Help with High Electric Bill?

[KyleM3]

So I’m into my third full month with my M3. PECO is our electrical supplier. The month I got the car, September (it was mostly in the shop getting work done) our bill was $66.40:

October $87.92
November $103.07
December $135.43

I see a correlation between driving it more often and a higher bill because naturally the more it’s driven the lower the battery % is so it has to charge longer. But our bill was $55 this team last year and a nearly $100 jump over 3-5 full charges in a month seems off. The car is always plugged in with scheduled charging to begin at 10 PM (although PECO no longer separates off hours, etc.).

I got a 14-50 installed with the max 32 AMPS (or volt?). If I turned that down and had the car charge longer, would that improve our price since it’s drawing less electricity? Or because it’d be on longer would it be a wash?

I’m just so perplexed. All the research I did before the car seemed to show people’s bills going up $15-$30 so this isn’t a welcomed sight, by any means.

Any advice is recommended!

 

[jjrandorin]

So I’m into my third full month with my M3. PECO is our electrical supplier. The month I got the car, September (it was mostly in the shop getting work done) our bill was $66.40:

October $87.92
November $103.07
December $135.43

I see a correlation between driving it more often and a higher bill because naturally the more it’s driven the lower the battery % is so it has to charge longer. But our bill was $55 this team last year and a nearly $100 jump over 3-5 full charges in a month seems off. The car is always plugged in with scheduled charging to begin at 10 PM (although PECO no longer separates off hours, etc.).

I got a 14-50 installed with the max 32 AMPS (or volt?). If I turned that down and had the car charge longer, would that improve our price since it’s drawing less electricity? Or because it’d be on longer would it be a wash?

I’m just so perplexed. All the research I did before the car seemed to show people’s bills going up $15-$30 so this isn’t a welcomed sight, by any means.

Any advice is recommended!

My advice would be to calculate how much the gas you would have bought would have cost. "Bills going up $15-$30" sounds silly, because it would be 100% dependent on how far someone drives, and the cost of their electricity.

Thats like someone saying "I am reading the average cost of gas for a mustang is only $80 a month, why am I paying $300 a month?"


You didnt put any gas in your car, so how much would that have been?

 

[Gizmo35]

Does your electricity bill have a breakdown of the charges and use rates? Id start there.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

$20 per full charge is what I usually figure (it is a bit on the low end in reality in CA)
take into account if you have sentry on the car uses maybe 3-5%/ day & if it is cold the batteries are a bit less efficient too

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Higher amperage charging is usually better.

What do you use electricity for other than the car?

 

[KyleM3]

Does your electricity bill have a breakdown of the charges and use rates? Id start there.

It does. But that made it more concerning, it was like $8 to charge after our Christmas visits and *sugar*. My bigger concern becomes if this is my bill during Corona when I’m driving 1-2 times a week, what the hell is it going to be when I’m driving 3-4 times a week? That just seems outrageous when I read a ton of cost threads and stories before purchasing.

$20 per full charge is what I usually figure (it is a bit on the low end in reality in CA)
take into account if you have sentry on the car uses maybe 3-5%/ day & if it is cold the batteries are a bit less efficient too

I do leave Sentry on. I live in the city, but have a covered parking spot with cameras around the building. I could turn it off to save, but that fear would always go “that one time I need it.”

Higher amperage charging is usually better.

What do you use electricity for other than the car?

Good to know about the amps.

I use electricity the same way everyone else does? Everything that requires electric pre-car this time last year was $55.

 

[Wnuk]

Winter time here in PA generally causes you to consume more battery power than you do in the summer months. Using the heater and lack of full regen on cold days wreak havoc on you average wH/mile. So naturally you will use more AC power to recharge the battery. Let’s say your typical summer commute is 50 miles round trip and your average wH/mile is 220. In the winter with a cold battery, using the heater, and wet roads , your average wH/ mile will be over 300. So instead of using just 50 miles from your battery, you are likely using close to 80 miles. This is why your bill is higher in the winter, your using more energy to go the same distance.

I will say your bill increase still seems excessive. After an entire year of ownership and 22,000 miles driven my utility bills see an average of $28 month increase. We pay 11c per kWh in eastern PA with UGI

 

[KyleM3]

Winter time here in PA generally causes you to consume more battery power than you do in the summer months. Using the heater and lack of full regen on cold days wreak havoc on you average wH/mile. So naturally you will use more AC power to recharge the battery. Let’s say your typical summer commute is 50 miles round trip and your average wH/mile is 220. In the winter with a cold battery, using the heater, and wet roads , your average wH/ mile will be over 300. So instead of using just 50 miles from your battery, you are likely using close to 80 miles. This is why your bill is higher in the winter, your using more energy to go the same distance.

I will say your bill increase still seems excessive. After an entire year of ownership and 22,000 miles driven my utility bills see an average of $28 month increase. We pay 11c per kWh in eastern PA with UGI

I’m in Philadelphia. Can you explain how often you typically drive, how often you’re charging below say 50%? Do you leave it always plugged in, Sentry, etc.?

Sorry, but your scenario seems the most relatable based on location so the insight would be appreciated.

 

[SSedan]

Pack has to be above freezing to charge so there is heating of that to consider.

 

[KyleM3]

Also, for clarifying since I can’t edit my post, by full charge I mean 30% to 85%. I’ve never done a <10% to X number.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

I use electricity the same way everyone else does?

You don't.
Some households heat with electricity, some don't.
Some households dry with electricity, some don't.
Some households cook with electricity, some don't.

Everything that requires electric pre-car this time last year was $55.

I was asking about your other use to see if something else could be a factor.

In particular, last winter was mild for most of the USA, so any temperature-based use would be higher.

 

[dhrivnak]

Sorry you have no information to base and answer on. At least here in TN a typical December bill is about double that of October when I use little HVAC. You normally need to compare to the same month last year. Living in PA I assume your winter bills are a lot more than summer bills.

How many miles do you drive? if you are driving 100 miles a month, yes that is a lot. If you are driving 1200 a month then yes you will notice an increase in electric costs. Sentry mode will likely cost $1/day so do you need it. And whether you charge at 16 amps or 32 amps it will be the same kWh. I charge at 24 amps to better match my solar output.

 

[TMThree]

Sentry keeps the car computer awake, and its got to process live video feed from multiple cameras. You'll burn somewhere around 200W of power from that alone.

It's fine for the office, or at a store, but sentry at home is a lot of power over time.

 

[Silicon Desert]

So I’m into my third full month with my M3. PECO is our electrical supplier. The month I got the car, September (it was mostly in the shop getting work done) our bill was $66.40:

October $87.92
November $103.07
December $135.43

I see a correlation between driving it more often and a higher bill because naturally the more it’s driven the lower the battery % is so it has to charge longer. But our bill was $55 this team last year and a nearly $100 jump over 3-5 full charges in a month seems off. The car is always plugged in with scheduled charging to begin at 10 PM (although PECO no longer separates off hours, etc.).

I got a 14-50 installed with the max 32 AMPS (or volt?). If I turned that down and had the car charge longer, would that improve our price since it’s drawing less electricity? Or because it’d be on longer would it be a wash?

I’m just so perplexed. All the research I did before the car seemed to show people’s bills going up $15-$30 so this isn’t a welcomed sight, by any means.

Any advice is recommended!

So I am wondering what is your cost per Kilowatt hour up there? And is it a flat rate or tiered structure (TOU)

 

[KyleM3]

You don't.
Some households heat with electricity, some don't.
Some households dry with electricity, some don't.
Some households cook with electricity, some don't.



I was asking about your other use to see if something else could be a factor.

In particular, last winter was mild for most of the USA, so any temperature-based use would be higher.

I’m tracking you now. Yes, we use electric for drying and AC (not heat). Philadelphia gets cold in winter, but nothing out of the norm the last couple years.

Sorry you have no information to base and answer on. At least here in TN a typical December bill is about double that of October when I use little HVAC. You normally need to compare to the same month last year. Living in PA I assume your winter bills are a lot more than summer bills.

How many miles do you drive? if you are driving 100 miles a month, yes that is a lot. If you are driving 1200 a month then yes you will notice an increase in electric costs. Sentry mode will likely cost $1/day so do you need it. And whether you charge at 16 amps or 32 amps it will be the same kWh. I charge at 24 amps to better match my solar output.

I gave as much as I was able to pull from a quick look. The wife handles that bill so I didn’t do a deep dive and math isn’t my favorite of subjects, lol. I am in the cold NE, so it plays a part for sure. But, if the $1/day Sentry cost is true...****. That gives me some thoughts. Just sucks because I’m most worried about my car at home with some of the people that come walking by. I need it less for video, more for deterring.

Sentry keeps the car computer awake, and its got to process live video feed from multiple cameras. You'll burn somewhere around 200W of power from that alone.

It's fine for the office, or at a store, but sentry at home is a lot of power over time.

This is good insight. Not what I want to hear because I want to feel safe with the car all the time, but that’s a lot of power for something I *knock on wood* typically won’t need. I worry less about the car at other places vs. home. Not because I live in a bad area, it’s simply the city and people check door handles and interiors all the time.

 

[TMThree]

while there are losses for sentry, battery heating, etc, you should still be able to know what your car is costing through the car itself. Either monitor your consumption at the house side, or from the car itself.

I run teslamate on aws lightsail (but it will run fine off your desktop or a raspberry pi for free), and it doesn't keep the car awake because it uses push (instead of polling), so you get really nice metrics including charges. Shows me exactly what went into the car and what the cost was.

 

[KyleM3]

So I am wondering what is your cost per Kilowatt hour up there? And is it a flat rate or tiered structure (TOU)

.06-.12 depending on the month, apparently. Woman was all over on the phone. I’m going with .12

 

[TMThree]

The math for power consumption is pretty simple for me. My car is setup to do sentry only when its not at home. When I used to go into the office it was 8 hours in the parking lot, figure about 1 mile an hour loss, so 8 mile loss from sentry. There's also power loss from the house to the car due to efficiency, but that's getting into nitty gritty details that don't really matter since the numbers are small.

Just look at the lifetime average in your car and look up the rates you pay for power.

For me its 250Wh per mile, so 4 miles is 1000wh (or 1 kwh). I pay 13 cents per kwh.

I usually travel 14k miles a year, so 14,000/4 = 3500 kwh * 13 cents = $455 per year for driving. Divide by 12 months and I should see $38/mo for my car consumption. Then you add on the sentry and other losses. So lets round it to $40-45/mo.

 

[Silicon Desert]

.06-.12 depending on the month, apparently. Woman was all over on the phone. I’m going with .12

hmmm ok, so even at the highest rate, I have to think that buying electricity for the Tesla is a lot cheaper than buy gas for an ICE car to drive the same mileage.

 

[TMThree]

But, if the $1/day Sentry cost is true...****. That gives me some thoughts.

200W consumption is 4.8 kwh per day if it was running 24 hours a day. It would obviously be less if you drove your car around because sentry wouldn't be leaching at that time (computer and cameras operate and are part of the cost of driving).

Anyway, at 13 cents per kwh, that would be 62 cents a day for 24/7 sentry.