Help! First DWP bill post Leaf SUPER high!

[Graffi]

I just want to review: My bill says I used 2185 kWh between 2/18 and 4/17. As opposed to 969 in the same time period last year. Please don't think I'm an idiot, but can you help me understand if that sounds right if I got my car on March 10th? I'm sorry, ya'll. Electricity is not my strong suit. But I can tell you that NOTHING else in the house has changed. The bill says they are charging
1,000 kWh x $0.13938/kWh for tier 1 charges,185 kWh x $0.16741/kWh for teir 2. What's the difference?


Thanks for taking your time to help me with this. I love my new Leaf so much, and want so badly to understand it. I appreciate any help you can give me.

Jessica

Hello Jesica, and welcome to the wonderful world of Electric Driving.

Some of the basics to help you understand.

Depending on your driving your car will go somewhere at or over 4 miles for each killowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity. You should be able to see the current effeciency on your dash display. Since you pay $0.14 to $0.17 per kwh, your cost per mile would be about $0.03 to $0.04 per mile. Depending on the effeciency of your gas car your costs would be in the $0.20 to $0.25 per mile, so EV driving is much cheaper using the electricity at home.

To better help you determine how much your electric bill is effected by EV usage please give us the following:
1. Miles driven per day commute, and total miles per week.
2. The Energy effeciency of your driving from the dash (if you are able to locate it).
3. Describe your driving environment (how much freeway at 65 mph, how much city streets at 20 mph or less, how much hills because climbing them uses lots of extra electricity, etc.). The faster you go the effeciency is reduced.
4. Any other data you think that will help.

I also recommend that you let us know what part of LA you are in so more experienced EV users in your area can become more involved in helping you maximize your enjoyment of your new Leaf. There are Gatherings where you can meet other EV drivers. Maybe one will be near your area.

 

[jescny]

OMG I love you guys. Thanks for all of your feedback, etc. I am in Mt. Washington, 90065. I am dying to meet other EV drivers. Are there any gatherings near me? As for the DWP, I spoke to a guy there yesterday. he agreed that my usage seemed totally improbable, even with the new car. He is sending someone out to check my meter, but he didn't tell me what to do if that's not successful. I also filed a "challenge my bill" claim on their website. But I'm nervous, and will remain so until this is resolved. As for your other questions, I will compile that info and get back to you. You all seem so tech savvy, but I'd like to believe this is not a prerequisite for owning an EV. If it is I'm screwed. At least I don't feel totally alone, now, though. I will write more later. Having a fundraiser for my 4-year-old's school tomorrow night and I'm too swamped in those numbers to worry about my own EV ones. (;

 

[Woosie]

Others have calculated worst case costs and have assured you that a $200 premium for one electric bill is a lot. Do you have a pool that runs it's pump during the day? Air conditioning? Something like that...

I use the std 110vac outlet and pay roughly $40/month for the Leaf. That's with a daily 40 mile round trip commute. The Leaf is very economical, so something else is going on.

 

[derkraut]

Hey Tom T: Shhhh!

 

[jescny]

No, no pool, and haven't run the AC in ages. I am just going to pray it's a DWP error...I'll let you know when I find out. Thanks, all.

 

[jlatl]

I agree with what everyone else has said - it does not seem possible.

Consider this -

If you pay $0.165/kWH then $200 = 1212kWH. There about 720 hours in a month.

A $200 bill would require a constant draw of 1.68kW off your EVSE, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

1. Your level 1 EVSE is only capable of 1.44 kW so that is impossible.
2. The only way to draw even that is to charge 24 x 7 x 30 which means you would not have any time left to actually drive the car.

Let us know how your fight with the electric company comes out.

 

[Sublime]

Did you recently add one of these to your living room?

 

[KillaWhat]

Did you recently add one of these to your living room?

No. That's from a Tesla :lol:

 

[thankyouOB]

Hey, all, thanks for weighing in. I don't blame you for being suspicious--I know I'm a first-time poster. But I'm not a nut job, I assure you. I'm a normal 46-year-old woman with a husband, a kid, and two pets. I also know zero about electricity. Now that you all have reassured me about how much power my car is drawing and helped me to know how much I should be paying I will call the DWP back and try to straighten it out. Clearly the bill can't be right, and the DWP is not exactly known for its impeccable bookkeeping. Perhaps its an error on their end.

I just want to review: My bill says I used 2185 kWh between 2/18 and 4/17. As opposed to 969 in the same time period last year. Please don't think I'm an idiot, but can you help me understand if that sounds right if I got my car on March 10th? I'm sorry, ya'll. Electricity is not my strong suit. But I can tell you that NOTHING else in the house has changed. The bill says they are charging
1,000 kWh x $0.13938/kWh for tier 1 charges,185 kWh x $0.16741/kWh for teir 2. What's the difference?


Thanks for taking your time to help me with this. I love my new Leaf so much, and want so badly to understand it. I appreciate any help you can give me.

Jessica

You have the wrong rates. go to the LADWP website and find the Green and EV rate pages.
you should sign up for the LADWP time of use (TOU) rates -- overnite rates 8pm to 10 am and weekends are about 8-10 cents a kWh -- and also contact them to get the LADWP EV discount, which reduces off-peak rates by another 2.5 cents a kWh

 

[TomT]

Maybe... You have to have a second meter for your EVSE to get the EV rates, and a TOU meter on your maim house feed can sometimes actually raise your costs depending on your usage patterns...
The meager savings of the EV rate can easily be wiped out by the cost of installing a second meter...

You have the wrong rates. go to the LADWP website and find the Green and EV rate pages.
you should sign up for the LADWP time of use (TOU) rates -- overnite rates 8pm to 10 am and weekends are about 8-10 cents a kWh -- and also contact them to get the LADWP EV discount, which reduces off-peak rates by another 2.5 cents a kWh

 

[thankyouOB]

Maybe... You have to have a second meter for your EVSE to get the EV rates, and a TOU meter on your maim house feed can sometimes actually raise your costs depending on your usage patterns...
The meager savings of the EV rate can easily be wiped out by the cost of installing a second meter...

You have the wrong rates. go to the LADWP website and find the Green and EV rate pages.
you should sign up for the LADWP time of use (TOU) rates -- overnite rates 8pm to 10 am and weekends are about 8-10 cents a kWh -- and also contact them to get the LADWP EV discount, which reduces off-peak rates by another 2.5 cents a kWh

you can have a whole house TOU meter without a second meter for the EV.

yes, it works for us because, in part, we live near the coast and dont need AC, but largely because we are solar.
most folks with solar benefit from TOU metering.

 

[TomT]

Yes, but you don't get the EV rate then. And depending on where you are (climate), when you are home, and your electric usage pattern, it can actually be more expensive that the standard rate...
I did an extensive analysis when I got my Leaf and neither a second EV meter or a single TOU meter for everything would have paid back in our case...

you can have a whole house TOU meter without a second meter for the EV.

 

[smkettner]

In So CA I saved at least $50 per month switching to whole house TOU.
The only real killer is running the air conditioner during peak hours.
Much of the Summer cooling gets done overnight at the lowest rates and the house can cruise through the day with out the air blowing.

 

[mwalsh]

In So CA I saved at least $50 per month switching to whole house TOU.
The only real killer is running the air conditioner during peak hours.
Much of the Summer cooling gets done overnight at the lowest rates and the house can cruise through the day with out the air blowing.

Whole house TOU works best for households where everyone is out of the house from mid-morning until early evening, and second best for households where maybe a family member is home a good part of the day, but one who is very low maintenance when it comes to their personal comfort.