One of the things we do in my business (electric utility) to help customers understand units of electricity is to try and relate units back to common things that they may understand. For example, we may say that if "x" customers all change their light bulbs to CFL, it is the equivalent of taking "y" homes off the grid for a year. Or we may say running that 1,500 watt heater for an hour uses the same power as a 100 watt light bulb uses in 15 hours.
I've had a number of people ask me how much energy my car uses, and often get blank stares when I talk of kWh's or even dollars from people not familiar with electrical concepts. They do get it when I say I used to put $75 of gas into my old car every 4 days, and now I use about $75 in electricity per month, but how does that compare with other electrical appliances?
Just for fun, I looked at three months worth of energy use on my car and on my electric water heater. Crunching the numbers I have found that driving 1,200 miles per month (14,400 miles per year) would use exactly the same amount of power that my water heater uses for a family of three.
This is using April, May and June data, so it may be a bit worse in the winter, but it's probably safe to say that driving a Model S 12,000 miles a year (kind of a benchmark number) would use the same energy as a residential electric water heater.
I drive a lot more than that, so I will use more power than my water heater, but I thought this would make a good talking point when discussing EVs with the uninitiated.
I've had a number of people ask me how much energy my car uses, and often get blank stares when I talk of kWh's or even dollars from people not familiar with electrical concepts. They do get it when I say I used to put $75 of gas into my old car every 4 days, and now I use about $75 in electricity per month, but how does that compare with other electrical appliances?
Just for fun, I looked at three months worth of energy use on my car and on my electric water heater. Crunching the numbers I have found that driving 1,200 miles per month (14,400 miles per year) would use exactly the same amount of power that my water heater uses for a family of three.
This is using April, May and June data, so it may be a bit worse in the winter, but it's probably safe to say that driving a Model S 12,000 miles a year (kind of a benchmark number) would use the same energy as a residential electric water heater.
I drive a lot more than that, so I will use more power than my water heater, but I thought this would make a good talking point when discussing EVs with the uninitiated.