How can I convince my wife?

[o1owest]

We have Prius V that we had just about a year. My wife drives about 80 miles per day, picking up kids and other stuffs. We are averaging about 45MPG for Prius and we are very happy about it.
My question is if SCE charges 9 ¢ / kWh for 6 hours during super off peak hours, how much does it cost to charge Rav4 for each day. In rough calculation, we are spending abour $8 in gas per day.
Just want to have some data to convince my wife to get a third car for family.
Wish me a luck.

 

[Ampster]

If she averages an easy 3 mi/kWhr that would be $0.03 per mile or $2.40 per day. Good luck. There must be a greenhouse gas calculator but I didn't find it.

 

[eschatfische]

In our experience, topping up the RAV4 after 80 miles of normal highway driving with our 240V/40A charger requires approximately 30kWh of power and approximately 3 hours of charging time. (We do regularly see a rating of 3+ miles per kWh on the screen after we drive like Ampster implied, but in the real world, the charging and energy storage process is not 100% efficient, hence the reason I'm giving you a slightly higher number.)

At $.09/kWh, that'd be $2.70 of energy from your utility.

 

[mhkp]

I did a similar analysis and found that the cost of ownership (lease, down payment, EVSE install) less CA rebate $2,500 of a Prius vs Rav4Ev is almost the same over three years. However, its MUCH lower compared to any other SUV (avg MPG 20-25). So i would go that route. You get amazing storage space (costco, strollers, etc) amazing safety (SUV over compact), and you get performance. If you have kids then another factor was that I can put three booster seats in the back. Cant do that in Prius/LEAF.

 

[dipper]

I did a similar analysis and found that the cost of ownership (lease, down payment, EVSE install) less CA rebate $2,500 of a Prius vs Rav4Ev is almost the same over three years. However, its MUCH lower compared to any other SUV (avg MPG 20-25). So i would go that route. You get amazing storage space (costco, strollers, etc) amazing safety (SUV over compact), and you get performance. If you have kids then another factor was that I can put three booster seats in the back. Cant do that in Prius/LEAF.

You forget the 30% tax credit off the EVSE+install. Up to $1000. But this one has AMT implications unlike our EV tax credit.

There... more money saved into your decision.

 

[yblaser]

If you want to do a detailed analysis there are a couple of other factors to consider. 

1.  Ignoring your EV usage, switching to a whole house TOU plan may increase or decrease the cost for your normal household usage depending on your usage patterns.  For us it turned out to already save us money even when not including the EV usage because most of our usage is at night.  If you use a lot of energy during the day especially June through September with a $0.47 per kWh Tier 2 peak rate, then this could really cost you.

2.  While the super off peak rate is 0.09, your marginal cost is actually higher (if you use enough to be in Tier 2).  Since your baseline allocation is spread among your peak, off peak, and super off peak usage based on the percent of your total usage in each of those time slots, then using an additional kWh in the super off peak time period affects how much of your on-peak and off-peak usage is in Tier 1 or Tier 2.

Miimura has posted a detailed spreadsheet elsewhere on the forum (in solar PV threads IIRC) used for calculating energy costs that should help if you can estimate your current usage broken up into peak, off peak, and super off peak.

 

[cossie1600]

I went to look at one. The car is nice and everything, almost like a bigger Prius. Yet there is no way my wife would give up her rx450 for it. I wish they made this car more luxury

 

[evbuddy]

>I wish they made this car more luxury

Toyota would have offered this under lexus brand with more upgrades and charged $70K for it, if they were allowed by Tesla.

 

[cossie1600]

It would sell a lot better if they make it better looking.

 

[eschatfische]

The ICE version of the RAV4 sells like hotcakes around here, and they're nearly identical to the RAV4 EV. It's not about looks, it's about price. I think most would agree that the ICE Toyota RAV4 is a perfectly decent looking $25k SUV, and also that one wouldn't expect a $25k SUV to look as attractive or be as lush as a Lexus that costs over twice as much. There are lots of buyers for both.

The RAV4 EV lives a double life. Reviewers and people who walk the lot are right to question whether an EV with a $50k MSRP is a good value when it looks exactly like a $25k SUV, when in reality, many of us have purchased the car for less than $30k after negotiations and incentives, a price point that makes it a very good value and where its appearance is totally competitive. I think most of us would agree that Toyota has made the pricing and marketing of the RAV4 EV far more confusing than it should be, and that's the main issue.

 

[dipper]

If you are looking for a Lexus Rav4, then you will have to wait and see.

Lexus is planning to bring over a rebadged Rav4 with two power plants. A turbo 2.0L and a hybrid. Beyond that, no one knows at this point.

 

[TonyWilliams]

If you are looking for a Lexus Rav4, then you will have to wait and see.

Lexus is planning to bring over a rebadged Rav4 with two power plants. A turbo 2.0L and a hybrid. Beyond that, no one knows at this point.

Since Toyota doesn't like battery electric cars at all, I'm going to guess that you won't see a Rav4 EV anything after 2014 model year.

 

[cossie1600]

Financially, rav4 is awesome for us. Yet she will have a tough time being happy driving it I think. Also this would put us with no reliable backup car as my other car is a leaf and my other car is standard and she can't drive it

 

[TonyWilliams]

Financially, rav4 is awesome for us. Yet she will have a tough time being happy driving it I think. Also this would put us with no reliable backup car as my other car is a leaf and my other car is standard and she can't drive it

Why do you need a "backup" car?

 

[cossie1600]

Because we sometimes need to drive more than 100 miles at a time?

 

[cossie1600]

We took the plunge on a white one. I totally didn't expect she would say yes as the Lexus is more comfortable in almost everyway. The only thing is that with a second kid planned for next year, my wife really wants us to be in tip top financial position. Also we both work for companies that offer free chargers, it just seems to make sense to try this whole EV thing (I got a Leaf as a commuter two weeks ago). The incentives just made it easier as I would be paying $300 less than the Lexus if you factor in gas. I would also get $7K back in cash from equity and state rebates, that's what really made the math worked for us. We have to accept the car is not as good, but my wallet will be happier and so will the environment. Let's hope it doesn't break down on us and we won't get stranded.

 

[mikegerard]

Take it out for a drive and punch it a couple times!

You'll experience the EV grin and that will change your mind about it. The linear acceleration is fantastic from 0-40 or so. Cornering is also outstanding.

Mike

 

[TonyWilliams]

Because we sometimes need to drive more than 100 miles at a time?

Since I have done both a 3500 mile trip from San Diego to Canada and back, and a number 200 mile days, it's just not that hard to drive more than 100 miles.

65mph down the freeway without the heater (or on a particularly cold day) will go 142 miles.

For days when I need more miles or less charge time, I rent a car for $19.95 at my neighborhood Enterprise. There is no way that it is cost effective to pay insurance, license, taxes, maintenance, etc on a car for those very few times I need it.

For driving over several hundred miles, I'm probably going to fly (and then rent a car wherever I'm going)

 

[cossie1600]

The deal we got was too good to pass on. With the state rebate, we ended up getting nearly $10K back in cash plus we lower our payment by 25%. It's just a responsible thing to do financially. Even though the RAV2 is not a perfect car, but it will do the job for the next three years. I have a little baby, waiting 4 hours to charge or not running AC is not an easy thing to do. Still, I probably won't make too many trips anyway. If I do, I will need to decide between this and the Leaf with the QC. Of course two QC will probably equal one full charge on the REV2

 

[eugenepan]

I did a similar analysis and found that the cost of ownership (lease, down payment, EVSE install) less CA rebate $2,500 of a Prius vs Rav4Ev is almost the same over three years. However, its MUCH lower compared to any other SUV (avg MPG 20-25). So i would go that route. You get amazing storage space (costco, strollers, etc) amazing safety (SUV over compact), and you get performance. If you have kids then another factor was that I can put three booster seats in the back. Cant do that in Prius/LEAF.

Hi,

Can you tell me which booster seat you are using? Will most booster seats fit 3 across? Are you using backless booster seats? Are you using the LATCH connection?

thanks