Is an EV Cheaper OR More Expensive to Fuel Up - I Compare a Gas Car To Its EV Version & Guess What?

The Mercedes-Benz EQS offers a zero-emissions luxury alternative to the current-generation S-Class, but is it less expensive in the long run? Tommy takes both out on a range test to find the answer!

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[banderson]

Also it shocks me EA isn’t doing anything about literally every review showing their chargers are always broken. Don’t they care?

[gondorian]

It is very likely that nobody put pure water in the EQS. In most of California it is illegal to sell actual washer fluid that is resistant to freezing. Instead they sell blue colored soapy water with some detergent in it. The only places in California where you can buy or find actual washer fluid are mountain areas that have freezing temperatures. You also cannot order through Amazon or Autozone or anyone to get it shipped to you unless the delivery zip code is in a freezing town. If that EQS is previously from California that is the likely reason the fluid froze.

[Robert-cubm]

For the price it should come with heated washer jets as standard!.

[skunkhollow]

I laughed when Tommy took out the lighter to try and warm up the washer jet. Did he really think he would melt the ice in all the tubes associated with the washer system?
Never heard of that “old school trick”

[billylacharity]

It would seem, daily driving, it would be cheaper as you can charge it at the office, but if you are doing a road trip, it is just slightly cheaper given you have to use a fast charger and they charge you whatever rates they want and if time is money, the hour taken to charge eats into that slight savings.
The other issue it seems, is the availability of fast chargers that are actually working and not broken.
So if you are doing road trips constantly, it would seem you are better off with Gas still.

[Sanpedranoazul]

Still the gas car proved to be more practical, 'cause it costs almost the same but a lot faster to fill up; great review, also, why tha S Class didn't have issues with the windshield?

[RigiLiquid]

I love the work that you guys do with car reviews and really putting them to the test. This type of info really helps us decide what is best. In the case of a Mercedes, I'm not sure that the buyer is worried about refueling costs. For the majority of consumers who have to budget all of our bills to see if we can afford to go to the movies at the end of the week, I'd like to see 2 models of vehicles compared, not because they are the best cars, but because it really provides a good baseline for such decisions. What would the 3, 5, 7 or 10 year cost of owning a Hyundai Kona turbo vs electric, or a Kia Niro Hybrid vs PHEV vs EV be? Fuel prices in Canada are averaging over $1.85/Liter ($7+/gallon), and rising. At $2/L, I still calculate that, where I live and how much I drive, a PHEV will cost me less than any other drivetrain of the same car. At least that is how it looks on paper.

[kenmcclow]

I bought a 99 cent spray bottle at walmart and filled it with wiper fluid to use on my old Blazer where the squirters don't work, but I also use it on my Tesla on summer road trips across states that have bugs. Superchargers don't often have a squeegee to clean bugs so a spray bottle and sponge are handy.
I have to say the number of non working CCS chargers I see in videos is not convincing me to switch away from Tesla yet. I have run across gas stations that are closed and once had bad gas, but since there are usually 2-4 stations on every intersection it's not an issue. There definitely needs to be more chargers and from my last few road trips they need to be at 24-7 bathrooms. It would be a total no brainer to put in chargers at interstate rest areas.

[slyguyaction]

"Who would put water in a washer fluid reservoir?". Um, the same people that put water instead of antifreeze in a radiator. Ugh.

[christophersiano]

And here is where electric rates come into play.

I'm about 40 miles west of Boston using National Grid. While they advertise a rate of $0.155 per kWh, that does not include the fees, delivery charges, transmission charges, renewable charges, etc. All those added charges are $0.164 per kWh. (Not to mention the flat $7 a month they charge just to be a customer)

So, while your office cost was only $7.92, my home would have been only slightly cheaper than your DC Level 2 charger at roughly $21.07.

Until very recently, every calculation I've made in comparing fuel costs to EV costs has consistently shown it to be only cost effective if gas prices were about $3.60 or better per gallon. Sure, that's the case right now, but how common is that in my area? Wish I could show the graph from Fuelly that shows most of the time prices since 2009 have been well below $3 except for a few "crisis" times.

And that is another issue. Gasoline prices go both up and down. Electric rates never seem to go down.

I wonder.... How common is it in heavily populated areas that electric prices are as high as mine? And isn't in those places where EVs make the most sense?

Thing is I have solar. But my solar covers my household use with only a tiny extra credit on average and I'm at the current Cap limit in my area of 10 kw. Any EV I add to my garage would be billed. BTW, thanks to a hot and rainy summer, my credits were not as high this year and as of my last billing cycle I have used it all. For the first time since 2015, I had a positive electric bill. March's stronger sun should bring me back to earning credit again, but the fact is EVs are not the most economic choice everywhere.

[justaguy]

So do all EV's have this problem with the windshield washer fluid and delivery? ICE cars of course have the reservoir and lines running under the hood and warmed by the engine. Maybe someone did put water in there, too, but I'd like to know for sure that that was the issue. If it still works in sub-freezing temps with a proper fluid that would be good information.

[jonathanmartinez]

I couldn’t do electrical I love road trips to much especially in the middle of no where! One day they will figure it out

[richrigney]

Once again I would have to pick the S Class "ICE" vehicle over the EQS EV. Had you gone the full distance on your test then that EQS would have probably taken well over 2 hours to charge back up. While the S-Class would have been more expensive to fill, time to me is much more valuable and especially when on a long road trip. I am sure both vehicles are awesome to drive, not that I will ever be able to afford one to find out. Going through mountains like the ones along I-70 in Colorado will take away the overall range from the EQS at a higher rate than that of the S-Class. If I had to guess, the EQS is probably the heavier of the two vehicles because of that large battery pack. Mercedes could have made the S-Class a Hybrid with at least a 30KWh pack to greatly extend the distance between fill ups and the MPG as well. Even a plug-in-hybrid to me still makes much more sense than a straight EV. Again, not that I could afford either.

[bytemark]

Great video guys, and thank you for your dedication to this project.
Comparing the cost of "fueling up" of the gas car vs the EV version should have been a no brainer. Electricity is way cheaper than gasoline, and EVs are more efficient in using the energy.
I suppose people will not sit and charge to 100% to a public charger, but if these were the parameters of your tests, I can see why you had to do that. But that is completely unusual.
I know you guys at TFLEV are aware of this, but some people watching the video might not have enough experience to know how this works.
Normally, you charge enough to get to the next charger if you need to go somewhere, or else, if you are home, just charge it in your garage. Not for the price of it, but more for the time, since charging between 70% and 100% will take much longer. You want to top up at night, in a L2 plug, like a destination charger or something, when you go to sleep anyway.

[mahhty]

Plug in hybrid is the only way to go besides regular gas

[banderson]

Every manufacturer doesn’t fill it from the factory and dealers and oil change places always put water, why? Money. Always money.

[buzzpedrotti]

Revisiting these use cases for current Ca prices. $6.15 gallon of premium and ~ 42 c per kWh for Tier 2 PGE rates and 85% charging efficiency.

ICE ~ $40
EV ~ $32

Energy costs rise together, which makes sense since the marginal production comes from the same source... fossil fuels

[treborheminway]

I wonder if Electrify America will ever realize how many Tesla's they have convinced people to buy?

[ridracer]

You cannot buy antifreeze washer fluid in California unless you live above a certain elevation.

[colewo]

The only reason I would get EV would be for commuting to work. Charging it overnight, every night. There is NO way I’m using an EV for road trips. 50% of battery use for 100 something miles? Plus 1 hour and 8 minute charge time? Who has time for this? Even with gas $6/gallon id still pay that over taking god knows how long to do a real road trip of 500+ miles with an EV