**I drafted this post a few years ago and found it in my drafts folder. The accelerate program has changed a bit since this was originally written. I’ll follow up to address my transition to a dedicated second meter.**
Carolyn and I purchased a new Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid in November 2018 and signed up for the Xcel Energy EV Program to leverage lower charging costs for our new car.
A breakdown of the program:
- Regular energy rates are $.0932 kWh in the winter and $.10582 kWh in the summer.
- The EV rate for Xcel Energy is $.042 a kWh between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. on weekdays and all weekend, Friday night through Monday morning. Seven holidays are also billed at off-peak prices: New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day.
- Level 2 charger options:
- 32 amp ChargePoint
- 40 amp Juicebox 40 Pro
There are two charger participation options:
- The monthly option is $17.47, and it includes a charger lease and the ‘metering’ fee for the duration of the program. After two years, you can give the charger back or purchase it.
- Lump sum fee of $886 and monthly ‘metering’ fee of $7.10.
The cost for our car to fully charge 14.5 kWh is now $.62, compared to $1.35 in the winter or $1.53 in the summer.
What we elected to do
We purchased the Juicebox 40 Pro since it offers 40amps versus the 32amps of the ChargePoint charger.
The Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid
The Clarity is rated at 47 miles on a 14.5 kWh charge, the full battery capacity is 17 kWh, and gets 40-42 MPG once on gas. A full charge takes about 2 hours and 20 minutes using a level two charger.
My review
We elected to join this program to save money on car charging. A full charge of $.62 offers about 30 miles in the winter or 55 in the summer (more on this later), which is very attractive.
I have two main issues with the program. First, the program charger cost is too high. The $886 Xcel Energy charges is $300 more than you can purchase a Juicebox 40 Pro from eMotorwerks. The only difference I can figure out is that this Juicebox 40 Pro has a custom firmware versus the ‘normal’ model. Second, the monthly ‘metering’ charge of $7.10 is higher than the $5 cost of a second meter. I understand this is a new technology, but the bottom line is that the level 2 chargers offered in this program use their wireless connections to connect back to Xcel, likely via API calls. There are investments in this technology to get started, but it’s likely cheaper to manage than the wireless meters that do not use our home wireless. What will they do when people have two vehicles? $14.20 in monthly metering charges is not viable. At that point, install a second meter and pay just $5 a month for all your EV needs. The upfront estimates for this were $1,800+ for me.
A few things to note:
- Xcel’s licensed electricians will charge you additional money for running the circuit
- The cold matters! Our Honda Clarity gets about 28-30 miles on a full charge in the cold winter. This is a significant decrease in miles per charge compared to the advertised 47 miles. We have not experienced it yet, but apparently, in the summer, we will get up to 55 miles on a charge.
- The problems in the winter are that the battery is less effective, and using heat kills the battery quickly. The limitation of only charging between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. is also limiting.
- The Clarity gets between 40-42 MPG on gasoline, and therefore, off-peak energy combined with gas offers us about 40 miles for about $1.25 ($.62 for charging and less than a quarter gallon of gas @ $.50), which is less than the cost of a gallon of gas. The regular EV rate would again be $1.35 for 30 miles, and then we could charge again during the day, which is still cheaper than gas.
Based on the upfront costs and the $7.10 a month in metering costs, my break-even point is 1.3 years. Therefore, I will come out ahead beginning in early 2020.