Question Of The Week Answers + Patreon Thanks | 31 Oct 2021

How many of the podcast listeners have changed their electricity tariff after buying an electric vehicle? And how many of your regularly change electricity to get the best deal, if that’s possible where you live? How much interest do you take in your electricity supply?

RAJEEV NARAYAN

Owning an EV has made me much more aware of my cost of electricity and it’s carbon intensity. If I had the option to shop different electric tariffs I would, but here in San Antonio, it’s not really an option. You did report some time ago on a Shell subsidiary that was providing a tariff charging GM vehicles for free in the evening here in Texas, called MP2 Energy LLC, but so far I have not been able to reach anyone at the company. Fortunately electricity is fairly cheap here- we pay only about 9 to 11 c/ kWh, for now anyway. As a result more than cost I have been interested in how clean my electricity is. So I know have 8.1 kW of rooftop PV and 17.52 kW of community solar. The two systems offset all my driving and most of my home electricity usage as well. 

BRIAN SMITH

I’m an Australian who has lived in Florida for twenty years. Our power costs here are a flat 11-12 cents per kWh, all day and night. 

EVs are pretty common in my area but are mostly Teslas. Our power companies are licensed monopolies and their prices al have to be approved by an oversight board.

I suspect power prices will always remain flat like this: the first person to suggest making power cost more during the day and less at night will be accused of trying to kill old people by cutting off their air conditioners!  Being Florida it is hot and humid most of the year and without A/C our houses would be very uncomfortable if not downright dangerous. With so many senior citizens in the state I don't think anybody is going to suggest having variable power prices, so we'll just keep paying a flat fee, day and night.

There's is one small price difference, which I almost forgot. Your first 1000 kwh cost about 8-9 cents each, anything over that costs 13-ish, I think. It averages out around 11-12 for a typical house. My house, about 2200 sq ft with the a/c set to 75 degrees all day/night, eats around 1400 kwh per month, and about two thirds of that is for running the a/c.

Sorry this is late; I drafted it then forgot to send it :)

RENE SCHNEIDER

Well – you talking about Octopus and other tariffs – this is not for us.

In Switzerland you are bound to the local electricity provider. Only if you are a company that uses a lot of electricity, you can have individual tariffs.  Why I don't mind? In my case th bill comes from our village government and in our village we have one of the lowest tariffs in Switzerland for private persons:

10 swiss cent low tariff and 13 swiss cent high tariff. 

This is approx..

9 euro cent at night and during weekends and 12 euro cent during the day.

Yes. Only 0.09 Eur / kilowatt ….

Well this has a good and a bad side. The amortization of the solar on my roof will be longer. But as I charge the cars with solar the most of the time it is ok for me.

RON BARBER, SAN JOSE

Here in Northern California energy is provided by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and their rates have been going up consistently for the decade I have been tracking them. Probably at the maximum rate the government allows them to increase.

Our primary house has Solar that we installed in Oct 2012 so 9 years ago and it has generated over 52MWh. It was an outright purchase and we have since recovered our investment a few years ago.

I had select rate plan E-6 (Time of Use) which paid well during solar producing hours. That has been waining on benefit in the recent years but is still good so I have stayed with it even after purchasing an EV in 2018. I do most EV charging at my workplace.

PG&E rates for power are from 25 to 41cents/kWh depending on season and if you exceed your baseline by some or a lot. We do exceed baseline by a lot in winter months when doing more cooking and I have a pool (so pool pump) but its variable speed to cut costs.

Home electricity is costing me about 8 cents/kWh adjusted with solar because we have had more folks living here recently than planned. That's changing so prices should drop to near 0 with only a $10/mo meter-fee (grid hookup fee).

ROMAIN GUYONY

I changed my electricity supply to Octopus Energy using your referral code after taking ownership of a used Passat GTE estate last December.

Every year I shop around for a better deal but this year I was specifically looking for a tariff that would give me cheaper electricity at night, Octopus Go was the only one I could find! Day rates were actually comparable if not cheaper than what I was getting from E.ON (around 15p/kWh), but a night rate of 5p/kWh was a big draw for me. I do 95% of my 22-mile commute on electricity (100% in the summer, less the rest of the year) and the savings compared to my old mild-hybrid Yaris are substantial. Before switching to this tariff I would charge as soon as I came home, as I run the battery down as much as I can during my commute and would want some juice in case I decided to pop out, this cheaper night tariff makes sure I only charge during the day if I need to.

Due to this tariff we have also now taken to running our dishwasher and washing machine at night (using a special night cycle for the latter) for further cost savings!

MATTI JOUHKIMO

Since we got our ID.3 in December, we thought about changing to market-priced exchange electricity, but since our deal was fixed until February 2023 we couldn't. Turned out to be blessing in disguise, since prices are now through the roof, we pay no monthly payment and fixed 4,28c/kWh from electricity and another 4,07c/kWh for transfer (which you can't have a tender on in Finland), so with taxes we pay 11,14 c/kWh. We shop for the best prices every 2 years when contracts end. All 100% CO₂ free. 

ALAN NORTHCUTT

i don't believe your audience of EV enthusiasts always 

places saving money as the top priority.   when i lived in an apartment, even before

i owned the Bolt or Model 3, i chose an electricity plan that was 100% renewable.

cost was secondary.   now that i live in a house and drive electric,  i have rooftop solar that covers

my power needs during sunny months.

STEVE SHADE

Just got offered TOU, Time-Of-Use, residential electric pricing.

By scheduling my Bolt to charge overnight up to 6AM  I will pay 0,096USD/KWh versus 0,132USD/KWh a 27% savings (did I use the commas instead of periods correctly?) (why do Americans say zee?)

I drive my 2019 Bolt 20.000 miles/year at a great rate of 4,5 miles/KWh (max 45MPH low hills) using 4.444KWh/year

TOU "Super-Off-Peak 12AM-6AM" saving 27% over regular rates: 160USD savings per year (586 - 426) on charging my Bolt alone.

IAN SEAR

We changed tariffs when we got our EVs, we moved to the Octopus Go which gives you very cheap electricity over night i.e. 5p per KWh, 13p during the day and a daily fixed charge of 25p, I didnt want the risk of a variable tariff I'm too small C conservative.

This was inconvenient as the time window was 12:30-4:30, fine for charging cars but we found we were putting on dishwashers, hot tub and washing machine on late and it wasnt perfect, we then got a Tesla Powerwall and found it helped.

 We then got on the "Go Faster" tariff which had a longer period of lower cost, (5 hours) but at a slightly higher cost at 5.5p. With the battery and charging cars overnight I've found I can shift 95% of my consumption to the night. We are on average paying about 7p per Kw/h blended price.

We also have Solar with a FiT payment so the new tariffs that pay you for your solar generation aren't applicable but if I was starting from scratch Id definitely get a battery and as much solar as I could fit on the roof. A bit annoying we havent got V2G V2H out of the experimental stage. A small home battery or V2G would mean you use all your own Solar. 

SCOTT VAN NIEKERK

I’m excited. I’m in the waiting room for a Tesla model Y ordered at the beginning of October expecting delivery in March 2022. I called my electric company and asked them to switch out the basic meter for day/night charging dual rate. It’s a little more expensive during the day and 50% less expensive at night! It’s a no brainer right?! 💚 like Fruits and vegetables in A capsule 😂 

No I just have to decide which charging option I’m going to go with, the NEMA 14-50 or the tesla wall connector 🤔

STEVEN STIER

I live in southwest Georgia USA.  We have relatively cheap electricity in our area.  (10 cents per KWH).  So a special EV rate is unnecessary.   However, immediately upon buying my 1st EV, I installed a 7.8 KW solar array.  I now charge both my 2012 Leaf and 2019 Bolt only on sunny days.  Free,  is the ultimate electric rate.  

With the COP26 climate summit now underway in Scotland, what would you like to tell the politicians or the rule makers about electric cars?

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