How much does it cost to charge an electric car?
It has often been shown that, for a car, electricity is significantly less expensive than gasoline. “When the time comes to fill up on energy, an electric vehicle can cost about six times less than a gas-powered model,” says Jonathan Côté, spokesperson for Hydro-Québec in terms of transportation electrification. .
The hydroquebec.com site offers a tool to calculate the savings with an electric car. Let’s take the example of a car that consumes 21 kWh per 100 kilometres. Its petrol equivalent would require 7.1 liters of fuel for the same distance. Even raising the current electricity rate to $0.11209/kWh, the annual cost to run the first one would be $470.78. The second would cost $2,130 per year with an average price of $1.50 per liter of gasoline. For an annual distance of 20,000 kilometres, a saving of $1,659 would therefore be realized.
How much battery life do you actually need?
The range of an electric car often causes unnecessary anxiety among drivers who fear breaking down. However, a study conducted in 2022 showed that Quebec motorists spend only 372.7 hours a year on the road and that their car remains parked 95.7% of the time. In short, they have enough time to recharge the car battery to its full capacity and thus give themselves the maximum range.
For its part, the United States Federal Highway Administration has calculated that the average annual distance traveled by motorists in the United States is 14,263 miles (22,954 kilometers), or just 62 kilometers (km) each day.
If you cannot recharge the battery once you arrive at your destination and cannot stop on the road to proceed, the usually recommended rule is to multiply the expected distance by two and then add about thirty kilometers . You will thus enjoy a margin of safety against factors that could influence your consumption (wind, weight, weather, top speed, etc.).
For example, if you have a distance to cover of 100 km, double that at 200 km (for the round trip) and add 30 for a very safe total of 238. In the case of a car like the Chevrolet Bolt EUV, whose autonomy reaches 388 km, we see that there is no reason to worry.
How to charge your electric car when parking on the street?
You want to buy an electric vehicle. However, you cannot install a charging station in your home because you are not the owner or because the location does not allow it. No problem, because on the island of Montreal alone, there are more than 1,000 public street charging stations (not counting those in parking lots and fast charging stations).
To use it, download the application Electrical circuit. This will first show you the free terminals near where you are. You will then need to create a customer account. Once you have entered the number of the terminal on the application, you will only have to plug its 22-foot retractable cable into your port.
Be aware, however, when your battery will reach the desired level of charge, because if you stay there, you will have to continue paying for the use of the terminal. By using the app Electrical circuit, you can automatically receive a notification at the end of the recharge or after a number of hours that you have determined.