DINO-fuel vs. Electricity analysis (from a person that drives a ton of miles)

[datechboss101]

This year is coming to an end pretty soon. Unfortunately, like my life had suffered back in 2020 (4 car wrecks if anyone is wondering), my bank account has also took a big hit this year. Closer towards the end of the year, I should have a proper analysis of how much it cost me to drive my favorite ICE vehicle this year compared to 2020 and 2019 (its the year I started fully tracking fuel costs), and how much an EV would have costed me. This is just purely a fuel vs. electricity comparison because we all know Tesla is butthurt about third-party repairs (this is clearly shown with the Rich Rebuilds youtube Channel), so repair bills such as brake fluid, brake pads, brake rotors, air filters, etc., are excluded. Also, Florida is one of the states that's well-known to have dirt-cheap fuel prices, so this might come off as a complainer to folks in areas where fuel costs an arm and leg. I am just being hopeful here that fuel prices will drop down over the next two to three years, which should help me to save up for Solar panels and free charging for the CT.

And after learning about the whole production thing getting pushed back by another year, this got me thinking about my daily commuting habits, and whether or not doing that daily commute regardless if its an BEV, PHEV, Hybrid, ICE, etc., is worth it for everyone. I do know because of a certain professor enforcing mandatory attendance, my overall schedule has been a disaster. On a side note, my vehicle does have ECU tunes so it can operate without any knock if I use 87 and/or 93.

As of right now of Oct 31st, October 2021 has been the most expensive month for me in terms of fuel. And I did manage to drive more than 5000 miles, but somehow managed to drive less than all of September over 3 cars. I want this thread to be as politically neutral here, since we all know why prices are going up for no reason (hence the comparison to 2019, a year that existed pre-pandemic). Here are a few data points where we will start with (graphs, data tables, charts, will be added later):

• Completely switched from 87 to 93 on week of 10/10/21 due to 87 no longer costing less than $3.00 per gallon at any Costco location within my commute.
• Filled up 18 times in October (5 fill ups on 87, 13 on 93).
• First time to cross $60 to fill up a tank of fuel
• PAID $817 in the entire month of October just for fuel (food for thought)
• PAID $3,552 for 1255 gals of fuel, which resulted in a distance of 26,885 miles (~43,016 km); this number is going to change due to still having my routine commutes in November.
• High MPG Year-to -date: 31.1 MPG; Low MPG Year-to-Date: 15.32 MPG
• Overall Year-to-date MPG (this will also be changed slightly): 21.37 MPG
• Total fillups Year-to-date on 87 octane: 81
• Total fillups Year-to-date on 93 octane: 18

For those that thoroughly track their fuel efficiency, how much is spent on fuel on a daily/weekly/monthly/yearly basis, etc., feel free to post here.

 

[BillyGee]

I track mine fairly meticulously and I've found the following, all in my Business vehicle which is an F350 super duty:

Avg miles per day: 153.1
Avg mpg: 16.2
Avg cost of fuel: $4.50/g (IF I'M LUCKY)

When I factor in all of the other upkeep the truck works out to 49¢ per mile to drive that behemoth. So I figure 50 solid weeks a year of 5 days a week and I get the following as a back of the envelope calc:

50 • 5 • 150 = 37500 miles a year
37500 • 49¢ = $18,375 annual vehicle costs

That holds within a few percent of my actual annual costs in QuickBooks. That's a pretty easy number to beat by any metric, but just for funsies I have a model Y on order to replace it since I never need that much truck.

Electricity costs me 23¢ a kWh here, given average model Y consumption that comes out to 6¢ a mile in electricity, tack on another penny per mile for tires, diving them 50,000 miles with a price of $650 per set and:

37500 • 6¢ = $2625 annual vehicle costs

Even with a loan of $850 a month:

850 • 12 = $10200

$10200 + $2625 = $12825a a year

It's a no brainer.

 

[showmemo]

I track mine fairly meticulously and I've found the following, all in my Business vehicle which is an F350 super duty:

Avg miles per day: 153.1
Avg mpg: 16.2
Avg cost of fuel: $4.50/g (IF I'M LUCKY)

When I factor in all of the other upkeep the truck works out to 49¢ per mile to drive that behemoth. So I figure 50 solid weeks a year of 5 days a week and I get the following as a back of the envelope calc:

50 • 5 • 150 = 37500 miles a year
37500 • 49¢ = $18,375 annual vehicle costs

That holds within a few percent of my actual annual costs in QuickBooks. That's a pretty easy number to beat by any metric, but just for funsies I have a model Y on order to replace it since I never need that much truck.

Electricity costs me 23¢ a kWh here, given average model Y consumption that comes out to 6¢ a mile in electricity, tack on another penny per mile for tires, diving them 50,000 miles with a price of $650 per set and:

37500 • 6¢ = $2625 annual vehicle costs

Even with a loan of $850 a month:

850 • 12 = $10200

$10200 + $2625 = $12825a a year

It's a no brainer.

I don't think you'll get 50,000 miles out of those tires. These cars are heavy for passenger car tires and, from what I've learned, expecting 30K is closer to reality.

 

[BillyGee]

I don't think you'll get 50,000 miles out of those tires. These cars are heavy for passenger car tires and, from what I've learned, expecting 30K is closer to reality.

That's fair, I'll double it for good measure.

That comes to $3000 per year, still a no brainer. Once I get my solar roof going it'll basically be $750 assuming I rarely supercharged.