Using more power; paying less for it

[bruin nut]

So, I've had my RAV4 EV for 5 months now. It replaced a car I really liked: the Chevy Volt. I like the RAV4 EV more than the Volt. To make things even better, I'm using more electricity, but I'm spending less for it. The main reason is that I'm utilizing the TOU rate plan of SoCal Edison a bit smarter. When I had the Volt, I would often charge during the day. I didn't have to charge, of course, but I figured that even peak-priced electricity was more efficient and cheaper than using gasoline. I was right about that, but it resulted in using more electricity a $.35 per kilowatt hour (peak) than $.1 per kilowatt hour (super off peak).

I realize with my new ride, I almost never charge during the day. The battery is simply big enough to keep me going until my normal recharge at night. Even though I have used more electricity to charge the RAV4 EV, it was more than offset by the big difference in my rate when I was drawing it.

To be honest, I never thought of this benefit when I leased the the RAV4 EV last fall from Dianne. I don't know if others here who switched from the Leaf or Volt to the RAV4 EV have noticed what I have, but I suspect that they have.

 

[VQ EV]

+1

I have both a Leaf and Rav4 EV. At over 3 years old my Leaf is often charged on-peak but the Rav4 almost never.

 

[drmanny3]

I have both a Leaf and the Rav4EV. I have solar panels and began using the SCE TOU rates probably 2 1/2 years ago. It allowed me to almost charge the Leaf for free. We averaged 350 kwh per month for the Leaf. Because of the rates being lower after 12 midnight and the solar generating during the on peak hours I would zero out. The Rav4EV has a bigger appetite for juice. I was considering adding a second meter to get the best rates from SCE. However SCE recently changed their rates on the TOC and lowered them considerably for the Midnight to 6 am. So there is no advantage for me to go that route. The Rav4EV charges fast at 40 amps thanks to Tony and his brother. So maybe it will cost us $0.025 per mile versus the Leaf at $0.015 per mile. That still compares well to my 2006 Prius that costs about $0.10 per mile and my NSX that costs $0.25 per mile. Our payback on the solar was a little over 4 years. So all is good on this front.

I also enjoy driving the Rav4EV much more than the Leaf. I don't have the range anxiety that we had before.

 

[fooljoe]

Also have both a Leaf and Rav and solar. When I got the Rav I thought my bill would be going up considerably, but with SCE's concurrent rate change making on-peak electricity worth more and super off peak worth less I'm still paying almost nothing!