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Comment by irrational | Hacker News Reader

In general, about how much does it cost to fully charge a Tesla compared to filling it up with gas in a given area?

YMMV. If you're charging in Ontario Canada on super-low overnight electricity plan (3c/kWh) it costs $2. In California at some superchargers at peak times it costs 60 c/kWh, or $40 for a charge.

So, somewhere between $2 and $40. IOW, a generic answer is in no way helpful.

It depends on the state/region as it depends on the underlying electricity cost. You can “fill up” for like $5-15 if you’re in a state where electricity is inexpensive and you’re willing to charge at off peak times.

My Model S75 would cost me about $8 to fully charge from empty at home. Maybe $15 at a Tesla supercharger. That's for 250 miles of range.

In the UK it costs 3p/mile to run it. Actually less since sentry mode takes up quite a bit.

about the same as gas if you use a supercharger... the only way an electric car makes sense is if you can charge at home or at work.

Or if you like fun… or safety… or if you need amazing AWD that blows anything else out of the water… or a bunch of other reasons. But yeah definitely charge at home or work.

the acceleration is fun for a while... but safety you can easily get somewhere else... never heard about Tesla's AWD performance, but of course most people won't notice it because most people drive like grandmas and dont go offroad.

What are the other reasons?

Are you being a bit negative?

The acceleration never gets old. Never.

Safety you can get somewhere else for more money (TCO) with fewer features and more problems but why?

AWD that just works is something that will help anyone in the right situation when it comes, even unexpectedly, even gramas.

Other benefits… never having to smell gas, never dealing with gas station panhandlers or muggers, smelling fresh air, quiet driving, having a full tank every morning when leaving the house, smooth deceleration, one pedal driving, OTA updates that add driving features, fill the tank using any outlet even if all gas stations are closed by government order, and many others, too many to list.

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