So after many promises and time extensions, I have finally put together stats for my Solar Powered EV. I hope it provides value for some others that may still be on the fence.
What's that vehicle? It's a 2024 Chevy Blazer EV (RS AWD model), more about that in a future post. Let's just say that this is hands down my favorite vehicle ever owned.
So how about some stats?
As you can see, my TOTAL cost for the year(s) was
$326.21 for 2024 and
$258.02 for 2025
I don't drive a whole lot of miles compared to some, but the total for the the 2 years is 14,480 miles, or about 7,000 per year. This averaged about 3.4 miles per kWh. I don't drive softly, or attempt to conserve energy, I like to punch it and feel the acceleration way too much, so you could say these are conservative estimates, lol.
What's that cost equal to vs. Gas powered vehicle?
Let's just use an average of 20 mpg and 30 mpg cars at $3 per gallon for comparison. You can do your own math for your vehicle or gas prices.
First, determine the total gallons of fuel required by dividing the distance by the fuel efficiency. Then, multiply by the price per gallon.
$2,100 is the 2 year 20 mpg cost ($3 per gallon)
$1,400 would be the 2 year 30 mpg cost ($3 per gallon)
$617.65 is the 2 year EV cost (using avg of .15 per kWh)
So as you can see, generally half or one third the cost of gas for the vehicle. However, that's not all the savings or total ROI, this is what many leave out.
Other cost savings occur through not having to oil changes, brake pads lasting years longer due to regenerative braking, no tailpipes to rust out, no mufflers to replace, no spark plugs to foul, no points to tune, no carburetor to tune or jets to clog, no catalytic converters to be stolen or replaced, etc., etc., etc.
The only maintenance needed for years is to rotate the tires. Woot!
Here's a nice little infographic that Notebook LM put together from the stats downloaded from the Autel charging app.
Here's an example snap of the Autel charing app data.
You will definitely want a Level 2 charger. I had to install a higher 50 Watt 220volt power breaker in the breaker box and run dedicated line to the Autel charger. This level 2 charger will recharge the battery for about 33 miles per hour of charge. This easily puts me at full charge in the morning, even from empty tank.
I get right about 285 miles range from a full charge if driving normally. Only used a public charger once as a test on this vehicle, and only twice in my over 6 years of owning an EV. (I had a Chevy Bolt before this Blazer).
There are now adapters to use the public Tesla and other Level 3 DC fast chargers.
These can add 100 miles of charge in about 20 minutes. Would love one at home, but not really needed.
And of course who doesn't love the Chevy Black tie logo? I'm a fan.
And of course this amount of energy would come off the top of my home production stats that I reported on last week here in this post.
@ksteem/my-annual-solar-stats-report
If we adjust the home charging costs and production, it changes quite a bit.
The original stats showed the solar producing about 65% of my home energy needs.
If we factor in the 5,437.83 kWh used by the vehicle charging, it actually puts the Solar Offset for the home at just under 80% for both years. A nice offset, but again shows I need about another dozen panels to go into positive production generating mode.
How much do you spend on gas and oil for your legacy fossil fuel car?
Note the larger fees in 2024 when we were doing weekly 250 mile round trip Mayo visits, but 2025 more normal with only quarterly trips.
I'm loving the avg. $20-$25 per month annual average that I spend in total is less than two oil changes!
Drive safe and enjoy your travels!