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I just drove 800+ miles for about $28 (but actually only cost me about $5...)

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Over the last 2 days I've driven a Model S 800+ miles for business. Almost half of that was done with my own P85, the remainder was done with an S85 loner from Tesla (mine was in for a 2-day service visit).

At my trip's average consumption (312 wH/mile) and my electricity rate at home ($0.12 KWH), the electricity I used to drive those 800+ miles cost about $28. I actually only paid about $5 for that (as the loner was plugged in at my home for just 1 night). The rest of the trip was on Superchargers.

The "fuel" cost of the trip was about $0.036 per mile. I actually only paid about $0.006 per mile (that's .6 cents per mile).

I did patronize the businesses that hosted the Superchargers. I didn't keep track of what I spent at each stop, but over the 800+ miles I bought myself meals, snacks and drinks in excess of the $23 electricity costs the 2 cars drank in electricity.

What can we deduce from this?

The calories needed to keep me going for 800+ miles costs more than the KWHs for the Model S!
 
I am getting ready for a 1300 mile jaunt to Florida and expect the same experience. This will be my first long trip with my MS and I really am looking forward to the trip. The only expenses apart from hotel rooms and my initial charge will be the cost on my tire usage... quite a difference from my other trips which would cost 200 - 300 dollars in gas. I just love superchargers!

Pax,
Father Bill
 
Speaking for energy cost, I have estimated that I have actually paid about $34 in 4k miles. Using my areas residential rates ($0.0934 kWh), it would be about $134 w/ 330 wH/mile and 8% charging losses (92% efficiency), but then 75% or so of my charging is using no charge Chargepoints at work.

4,000 miles * 330 w/mile / 1000 w/kW / 0.92 * $0.0934 kW = $134 * .25 = $34

Sadly, I have also put 7k miles on a 19 mpg ICE while my Model S recovers from repair work, so I still paid tons in fuel costs over the summer. I am looking forward to the Model S being my daily driver!
 
Over the last 2 days I've driven a Model S 800+ miles for business. Almost half of that was done with my own P85, the remainder was done with an S85 loner from Tesla (mine was in for a 2-day service visit).

At my trip's average consumption (312 wH/mile) and my electricity rate at home ($0.12 KWH), the electricity I used to drive those 800+ miles cost about $28. I actually only paid about $5 for that (as the loner was plugged in at my home for just 1 night). The rest of the trip was on Superchargers.

The "fuel" cost of the trip was about $0.036 per mile. I actually only paid about $0.006 per mile (that's .6 cents per mile).

I did patronize the businesses that hosted the Superchargers. I didn't keep track of what I spent at each stop, but over the 800+ miles I bought myself meals, snacks and drinks in excess of the $23 electricity costs the 2 cars drank in electricity.

What can we deduce from this?

The calories needed to keep me going for 800+ miles costs more than the KWHs for the Model S!

In reality you actually made money, depending on your expense reimbursement policy. Typical IRS $.58 x 800 = $464 for driving an electric car instead of ICE! Nice little loophole for BEV owners that get reimbursed for traveling to clients.
 
3800 miles for $4.00
We recently did a long trip from our home in N. CA. to Seattle and across the Trans Canada highway to Banff then down to Glacier, Yellowstone, Jackson Hole and return across Nevada. Most of the charging was at SuperChargers or free municipal or business supplied chargers. Only paid to charge once and that was Seattle (Blink) for $4.00.
That said, we did spend a lot of money at the SuperCharger stops. Food, beverages, outlet store shopping, etc. so charging is definitely not completely free.
In the six months we have had the Tesla, we haven't driven our old Land Rover much. In fact, we only had to put gas in it last week when our daughter stayed with us and drove around all weekend and left us with an empty tank. My wife suffered sticker shock when she went to get gas so only filled the tank half way... that should last us another six months (or until the daughter visits again).
 
About a year ago, we did an 11,000 mile trip around the country. It was mostly Superchargers; except at the time Montana only had one so we had to do some L2 charging there. The ones we used in the day were free too. I think our only charging-related expense was adding $10 to two KOA cabins in order to be able to charge.

Now we could easily do the trip only at Superchargers and pay nothing at all. Cool.

If you count both of our cars, we have over 100,000 miles. Including charging overhead, and subtracting free trips, it has probably cost us about $3,000. Though we have enough solar panels to cover the cars and in addition to net metering the state should pay us enough for production to cover the cost of the panels...so in once sense it has ALL been free.
 
In reality you actually made money, depending on your expense reimbursement policy.

True. Because I'm the business owner, its the IRS deduction. Technically, that $0.58/mile covers more than just fuel. I haven't calc'd what our actual per mile cost is in total (fuel, maintenance, insurance, etc.) but I'm pretty sure its less than $0.58/mile!

3800 miles for $4.00
We recently did a long trip from our home in N. CA. to Seattle and across the Trans Canada highway to Banff then down to Glacier, Yellowstone, Jackson Hole and return across Nevada.

Our first long distance trip was in our first week of ownership. About 1500 miles along the Oregon, NCal coast. We spent $15 charging on AV's Chademo chargers (2 of them at $7.50 each). The rest was Superchargers and plugging in at our overnight stops (which was included in the cost of the stay).

3800 miles for $4.00
That said, we did spend a lot of money at the SuperCharger stops. Food, beverages, outlet store shopping, etc. so charging is definitely not completely free.

For me, this is really a question of "would I spend this money on this type of purchase anyway?" For the most part, the answer is yes, and I make an effort to do it at the Supercharger locations to support the host businesses who pay for the charger's electricity. If I was going to buy it anyway (I gotta eat and drink regardless of whether I'm travelling or not), I don't figure it as part of my cost of travel.
 
If you owned a $100k Model S, and drove it 50,000 business miles in 3 years, you'd be reimbursed $29k. Let's say the home charging cost $4k, so your net would be $25k. Resale value after 3 years = $60k? 3 years of a Model S for $15k or $400/month........sweet!
 
My wife and I just completed a 3,500 mile trip from our home near San Francisco north through Oregon into eastern Washington, across Idaho to Glacier National Park in Montana, west to Seattle and Olympic National Park, and then south back home.
Cost to power our S85 for 3,500 miles? A grand total of $18.00 for two charges in Seattle at a free charger in the Green Lake Village parking structure. I had to pay for parking even though the Chargers were free. My sister's house in Seattle didn't have a 220V outlet available for me to use and the chargers in that parking structure were just a half mile from her house so it was very convenient.