What is a monthly estimate of the cost of electricity to charge a typical hybrid car?

Question

What is a monthly estimate of the cost of electricity to charge a typical hybrid car?

Answer 1

They say it is more costing to the environment by the manufacturing of the batteries and whatnot in a hybrid car, instead of driving around in a 4X4. I find it stupid that the police are now driving those rubbish cars.

Answer 2

Hybrids don't plug in, yet.

For electric cars, it depends how far you drive it, of course.  EVs generally cost about 2 cents per mile to recharge though, so you can figure it out from that.

Answer 3

Today's hybrid cars don't plug into the wall, but future PHEVs (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles) will.  For them it will depend how much you drive and what electricity costs where you are.

If you average 15 miles a day 30 days a month and this mileage is all run on electricity, you'd be running 450 electric miles a month.  Typical vehicles will use between 200 and 300 watt-hours per mile from the wall, so your energy purchases will come to somewhere between 90 and 135 kilowatt-hours per month.  At 8¢/kWh, that's $7.20-$10.80; at 18¢/kWh, it's $16.20-$24.30.

Gas is heading for $4/gallon.  Driving that same 450 miles in a car getting 30 MPG on $4/gallon gas would cost $60.

Answer 4

NONE of the currently commercially available hybrids have the ability to plug into an electrical outlet.  The only source of power is conventional gasoline.  (So, the monthly estimate for the electricity cost to power a typical hybrid car is easy to estimate - it's $0 !)

The gasoline engine provides power to the hybrid battery through one of the electric motors acting as a generator.  Some of the lost kinetic energy in braking is recaptured through regenerative braking (wheels spin a generator, slowing down the vehicle), which also reduces wear on the conventional brake pads.

There are no commercially-available plug-in hybrids on the market so far, unfortunately. Some hobbiests and aftermarket companies have been altering a few hybrids (Prius, Ford Escape Hybrid/Mercury Mariner Hybrid) to make them plug-in capable. Typically this requires adding additional hybrid batteries, besides the ability to charge off the mains.  For more information, check out http://www.calcars.org/vehicles.html

(I'll note that some of the manufacturers are looking into having a plug-in hybrid available in the future (2010 or so), such as the Toyota Prius and the Chevy Volt.)

For cost reasons, unless you are a fleet owner or other high-mileage driver it probably will not be worth the cost of the PHEV conversion for you. (Once the battery pack is depleted to a certain point the vehicle reverts back to its original hybrid self and runs on a combination of the gasoline engine (which will also recharge the battery) and the electric motor. A PHEV would add a greater all-electric range to the existing hybrid, besides the ability (but not the requirement!) to plug it into an electric source.

Depending on the source for electricity in your area, a BEV (battery electric vehicle) may or may not put out more greenhouse gas emissions than a 55MPG HEV (hybrid electric vehicle). Mainly, if the primary source for electricity in your area is coal, your HEV is cleaner than a BEV running on coal-powered electricity. However, if your electricity source is natural gas, the BEV is usually cleaner than the HEV (depending on the method used for natural gas->electricity conversion), and it gets even better for the BEV if you are using a hydroelectric or other renewable electric source. In comparisons with a generic 17MPG SUV, an average 26MPG vehicle, and a high-efficiency 38MPG vehicle, the 38MPG vehicle still will beat the coal-powered BEV, but isn't as clean as the HEV (and gas and renewables powered BEVs are much better than the 38MPG vehicle).

see: "Battery-Powered Electric and Hybrid Electric Vehicle Projects to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A Resource Guide for Project Development," July 2002

http://www.netl.doe.gov/products/ccps/pu...

http://www.eere.energy.gov/cleancities/i...

mainly section 4.3

(and that's besides the arguements that it's easier to manage emissions from a handful of electric plants, as opposed to millions of independently-owned cars... typically, electric charging rates (especially the off-peak charging times which would use otherwise lost power and level the loads) are still cheaper than petroleum rates, too. Of course, there are still emissions to worry about other than just greenhouse gas emissions, too.)

and yes, about 50% of the US' electric energy generation is from coal, but for your local power outlet depends on your power company and the local mix:  http://www.eia.doe.gov/fuelelectric.html

Answer 5

An Electric car, you mean.  They say the average is .02 cents a mile.

.

Answer 6

You don't charge a hybrid car. That is what the engine does.

You are asking about an electric car, of which can be more costly than gas, unless your utilities come from alternative energy.