federal Tax Credit: As it is with Solar PV, this Incentive is a Tax Credit, not a tax deduction. Currently valued up to a $7500 maximum. Varies by manufacturer and time of year the car is purchased.
Solar Panel carport in Monterey, Calif.
Cost of Driving – Mileage Cost Calculations
Recharge your EV at work, on the road, or at your residence.
A decent estimate for residential electricity cost in Western WA is 11 cents per kWh (kilowatt hour). If you pay less than that then it is less cost to drive your EV too! For example, Tacoma Power duly promotes EV usage; the per kWH cost there is less than 9 cents.
Let’s say you purchase a new, popular EV, e.g. Chevy BOLT, Nissan LEAF, or Tesla 3.
These cars use about .25kWh to drive 1 mile, or 1kWh each 4 miles, or 25kWh to drive 100 miles.
Each 100 miles will cost ~$2.75. (11 cents * 25kWh)
Maintenance costs. Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs) have serious hardware: radiators, oil tank and filter, gas tank, pipes, plugs, belts, & sound mufflers! Fact is, upkeep is far more necessary with gas as opposed to electric battery powered cars.
Batteries in lieu of Gas Tank Electric vehicles run on battery power. They are “plug-ins” and have an outlet that accepts electricity to charge the battery. Batteries hold the charge. It is the same as filling the tank, except it is electrons and not liquid gas. There is a Federal mandate that EVs must have an 8 year or 100,000 mile warranty for their batteries.
Extra Tech. The type of technology used in automobiles has an effect on its efficiency. A regenerative braking process is standard in EVs and Hybrids and boosts the efficiency.
Gas powered cars utilize about 15% of the purchased gas.
Diesel engines convert about 20% of the amount you purchase.
Hybrids, aka cars that use regenerative braking, are generally 40% efficient.
EV batteries in all-electric vehicles convert 59-79% of the electricity you purchase.
Use locally produced electricity!Crude oil extraction is invasive and prone to spills and environmental calamity. Oil is sourced globally and sent to local refineries and prepped for distribution. There is a corresponding cost to consumers, and not least of all, the environment.
In Washington State the majority of our supply is generated by regional hydro power. There is also some wind and solar in the state, and we are striving for more of that!
Electricity is everywhere. How much power you will need to run your car can be pre-determined by a solar professional like me. Using solar, you can power just your property or the local grid as well. Here is my blog post about Off-Grid vs. Grid-Tied for more info.
Stormwater runoff vs. the new EV charging station. Showdown @ 1st St. in La Conner, WA
Thinking of installing solar? How will you employ the usage of the sun’s power?
Will your system be closed loop Off-Grid; or will it be a back & forth Grid-Tied system?
Here is a description of these two available options.
Off-Grid
Historically, solar installations were viewed as an off-grid project. If the power company’s lines didn’t drop to your property, you could use solar to make your own electricity.
If your property is remote, or you have a desire to be fully or partially autonomous, you can still capture and keep your solar energy on site. This will require batteries and storage technology. The solar panels fill the battery with power and that electricity will be available for use. Sizing of the solar system, the dynamics of power generation, and storage capacity become considerations. Professionals such as myself can help you plan for this circumstance.
Grid-Tied
This is the most popular form of solar adoption. Installations are connected to the available electrical grid. Such interconnection offers reliability and convenience. Use the solar power you are creating and/or use the grid power when needed.
Owners of grid-tied systems are recognized by local utilities as Customer Generators. Your solar installation powers your own property as well as others, via the grid’s utility lines. As a Customer Generator, you will give the grid electricity when you are producing more than you can use. Then, later in the day, or later in the year, you will be able to use that 1:1 corresponding solar credit. This benefit is considered an important Incentive, and states without the incentive experience less solar adoption by utility customers.
In WA State we have a law that protects solar properties from ever being denied a 1:1 Credit for power they send to the grid. It is known as the Solar Fairness Act and this Net Metering Law protects Customer Generators. My blog post on the 2019 Legislative session.
Battery Back-up
If you have a grid-tied system and you would like clean, quiet power generation when the grid is out of commission, you have the option of adding batteries. Installing batteries at the same time you add the solar means that you can apply the Solar Investment Tax Credit to that cost as well. There may be a future savings depending upon how your utility bills you for electricity. In the NW, residential power delivery is most vulnerable in the Wintertime. Those are the shortest and darkest days. Therefore the battery storage must be sized aggressively enough to have the capacity needed to power the desired loads.
Wanting some solar? A new WA State Incentive program was launched October 2017.
The plan was to have a four year offer, until the $110-150M was maxed out.
Yet…
July 2018 status report by WSU Energy Program shows the program is almost 75% subscribed. Seattle City Light is over 50% full, and PSE is 65%. PSE is the state’s largest electric utility.
The offer of cash paid for solar kWhs will end once capacity of your utility or the state program monetary cap is reached, whichever comes first.
The rate of solar adoption since Oct 2017 is quicker than expected.
Seattle City Light’s website say it costs $0.0175 a mile to charge a standard Electric Vehicle (EV). But rates have risen recently, so I will round this up to $0.02 a mile.
120V outlets are the standard electrical outlet. EVs can plug into those and charge the batteries inside the car.
An example of potential usage:
Let’s say someone drives 20 miles in their Electric Vehicle, and then stops to plug it in and replenish the 20 miles just “burned”.
Using a factor of $0.02 cents a mile: $0.02 x 20 miles = $0.40
How do people charge their Electric Car’s battery?
Standard 120V electrical outlets charge an electric vehicle at the slowest rate – approx. 5 miles per hour. It takes 4 hours to charge to fill the battery to replace the 20 miles lost. Convenient to charge at the house, but slow.
Dealerships sell adaptors that can pull more power out of the 120V outlet. Twice the power in half the time. Same cost per mile, just faster power delivery to charge the battery. The plug from the car to the wall outlet can effectively be locked to the car in case someone wanted to remove it.
Where to charge:
Aside from the home, there are other charging options available, such as workplace, or stops around town.
EV charging stations like the ones at Fred Meyer, Walgreens, the mall, or Neighborhood Centers, etc. are 240V AC. That is twice as much power as the 120V AC outlets. So the car can be charged twice as fast at these 240V stations.
Dealerships have 440V fast chargers. When possible, people head for these.
Charging at an Apartment Complex
Without an effective monitor it is difficult for the tenants and owners to know the actual cost of powering the tenant’s EV.
But let’s estimate you are driving 500 miles a month.
500 miles x $0.02 a mile = $10/mo.
In the future, Seattle City Light might help facilitate EV charging at apartment complexes. For now there is not much information for tenants and landowners. Tenants and Owners must customize a solution. I tried this at my Fremont apartment location and used estimates above to explain the low cost of powering the vehicle.
I kept a log of my miles, and shared with landlady. We did not arrive at a fair solution. The cost to charge was fixed at $25/month.
