The owner of a long range, rear wheel drive Tesla Model 3 recently took to Reddit to unpack the actual cost of charging at his home charger and at each Supercharger visited in over 13 months of ownership. He graciously shared the data for each session in a single Google spreadsheet that has all the fun details, for the data curious. Thanks to his eMotorwerks/EnelX JuiceBox 40, he was able to pull down data from each charging session that puts everything into scale.
Tesla Model 3 at one of Tesla’s Urban Superchargers. Image credit: Kyle Field | CleanTechnica
Right off the top, he shared that he spent an average of $47.90 per month on charging at home and at a number of Tesla’s Supercharging stations. That’s a $100 savings versus what he was paying for gas each month, and a testament to the core efficiency of the Model 3, and electric vehicles in general, when compared to their combustion vehicle counterparts.
Being a bit of a data nerd (I’m pretty sure Excel spreadsheets are my love language), I dove into the data and came back with a few nuggets of insight.
A Tesla charging at home. Image credit: Tesla
- 8.6% of charging was done on Tesla’s Superchargers.
- 15.2% of the cost of charging went to Tesla for its Superchargers, and that’s with three of the sessions being free due to Tesla enabling free Supercharging in response to flooding in the area.
- Home charging was done at a base rate of $.07/kWh, or $.11/kWh including fees, taxes, etc.
- The cost to run the new power line for the home charger ($700) was nearly equal to the cost of all the charging in the first year ($622.73).
- 5,194.67 kWh were pumped into the Model 3, enabling 15,123 miles for an efficiency of 2.91 mi/kWh or 343.5 watt-hours per mile. He clearly has a lead foot, as the EPA rates the LR RWD Model 3 at 3.84 miles per kWh.
- Total annual maintenance cost of $9.50 for windshield washer fluid.
The data provide a great look at the actual cost to operate and charge an electric vehicle. This is an actual case from a real owner who is just living life, charging as needed.
The actual energy required for a Model 3 or any other EV will depend on where you live, how you drive, air conditioning usage, and the like, but this snapshot of a single owner gives a nice view of what to expect for many new owners.
Grayson charging up a Tesla Model 3 at a 72kW Urban Supercharger at Tesla’s Thousand Oaks, California station. Image credit: Kyle Field | CleanTechnica
On the savings side of the equation, this owner was paying about $100 more per month for gas than he now pays for electricity. That’s an impressive 68% savings — from $148/month spent on the gasmobile to just under $50 to keep the Model 3 topped up.
Source: Reddit
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