I believe that your calculation is correct.

Considering the premium that people are paying for a RAV4 Prime over MSRP (if they can even find one to buy), from a purely financial point of view, it is hard to justify the extra cost of the Prime over that of a RAV4 Hybrid unless your electric costs are in the sub $.10/kwh range (or, even better, if you have solar panels on your house) or if gas prices were going to continue to rise to much higher levels than the high levels that they are already at.

 

Battery capacity on RAV4 Prime is 18.1 KWh.
Cost of my electricity is 19.3 cents per kWh.

19.3 x 18.1 = 349.33.
So $3.49 to fully charge the battery to go 42 miles on EV only.

Are my calculations correct?

Basically the same for any EV. Call your utility company and ask how much you pay for KWh at night. Some people only pay $.04 per KWh

 

Most power companies are getting away from night time lower rates. This is due to a larger solar and wind production during the day and less production from fossil fuels overnight. It's cheaper for power companies to make electric during the day now. Double check with your provider.

 

That sounds high.
Guy I work with charges his Fusion when he gets to the office and it costs him about $0.61 to drive 25 miles.
$3.49 to go 42 miles is only a little less than my Avalon Hybrid, at California gas prices ($4.40/gal).

 

Interesting... Yes, variable electric rates are going to make this coming e-vehicle thing very "interesting", indeed. I just watched a Rivian pickup truck tow test video (BTW pretty crazy, pulling an 8000# trailer it out accelerated an empty Ram hemi) and they recharged at one of those Electrify America charging stations... the price was $0.31 per KWh. I suspect that once EVs are really out there the charging costs will rise such that we'll probably end up paying as much per mile as we do for gas, except maybe at home. But then I also expect utility companies may slap on additional "infrastructure" fees or somesuch. I am currently trying to decide where I will be going for my next vehicle to replace my trusty Tacoma. Good thing I am not in a rush.

 

There is always a loss when charging any battery, typically calculated at 15% measured at the meter and your battery. It's called Carnot's Law.
Every transformation in any state of energy involves some loss, typically heat when it is electrical energy.
Otherwise perpetual motion machines would exist.
It amazes me that this fact is so little known.

 

Battery capacity on RAV4 Prime is 18.1 KWh.
Cost of my electricity is 19.3 cents per kWh.

19.3 x 18.1 = 349.33.
So $3.49 to fully charge the battery to go 42 miles on EV only.

Are my calculations correct?

I don't believe the calculation is correct. 20% of the battery is not usable, as it is held back to prevent deep discharge from damaging the battery. Actually, only 14.5 KWh are available and need to be replaced when charging.
So the cost of your charge should be 14.5 X 19.3 = $2.80

 

I believe he is correct.. The charger output is 120v at 12 amps so for a 12.5 hour charge, 18kw is output from it. I'll have to try measuring the amps to be sure.. Maybe 10% loss due to heat? I have noticed in the northeast frost doesn't build up on my up when the car charges, yet the the hybrid rav4 parked next to it has frost on the windows. So definitely a lot of waste do to energy transfers.

I don't believe the calculation is correct. 20% of the battery is not usable, as it is held back to prevent deep discharge from damaging the battery. Actually, only 14.5 KWh are available and need to be replaced when charging.
So the cost of your charge should be 14.5 X 19.3 = $2.80

 

I don't agree with this method of calculation. You are estimating based on the size of the battery, not on the actual usage. I suggest performing the calculation this way:

FIRST STEP: How much does your power actually cost per kwH?

The only way to do this is from your bill. In that way, you include your taxes, delivery fees, and any other weird stuff the power company adds on. First, deduct any fixed costs. For me, Eversource charges a $7.00 customer fee that exists even if I use 0 kwH. Then I divide the net by the number of kilowatts used. For me, that is 23.119 cents per kilowatt hour. (Yes, it is very high here in Western Massachusetts. No, we do not have nighttime rates. And, yes, now you know why I am installing solar panels this year.)

SECOND STEP: How much does it cost to go one mile?

My RAVE4 PRIME car keeps telling me that I am getting 3.2 miles per kilowatt on average. It does higher. But, I will take 3.2 miles per kilowatt-hour. So, I divide 23.199 cents by 3.2 to get 7.25 cents per mile.

THIRD STEP: How many miles can I go in EV mode until HV kicks in? And, how much did I spent?

I did a test yesterday in a nice sixty degree day with a bunch of hills and traffic lights. I do get the advertised 43 miles before the engine kicks in. So, 43 time 7.25 cents comes to $3.13 to "fill the battery tank."

ANOTHER FUN CALCULATION IS EQUIVALENT GALLON COST:

The car gets an advertised 38 mpg on gas. So, how much do I save using electicity per gallon? Well, 38 times 7.25 is $2.76 Equivalent Gallon cost. In other words, if I only used hybrid mode right now, and one gallon would take me 38 miles and costs $4.25. In EV mode, my gallon equivalent for 38 miles costs $2.76. Savings using even my expensive electricity is $1.49 -- which is close enough to a buck and a half. If I do that 300 days per year, I have saved $450. Woo! Hoo!

What do you guys think of this math?

 

For me, that is 23.119 cents per kilowatt hour. (Yes, it is very high here in Western Massachusetts. No, we do not have nighttime rates. And, yes, now you know why I am installing solar panels this year.)

I wish my rates were that low.
We're at $0.33 "off" peak, and $0.53 from 4pm to 9pm.

 

My wife and I own a 2022 RAV 4 Prime SE and live in Northwest Oregon. The electric rates here, based on the total bill you pay, (includes all taxes and fees etc.), divided by KWH used, are 11 cent per KWH. So to fill our Prime based on 14.5 KWH usable and 10% for charging losses cost: 15.95 KWH X .11 cents = $1.75 for a complete charge from empty.

We have a 240 Volt charger that is capable of charging at 7.2 KWH, even though our Prime only can accept 3.3 KWH. There are less charging losses from a 240 Volt charger compared to a 120 volt household line charge.

With summer weather here we have been getting 45-55 miles per charge for that $1.75. Regular 87 octane gasoline here at the least expensive place (Costco) is $4.759 per gallon.

We also have a 2020 Highlander Hybrid Model LE all wheel drive that I hope Toyota will offer in the Prime series, and that will be my next Toyota.

 

My wife and I own a 2022 RAV 4 Prime SE and live in Northwest Oregon. The electric rates here, based on the total bill you pay, (includes all taxes and fees etc.), divided by KWH used, are 11 cent per KWH. So to fill our Prime based on 14.5 KWH usable and 10% for charging losses cost: 15.95 KWH X .11 cents = $1.75 for a complete charge from empty.

We have a 240 Volt charger that is capable of charging at 7.2 KWH, even though our Prime only can accept 3.3 KWH. There are less charging losses from a 240 Volt charger compared to a 120 volt household line charge.

With summer weather here we have been getting 45-55 miles per charge for that $1.75. Regular 87 octane gasoline here at the least expensive place (Costco) is $4.759 per gallon.

We also have a 2020 Highlander Hybrid Model LE all wheel drive that I hope Toyota will offer in the Prime series, and that will be my next Toyota.

May I ask how fast do you drive to get 45-55 mpc? I have a 22 prime & live in PA. Most I can ever get is 42 mpc in the 60F weather @ average 60 mph speed.

 

mine seems to be hitting the expected targets of 12 hours to charge, 40 mile EV range around town with AC on full (heatwave here), about 36 mile range on highway avg 70mph. Did significantly better than 38mpg on 1st highway trip (about 50mpg all highway after EV switched to HV) hard to calculate power costs since I have solar on roof and net metering but I assume anything electric at house is negligible (solar was about $20K back in 2014 so if they last 20 years I guess about $80/month prepaid, but that is for entire house including heat pump, pool, this car everything…)

 

Battery capacity on RAV4 Prime is 18.1 KWh.
Cost of my electricity is 19.3 cents per kWh.

19.3 x 18.1 = 349.33.
So $3.49 to fully charge the battery to go 42 miles on EV only.

Are my calculations correct?

it doesn't complete a full charge via your power cord....it reserves approx 35% for hybrid mode, therefore it's only charging 65% (EV mode only) to reach 100%.....(35% ~ hybrid + 65%~ EV only = 100% capacity). Am i correct to state that when we're all calculating the cost to charge from "empty" to full, we really shouldn't be using the full 18.1 KWH battery capacity?

 

I think of it this way. Here in upstate NY a gallon of gas costs $3.75. Let's say the Prime gets 40 mpg on a gallon of gas or 40 miles on a full charge. Even if it costs $2.50 to charge the battery until it's full you are saving $1.25. I don't see any drastic savings here by gong through all the inconvenience of charging at home. Am I way off here or am I in the ballpark? So for each 40 miles you save 1.25 each 400 miles $12.5, each 4,000 miles $125.

I like the flexibility of being able to play the gas game or the electric game but IMO regular hybrid is the way to go.

 

I know this is an old thread, but it's an interesting way to look at it. I'm in CA so our gas is much more expensive, I also have the luxury of charging at the office for free. So plugging in my gas prices and yearly mileage i figure i save at least $1350 a year. Still not enough to recapture the price difference, but damn isn't she a nice and fun car to drive.

 

Most all electric utility companies show customer hourly usage on their website usually lagging only a day. My electric supplier lags one day and shows hourly kWh as well as cost. No calculations necessary.

 

True recapture should also calculate the resale difference between the two models.

 

So the battery is for both EV and Hybrid. It reserves about 30% for hybrid ops. So when you can't run on electric alone, you'll have about a 30% charge still. I put mine on a meter to see exactly how many Kwh were being pumped into the battery while charging. So to charge the battery from "empty" (which is actually about 30%), it would use about 15.5 Kwh. Sometimes the battery would get as low as 20%, and would use another 1 Kwh for a total of 16.5 Kwh. You can pick up cheap meters that will tell you total Kwh.