Minimum distance to drive per month for EV to be cheaper than ICE

[bg002h]

Howdy all…I think we all realize that driving EV is cheaper per mile driven than ICE, despite the wide range of electricity and gas prices out there.

But for those of you who, like me, live in a warm and sunny place, and don’t like the inside parts of their car melting (literally 150°F or higher in the cyber oven cabin), has anyone run the numbers on miles driven to hours with cabin overheat protection turned on in terms of the cost savings or increased price of driving an EV?

I have a detached garage with its own separately metered connection to the grid. I recently switched electricity price plan to get ½ off electricity if I can use zero power during peak hours. Anyhow, out of the 574 kWhr my garage got billed last month, 570.8 were off peak and almost all of that was my CB. Total charge for on peak power was just shy of $5. Total bill was $91, of which $14 is minimum monthly charge for having a connection to the grid. I estimate at least 550 kWhr of that bill went in to my truck.

I live 2 miles from work. I’ve had my CB since late June 2024 and it has 8600 miles on it. So 8600 miles / 15 months or about 573 miles per month is my average.

My CB sits outside in uncovered Arizona sun all day while I’m at work. Stuff sort of melts inside the car if I don’t leave the AC over heat thing on (like the squishy tray in the center console or the rigid plastic thing holding the visors/rear view up, adhesives holding the homebrew 3D printed cups to complete the door handles for storage, etc)…

Thus I estimate in summer my CB consumes about 1 kWhr per mile traveled, which is probably as expensive as an ICE per mile. I suppose I can leave windows open instead of AC on, but I have already lost the glue holding the rubber weather stripping around the windshield to the glass (I have only three times failed to turn on overheat protection in summer…but temps got to at least 140-155°F in the late afternoon when I left work and probably higher when I wasn’t looking).

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t buy a CB for environmental friendliness or low cost of driving or anything other than it doing truck things and accelerating really fast. But I’d guess there are a lot of people who live close to work who spend more on fuel for a Tesla than an ICE vehicle.

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[hemiarch]

I would say that commuting 2 miles to work in a cyberbeast by yourself carrying nothing but your lunchbox is akin to doing the same thing in a raptor SVT. Acceptable to a lot of people for lots of different reasons but clearly not the best tool for the job or the most cost efficient. How much would you be spending on gas in that?
lets take the Prius thing off the table because hybrid makes things a little confusing but you probably should be using a Kona/cx6/corolla type thing or a model 3 for this job.
You don’t HAVE to use Cabin OP in the model 3 just like you wouldn’t be doing that in the kona and both will likely melt your stuff in Arizona where I also live. The fact that you CAN use that in the model 3 is a bonus.
Basically, if you want a fair comparison, compare apples to apples. For the same size vehicle with similar performance and without making one do work you don’t make the other do (like cabin overheat protection), the EV wins by a landslide every single time. For a 1 mile commute or for 100.
If cabin overheat protection isn’t worth it to you, take the melty stuff out and don’t use it.
The ICE car temps in the same circumstances go equally high, you just don’t pay attention to them because you don’t have an app that measures that.
Some things that make an enormous difference in either car are high quality tint, use of a windshield and/or window sunshade, cracking/or venting the windows, parking in shade whenever possible and using an awning of some kind.
Car covers are controversial because while they keep out sun they trap in heat.
I do sometimes wish Tesla would make a software setting that’s appropriate in our environment for the cabin overheat protection. When it’s regularly 110, setting the COP to a maximum of 100 degrees is not useful. There should be a 90/95/100 but also a 120 to only prevent extreme cooking.

 

[SlegMD]

AZ resident. I drive 22miles to work. Truck expends ~ 20kWh +\- 2 daily.

Using cabin control would add ~ 10kwh to my daily consumption which I felt was a waste, so I turned it off.

peak temp that the truck detects is 144F in direct sun. Using “vent” to open windows did not improve the temp when the sun was on the truck, no change in Fahrenheit. It does help if you are shaded however, the cabin will match the outside temp.

At 144 I’ve had no melting of things. I use a sunscreen and glass roof screen, maybe those are preventing the temp you reported.
I have tint as well but am unsure if that decreases idle cabin temperature.

Either way, I’ve maintained no sentry and no cabin control for the summer and have reduced power consumption for the miles traveled.

I will say I envy your 2mile commute, haha. You’re already coming out ahead. (Stay out of this work-from-homers)

my monthly power charge ~$55 dollars whereas my previous Lexus hybrid ~ $105

 

[CyberGus]

peak temp that the truck detects is 144F in direct sun. Using “vent” to open windows did not improve the temp when the sun was on the truck

My truck sits in the Texas sun all day, and I’ve seen temps north of 150° sometimes. To my surprise, venting helps little.

COP is for comfort, not protection. All vehicles hit those extreme temps and are designed to withstand it.

The best solution for lowering the temp is to avoid direct sunlight with a canopy or awning.

 

[SlegMD]

My truck sits in the Texas sun all day, and I’ve seen temps north of 150° sometimes. To my surprise, venting helps little.

COP is for comfort, not protection. All vehicles hit those extreme temps and are designed to withstand it.

The best solution for lowering the temp is to avoid direct sunlight with a canopy or awning.

Perhaps my attempts at solar radiation reduction with sun block screens were helpful, however for me there was no change with venting, 144F regardless as indicated by truck. This was reattempted for about 2 months with no change. Perhaps ~150 there is a change in behavior?

regarding COP, I agree, although I have to say that around 144 my sentry cameras get an error due to heat exposure, which disengages sentry altogether.

 

[lrpena]

I drive about 100–120 miles per day. When I had a Ram 1500 with a 5.7, I spent roughly $400–$450 a month on fuel. Now my power bill has only gone up by about $170 from charging daily. That’s a pretty big savings.

 

[bg002h]

I wish COP had a 110° or 120° setting. I also wish I had access to covered parking!

that said, a bicycle or jog would be the best way to get to work…better miles per hamburger that way

 

[TJCJr9999]

Howdy all…I think we all realize that driving EV is cheaper per mile driven than ICE, despite the wide range of electricity and gas prices out there.

But for those of you who, like me, live in a warm and sunny place, and don’t like the inside parts of their car melting (literally 150°F or higher in the cyber oven cabin), has anyone run the numbers on miles driven to hours with cabin overheat protection turned on in terms of the cost savings or increased price of driving an EV?

I have a detached garage with its own separately metered connection to the grid. I recently switched electricity price plan to get ½ off electricity if I can use zero power during peak hours. Anyhow, out of the 574 kWhr my garage got billed last month, 570.8 were off peak and almost all of that was my CB. Total charge for on peak power was just shy of $5. Total bill was $91, of which $14 is minimum monthly charge for having a connection to the grid. I estimate at least 550 kWhr of that bill went in to my truck.

I live 2 miles from work. I’ve had my CB since late June 2024 and it has 8600 miles on it. So 8600 miles / 15 months or about 573 miles per month is my average.

My CB sits outside in uncovered Arizona sun all day while I’m at work. Stuff sort of melts inside the car if I don’t leave the AC over heat thing on (like the squishy tray in the center console or the rigid plastic thing holding the visors/rear view up, adhesives holding the homebrew 3D printed cups to complete the door handles for storage, etc)…

Thus I estimate in summer my CB consumes about 1 kWhr per mile traveled, which is probably as expensive as an ICE per mile. I suppose I can leave windows open instead of AC on, but I have already lost the glue holding the rubber weather stripping around the windshield to the glass (I have only three times failed to turn on overheat protection in summer…but temps got to at least 140-155°F in the late afternoon when I left work and probably higher when I wasn’t looking).

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t buy a CB for environmental friendliness or low cost of driving or anything other than it doing truck things and accelerating really fast. But I’d guess there are a lot of people who live close to work who spend more on fuel for a Tesla than an ICE vehicle.

Time for an Aptera, which will charge sitting in the sun, and give you 40 miles, just sitting in the sun............

 

[cyberos]

Good question @bg002h. I used to ponder this myself and laughed at EV owners who thought they were saving money. Then I got a Cybertruck and saw the light.

Let me pick a more popular example, a used Model 3. These are cars cheap right now, like $20K. It’s around $40 to charge from 10-80% battery at a Supercharger, roughly half that cost (and in many cases even cheaper) for home charging. And you’re getting around 300 miles of range.

Let’s say $20 for a “tank of gas”.

Using a used $20K Corolla as a baseline you’re already saving $20 per tank of gas from day 1. This is assuming $40 to fill the Corolla’s tank.

People in Austin and Houston Texas have clearly solved this riddle. Teslas are now everywhere across all socioeconomic types.

The real cost savings are in maintenance. For EVs the maintenance costs are effectively $0. I pay $65 for tire rotations. Even used EVs barely even need the brakes replaced, because of regenerative braking.

 

[bg002h]

Time for an Aptera, which will charge sitting in the sun, and give you 40 miles, just sitting in the sun............

Maybe I can install a steam powered electric generator inside the cabin/oven and make enough juice to cover my commute

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