[GS300]

A comparison chart of expenses

Fuel and Electricity expenses before and after we switched over to EV



Also, the impact of installing rooftop solar panels (net metering) on electricity bills

TL;DR:

Daily commute - 80Kms. within Bangalore city.
Pre-EV: Fuel expenses of approx Rs. 15000 per month
post-EV - approx Rs.1 increase in Electricity bill per km run
After rooftop solar panels - nearly zero expenses for commute.
Vehicle maintenance expenses: Negligible so far.


Longer Description:

We have been using an EV - Tata Nexon EV - from July 2021. I have been tracking fuel expenses and electricity expenses since then.

We were using two ICE cars. A large diesel SUV and a small petrol hatch. SUV gives about 9km/L and hatch must have given 15-20km/L. We used to spend around Rs.15000 per month for fuel.

Per day commute is around 80km. This remained constant even during Covid since my spouse is a healthcare worker. 6 days working per week, so monthly running comes to around 2000kms almost constantly. My wife used to alternate between two cars since she did not like the driving experience of the small car she had.

We replaced the petrol hatch with EV in July '21.

We use EV approx 92% of the time. Takes out SUV only to ensure it remains in running condition and battery doesn't drain.

We have done only slow charging at home. Haven't done fast charging, except for one time 20mins try at a nearby Zeon charger, only to check it out.

Since the driving experience of the EV is better than any car driven so far, my wife doesn't take the ICE car unless I plead with her

Chart

I had to smoothen the fuel chart because of certain noise in the data.

For long distance trips, we haven't had the confidence to take the EV. We take the SUV for that. I have not included those fuel expenses in the chart, since it skews it entirely. Please consider this to be only a data on daily commute expenses.

I thought of sharing this since the data may not be available for people considering the purchase of EV.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Electric Car section. Thanks for sharing!

[landcruiser123]

This is the how EV adoption will start and people will slowly replace their larger vehicle with EVs as the technology evolves.

I know many families in CA where the person with the longer commute takes the small EV (Leaf, Bolt) and the spouse driving to the BART (metro)/Caltrain station takes the gas guzzling SUV. Most offices offer free (or subsidized) charging and EVs give you free access to the HOV lane (for sole occupants) for a couple of years.

Unfortunately, this arrangement is tough for families who can't afford 2 cars which is the case with many people in India.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by GS300

- Daily commute - 80Kms. within Bangalore city.
- monthly running around 2000kms almost constantly.
- We use EV approx 92% of the time
- only slow charging at home. Haven't done fast charging, except for one time 20mins try at a nearby Zeon charger,
- Since the driving experience of the EV is better than any car driven so far, my wife doesn't take the ICE car

Good insights, GS300. Thanks for sharing. The EV makes a perfect case for you since most of your usage is within city and almost a daily affair.

Advantage1- Early adopter advantage w.r.t monetary benefits. I remember my ex-boss in Surat was one of the first to convert his Esteem to CNG via a TVS Transenergy kit for a mere introductory ₹16,000. Most people laughed at him, but he laughed his way to the bank thereafter.

Advantage2 - Smiling when energy costs are low. While it can be argued that it would take a few years to recover the extra capital on an EV, what makes one smile everyday is the ultra low per km energy costs.

Advantage3 - Zero noise. The EVs drive past in pin drop silence(almost). I was walking around in our quiet area yesterday, an autorickshaw went past, and then a Nexon EV and another electric bike. The noise level reduction was huuuge.

[libranof1987]

Thanks for sharing - real world data always helps.

Originally Posted by GS300

post-EV - approx Rs.1 increase in Electricity bill per km run
After rooftop solar panels - nearly zero expenses for commute.

The electricity bill shot up by 2k - compared to the 15k petrol bill, correct?

Could you share the cost of EV installation. Also, have you connected the solar panels directly to the charging station or to your house grid - any challenges from the discom? I've heard from friends that the cost of installation and red tape to set off the electricity generation in the bill by discom are major pain points.

[GS300]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

The electricity bill shot up by 2k - compared to the 15k petrol bill, correct?

That is correct. For 2000km commute per month, electricity bill went by approx Rs.2000.

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Could you share the cost of EV installation. Also, have you connected the solar panels directly to the charging station or to your house grid - any challenges from the discom? I've heard from friends that the cost of installation and red tape to set off the electricity generation in the bill by discom are major pain points.

Solar Panel installation cost me 2.3L. This is 3kW installed capacity. Later, many friends told me 2.3L is very high for 3kw, and you can get it much cheaper etc - I do not have confirmed data about it.

Solar power is given to the grid. We do not store it or use it directly. As per the process, the regular meter at your house will be changed to a 'net meter'. That means, you consume certain amount of electric power and your solar panels produce and supply certain amount of power to the grid. The 'net meter' tracks this and you are charged for the 'net consumption' only. e.g.: If you consume 150 units and your solar panels 'exported' 100 units. Then you are charged only 150-100= 50 units.

Dealing with Discom (in our case, BESCOM) is time and patience taking. They simply do not want to do any work.

But in my case, I only had to be patient with the time it took. The rest of the paperwork and following up etc, the solar panel vendor only did. That was the agreement - they will take care of all the process related to BESCOM and finally gives me the documents, and ensure my first bill after solar installation properly reflects everything correctly. The whole process end-to-end took more than 3 months, I think. A week or two for getting the materials, 2 days for installation and the rest for paperwork.

[prasanna_indaje]

Excellent thread.
Started using Nexon EV from December 21 and there is significant reduction in fuel expenses. We are household with an oil burner MUV, a small AMT hatch and an EV.

Fuel v/s electricity chart for last few months.


Increase in the electricity bill due to EV charging is around 1500 rupees per month. Monthly usage is around 1200 kilometers.

[SGK]

Originally Posted by GS300

Solar Panel installation cost me 2.3L. This is 3kW installed capacity. Later, many friends told me 2.3L is very high for 3kw, and you can get it much cheaper etc - I do not have confirmed data about it.

.

I am only commenting on the above point, I have also done 3 KW solar panel and it costed 2.1L (70K/KW) and cost remains same from 2019 to 2021 (Few neighbors got it installed in 2021 and mine was done in 2019). This cost is for Panasonic solar panels. I have also received quote for around 1.8L(60K/KW) during 2019 from one of the FB vendor, but still went with the known vendor with higher cost for ease of mind. Timelines remains same as what you have mentioned (~3-4 months to complete the paperwork).

[diablo29]

Vehicle maintenance expenses: Negligible so far.

If I can ask whether you have factored in the high insurance cost of the EV into the vehicle maintenance expenses.

[GS300]

Originally Posted by diablo29

Vehicle maintenance expenses: Negligible so far.

If I can ask whether you have factored in the high insurance cost of the EV into the vehicle maintenance expenses.

No, I haven't. The insurance premium comes to Rs. 52k. I am curious to know how much extra it is, compared to a petrol or diesel Nexon.

By maintenance expense, here I meant service, parts etc.

[DarthVeda]

try doing fast charging at one of many BESCOM FC in the city, it's around 8 rs/kwh. You can charge till 90-95% and top to 100% using your home connection. This will not increase your average deposit for increased consumption nor will have to take out sanctioned load of 4kwh.

[PRS7]

For me the only thing stopping me from switching over to an EV at the moment is range.
As an avid road tripper, I want at least 1000 km range (minimum) without having to worry about looking for a restaurant with a fast charger while on the highway.
It would be great if I can just cruise into a hotel parking after a day's long drive, plug in for charging while I rest for the night. Both me and the car at 100% charge the next morning to hit the highway.
I think this dream can be fulfilled only at least 5 from now with battery technology improving considerably.
Not sure if they thought about a solar panel laced sun roof
Personally I find it tedious to maintain 2 cars, one for city (EV) and another for highway (ICE). So ICE it is for me until EV technology catches to provide range longevity.

[Nimz]

Originally Posted by PRS7

Personally I find it tedious to maintain 2 cars, one for city (EV) and another for highway (ICE). So ICE it is for me until EV technology catches to provide range longevity.

Same for me and am guessing a few others too. Hence me thinks Hybrid would be a very good option. Gives you the same EV for city / ICE for highway combo in one car.

[BeingHuman]

A plugin hybrid with 300kms range for within city commute and a 1.5 liter engine for Highway runs would have been perfect for people who want to avoid purchasing 2 separate vehicles.People would willingly pay 2-3 lakhs extra for that feature for peace of mind and save on their parking space requirements.

[androdev]

A lot can be argued in favour of EVs but total cost of ownership isn't one of them. Not just yet. It costs a bomb to setup rooftop solar panels etc - ignoring that cost and saying my EV running costs are zero is not logical. If you take the total cost of owning a vehicle for 10 years and 1L km usage, ICE car will be cheaper overall. I am not against EVs but cost of ownership argument doesn't have merit IMHO.