ECAC

Electric Vehicles

Cost comparison

Electric Vehicles are clearly better for the environment than gas-powered vehicles. For example, a gas-powered car that gets 30 miles per gallons and drives 10,000 miles a year will emit more than 3 tons of CO2 annually. EVs are somewhat more expensive to purchase - which has kept many people from purchasing them. But what many people do not realize is that they are generally less expensive over their lifetime. First and foremost is the cost of gasoline purchase vs. charging. In the above example, the owner of the gasoline-powered car will spend over $1,000 per year in gas if gas were to stay at an average of $3.25/gallon. The cost of charging will vary with the cost of electricity and the method of charging, but with a typical home charger that provides 38 miles of range per hour, even in an area with high electricity costs such as Cape Cod the equivalent cost for an EV will be about $250 per year. Over an 8-year life that's a savings of $6,000.

Moreover, EV's typically cost much less to maintain. For example; there is no need for annual oil changes. There are fewer parts to maintain. And because of regenerative breaking - which breaks the car and generates power for the battery when the foot is removed from the accelerator, the brakes last significantly longer. The payback period will vary based on a variety of factors - including the range of the vehicle (how often it needs to be recharged) and the cost of charging (electricity costs vary widely across the country and different public EV charging stations add different surcharges, but the bottom line is that EVs are less expensive to operate than gas-powered vehicles.

Range - and range anxiety

The range that you get with an EV varies radically from model to model. Some models get at most 200 miles with a full charge; others - such as the highest-end Lucid EV- can get over 500 miles. Range also varies widely with other factors. Most important is temperature. It is not in the least bit unusual to get 30 - 40% less miles per charge in the winter than in the spring or summer in an area with a climate like the Cape. And speed as well as acceleration play a role as well; driving at 75 miles per hour will drain the battery faster than driving at 50 mph. (For this reason, unlike gas-powered cars EVs actually get better mileage in an urban environment.)

It is well known that many people avoid EVs because of range anxiety. There are still not enough charging stations in the US, although they are being added rapidly. There were about 200,000 public chargers in the US at the end of 2024 - up from 114,000 at the end of 2021. For most EV drivers now- particularly those able to charge at home - range anxiety should not be a major issue.

As with any new technology, EV technology is evolving rapidly. Range in early EVs was under 100 miles per charge - and now it can exceed 500 miles. And we can expect it to continue to climb.

Public EV charging stations in and near Chatham

Here are the locations of current chargers in and close to Chatham

There are also chargers being installed at:

* The Eldridge Garage on Main Street

What are the different types of chargers?

There are 3 different types of EV chargers:

* Level 1 chargers use a standard 120V power supply and are they least expensive. But they can only generate 3 - 6 miles of range per hour of charging - which is why they are the least common public charging stations. Overnight a Level 1 charger might provide 30 - 72 miles of charge, so a Level 1 home charger can be adequate for someone with a typical commute.

* Level 2 chargers are the most common public chargers - and the most common home chargers. They require a 240V line such as those typically used for an electric clothes dryer. They cost more to purchase - and more to install at home since the installer often needs to run a 240V line - but they charge much more quickly than Level 1 chargers - adding as much as 40 miles per hour of charging.

* Level 3 chargers - often referred to as a DC-Supercharger - clearly provide a significantly longer range - and have been becoming more and more powerful over the past few years. While Level 3 chargers typically deliver up to 200 miles of charge per hour, new ones are becoming available that can deliver that much range in in as little as 10 minutes.

While Level 2 Superchargers can cost under $1,000 to purchase, Level 3 chargers typically cost tens of thousands of dollars - in some cases in excess of $100,000. Hence fast chargers represent only about 25% of all public charge ports in the US - and virtually no home chargers. Tesla offers the largest number of public Superchargers in the country. Until recently they could only be used to charge Teslas but they recently enabled other manufactures to use their chargers, and one by one all other EV models are becoming able to charge with a Tesla Charger. This should also go a long way to address range anxiety.

There are Tesla Superchargers at the Sagamore Bridge and several other locations on Cape Cod - including the one in Orleans noted above. As with the case of range in general, speed of charging is being increased significantly.

Charging at home

While Level 1 chargers are by far the least expensive to install, the level of range they provide is quite low, which is why Level 2 chargers are more common in homes. That being said, overnight a Level 1 charger should provide 36 - 72 miles of charge, so a Level 1 home charger will work fine for someone with a short commute. Level 2 charges can fully charge virtually all EVs, since they can achieve as high as 40 miles per hour of range. Their typical cost is in the $500-$700 range, and installation can be anywhere from $500 - $1,500. They make sure that you can be fully charged on a daily basis.

Note that residents of the Cape can receive rebates of up to $700 from Cape Light Compact. Lower-income customers who qualify for Eversource's discount rate can receive up to $2,700 to upgrade their wiring and electric panel, in addition to qualifying for a free charger.

What most people are not aware of is that you do not actually need a charger to charge your EV. Most EVs come with adaptors that allow you to plug directly into a 120V or 240V circuit. The EV will charge more slowly without a charger. For this reason, charging with a 120V circuit will not provide sufficient range for many people. However, a 240V circuit without a charger should provide up to 30 miles per hour of charge, which will work for most people.

Bottom line: EVs make sense for almost everyone. And they are much more fun to drive.

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