F150 EV vs ICE "Fuel" cost

[Xman]

Today was interesting. Typically, when I stop to fill-up on a road trip, the EV chargers are empty or there might be one EV getting charged. This afternoon when stopping at a service plaza on the NY State Thruway, there were 5 chargers all with EV's plugged in getting charged. I hadn't had a chance to see what a charger looked like in operation so took a gander at the control screens. I was in disbelief. Folks had been there for quite some time. There was an F150 Lighting. It had charged from 6% to 90% in 1 hour and 2 minutes at a cost of $78+change. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the screen before he unplugged. During discussion, I asked about the cost of charging. He thought it was saving half of what an ICE truck would be. I raised my eyebrows and said not with the price we pay for gas in TX. He laughed and said gas cost him $6/gal in Nantucket. I'm still blown away. Just thought I would share.

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[Porpoise Hork]

Did some calculating and if he's got the extended battery a 90% charge will get him around 250 miles before he has to look for a place to stop again to recharge. It cost him $78 to charge it and took an hour to do it. To go another 250 miles comes out to roughly $0.31 per mile for the price he paid.

To compare it the Powerboost going the same distance while hitting the advertised 23 MPG (which it easily can if driven at the right speed) and will consume roughly 11 gallons. To pump that amount of gas would take 90 seconds give or take. Now if the last fill up was $2.60/gallon like it is in south Texas then that's only about $0.11 per mile. Even at the $6.00/gal in Nantucket the cost per mile would still be cheaper at $0.26.

Granted this must have been a level 3 charger so the cost will be much higher than charging at home, but when this is your only option EV's aren't always the most economical or expedient choice for a road trip.

 

[MotoGary]

I just switched from a Lightning to an ICE F-150 due to my Lightning being totaled in June. My daily commute is 80-90 miles. I always charged at home and I barely noticed an increase in my power bill. I really like my new F-150, but I loved my Lightning! I cry a little bit every 10 days or so when I have to pump about $120 into the 36 gallon tank. The good news, I guess, is that my range is now over 700 miles vs about 220.

I never could make sense of road-tripping with the Lightning. But for my use as a daily commuter it was the optimum vehicle for me.

 

[PCfordguy]

The real benefits of EV ownership come from charging at home at $0.11 per kWh- that’s $1.10 for every 10kwh- most days we go 60-70 miles doing errands, work, kids etc. Doing so runs our EV battery down from 80% to around 60% - plug it in overnight and your back to 80% for $2.20. That’s cheap transportation.

EV Road tripping used to be pretty cheap as well- but no longer. They’ve jacked the electricity prices to where it’s just as, if not more expensive than gas prices per mile.

 

[MikeNH]

Public chargers are generally a ripoff. If you can’t charge at home where your rates are a fraction of this, an EV makes zero sense.

 

[24Carbon150]

The real benefits of EV ownership come from charging at home at $0.11 per kWh- that’s $1.10 for every 10kwh- most days we go 60-70 miles doing errands, work, kids etc. Doing so runs our EV battery down from 80% to around 60% - plug it in overnight and your back to 80% for $2.20. That’s cheap transportation.

EV Road tripping used to be pretty cheap as well- but no longer. They’ve jacked the electricity prices to where it’s just as, if not more expensive than gas prices per mile.

Not here in Southern Colorado. My buddy bought a Tesla for a commuter, paid $1500 for the at home charger install and his electric bill was so high between the home and the added cost of the charging every day that it was a net loss. It would be cheaper to buy a gas powered sedan that gets close to 40 mpg as opposed to paying the high electric bills. His Tesla experiment only lasted 9 months, and here’s where it gets really interesting he lost 30% of the value of the Tesla with 7,000 miles on it trading it in on a Honda ICE powered car, 3 different dealers basically told him it’s extremely hard to sell a used EV, very few people will buy them. He has money so it’s not like it hurt him, it was more of a whim experiment than anything he has two trucks, a half ton and a 3500. The craziest observation was the range drop during winter,his commute is 50 miles to work and he couldnt believe how much range he would lose on a typical single digit temp day, because the car would lose range while it was parked at his work for 10 hours, figuring in the the battery heaters being the culprit, he said the whole thing was a train wreck.

 

[fxo]

If he does pay $6 for 87 in Nantucket then he is saving money (but not 50% less for electricity), it seems all EV chargers at least in California charge ~35 cents the kWh. ~$5 was the rough hurdle where you start saving money on an EV platform, of course a truck is one of the worst "platforms" to own for EV. Best to have like a C-Max / Escape style of vehicle. Basic small people, and goods mover. You see this logic exactly in how Ford is doing their latest surge back into EV manufacturing. Probably replacing the Escape no less.

This ~$5 barrier was calculated by the The Economist, I am sure it still basically holds. Even here in California electricity rates have stabilized (for now). (It's a disaster). In a place like Ashland Oregon just over the border from California, rates are 1/3 (yes 1/3 the cost of PG&E in Nor Cal), and tons of people have EV's for true cost advantages. There is no tiering in that power rate structure either. Now that's amazing!

Here is something related from The Economist, which shows exactly why the major oil companies do what they do in the USA.

Just for full disclosure, I own a 2025 F-150 Lariat (6.5 bed), which I tow with. I also own a Ford C-Max Energi, which charges a 7 kWh battery, that is set to fill about 5.5 kWh, or 20 miles of usage on pure electric.

 

[Samson16]

I think you can drive any model EV you like and save money as long as you only charge at home.
I destroy roads around Orange County with my Model S Plaid for pennies because it charges only in my garage.

I don’t own a Model S Plaid, but my point is clear

Stay close to home and enjoy

 

[fxo]

For sure, Combustion Engines don't stand a chance against EV motors long term. Go watch CNBC's video on where Norway is at with EV adoption. The country's government even sourced cheap EV's so that any tier of of the country's population could afford one. Only the most pompous rich bitch that can't find a really close plug with respect to her remote chalet in northern Norway was extolling her need for a Land Cruiser. But being in Florida you probably have not seen the rates that PG&E charges in its highest usage tier for power.

Are you sitting down?

and yes this rate is for your home plug into your EV, you'll be sad with your EV at these rates.

62 cents per kWh.

 

[PCfordguy]

Not here in Southern Colorado. My buddy bought a Tesla for a commuter, paid $1500 for the at home charger install and his electric bill was so high between the home and the added cost of the charging every day that it was a net loss. It would be cheaper to buy a gas powered sedan that gets close to 40 mpg as opposed to paying the high electric bills. His Tesla experiment only lasted 9 months, and here’s where it gets really interesting he lost 30% of the value of the Tesla with 7,000 miles on it trading it in on a Honda ICE powered car, 3 different dealers basically told him it’s extremely hard to sell a used EV, very few people will buy them. He has money so it’s not like it hurt him, it was more of a whim experiment than anything he has two trucks, a half ton and a 3500. The craziest observation was the range drop during winter,his commute is 50 miles to work and he couldnt believe how much range he would lose on a typical single digit temp day, because the car would lose range while it was parked at his work for 10 hours, figuring in the the battery heaters being the culprit, he said the whole thing was a train wreck.

He must have super high electricity rates or a tiered billing. My car adds $30-$40 a month to my electric bill and we average around 1500 miles a month. It’s a such a no brainer.

 

[Samson16]

2025 ZR1. The Everyman ICE Hypercar

 

[24Carbon150]

He must have super high electricity rates or a tiered billing. My car adds $30-$40 a month to my electric bill and we average around 1500 miles a month. It’s a such a no brainer.

Yeah our bills are pretty high, my electric bill was $400 for last month for just the house, 2 adults, no kids, 75 deg AC

 

[fxo]

He must have super high electricity rates or a tiered billing. My car adds $30-$40 a month to my electric bill and we average around 1500 miles a month. It’s a such a no brainer.

You live in a normal state, run by normal people, and the "PUC" of Utah is clearly not in bed with the power providers, and so on... smile you are not getting a raw deal. Well under 3 cents per mile.

And the typical fulll F-150 gasser, is taking something in the neighborhood of 15 to 35 cents per mile from the owner. Not to mention other factors.

 

[PCfordguy]

Yeah our bills are pretty high, my electric bill was $400 for last month for just the house, 2 adults, no kids, 75 deg AC

Yikes- that’s steep. Obviously utility rates play a huge role in the value proposition of EV ownership. I guess I’m just lucky to live in a state where utility rates aren’t at nose bleed levels.

 

[jhelrey]

If I purchased an EV, my perk would be free charging at work.

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