Electric Cars? What Are kWh/kW & How Do I Figure Out Charge Cost!? 

I am watching this video three years after it was uploaded, but I must express my gratitude for the clarity with which it explains this complex subject. I spent a considerable amount of time searching for a video that could elucidate the topic so effectively. Thank you for creating such an informative and well-structured video.

Funny, a quick vid you had to knock up and one of the most useful I've seen. Ta!

Shit happens. I watched all the way through even though it was basic info. Hope it keeps the algorithm going 👍

Excellent explanations with examples starting from the basic concepts. Most others have not done this topic well. Yours is the best I’ve seen. Thanks.

Love the vids. I wish you well this week, hope it all goes better. Your humour in these situations cheers me up no end. 😁🥃👍

OMG I've watched so many videos trying to work this out and you've finally made sense to me. THANK YOU!!!!!

This is the only RU-vidr that explain it well and only person that has posted this topic. Thank you so much for your work and time.

Cheers fella. As a new owner of a 30kWh Tekna Leaf, I've found this channel incredibly helpful.

Thank you for a clear and simple explanation of EV charging costs. I wish there were more videos like this.

A video like this doesn't do any harm, since it does clarify things, especially to me :)

Thanks Bob. Useful knowledge to have on file. Have a great day.

Chin up lad! Sounds like you've had a similar week to me (and a lot of others too i suspect). great vid as always!

You managed to get this tired old brain of mine to understand all that. (I had to run it 3 times though) great stuff keep it up.

I needed this simple break down. Thanks!

I really like your videos, your honesty and Yorkshire grit :)

Brilliant. I’m new to the EV world. Loving it though. Haven’t used a public charger yet. Your videos are really helpful. 👍

Excellent video!! Keep up the good work. I enjoy your channel. Cheers!!

Great video - straight forward and easy to understand.

Thank you...straightforward and easy to understand.

Just what a newbie needs. Many thanks

Great video under pressure. Keep on keeping on!

Sooo helpful mate! Thank you 🙏🏽

Thanks new to ev and this has Really helped and made it simple for me.

Really good informative video.. Thank you 👍

Good explanation, thank you

Good work , mate. Just starting to look into an EV. Very helpful, thanks.

4.06 "with real world examples" You were doing just fine for my Hyundai Ioniq.

Thanks for a insightful video. Lots of confusion by many people around charging and it's associated costs. Hopefully you have helped to dispel any confusion people may have had. To be honest I do all my charging for my 40Kwh Leaf at home on a granny charger and set the timer to begin charging at 11 pm through to 7 am. This is because my off-peak electricity tariff applies to those times (11pm-7am weekdays and ALL day Saturday and Sunday). During those times I am charged at 19 cents per Kilowatt Hour. Outside of those hours I am charged at 33 cents per Kilowatt Hour. So it is really a no brainer and the timer on the Leaf is a Godsend. I also have 4 Kilowatts of Solar installed on the House but do not use the electricity from them to re-charge the car as the units produced are too valuable (60 cents per Kilowatt Hour) so they get sold onto the Utility Company or used by the house. Due to the use of the off-peak power I have managed to shed 59% of my household power usage, including charging the car, onto the off-peak tariff thus ensuring good savings on power bills. Can't recommend enough that people look into the different tariffs that the Power Companies offer these days. Neil W.

Very worthwhile video

Bloody Brilliant can't beat Good Yorkie, thanks a mill for the education of a Soft Southener!!

Its all about formulae every time. Pretty well explained. ⚡️⚡️👍

Cheers. That was very helpful.

Watched it all and found it useful.

That really helped- thank you!

watching it now. july 2024 - very very helpful, easy and informative - THANK YOU!

Wait RU-vid’s algorithms cut your money if you don’t upload weekly? That sucks. Anyway, keep up the good work. Always enjoy your videos and will watch even if you take a week or two off.

Thanks for the clarification. Love the channel, sorry you are having a tech issue.

One of your best video,esp of late👍

Thanks for this, it looks like seaside towns, national trust etc could do their bit to encourage the switch to EV’s by installing domestic type chargers so folk with city range cars could recharge while they spend 4 or more hours recreation and have enough juice to get home! Amazing!

Probably simple to most but this helped me alot. New car coming in 2021 and itll be my first BEV

Get's highlighted when one becomes an EV driver how little we know about electricity. Good to see different ways of presenting it. Thanks

I think this is really a great video, because we don’t all have that knowledge, those that think we are stupid because we don’t, probably don’t have any of our expertise.

Very useful thanks

Congrats on doing this thrilling video, I'm sure I can speak for most of us that don't understand Kw and what is watt when I say...??? Lost it! Have a nice day, where's my hammer....

This is why the vloggers all want dual card slots in their cameras... Thanks for the video, I'll add this to my 'EV Noobs' list. Very useful.

Great video thanks. May well be boring but this is exactly why people new to evs buy the wrong ones based on sales speak or misunderstanding. If people understood this and linked the knowledge to lifetime true cost nobody would buy a Polestar for example. How many times have I replied to the statement “ I can’t afford a Tesla” with “ can you afford not to!” Well done for providing this information.

Watched it to the end. Ok enough in a pinch. Sugestion, Next time you get a memory card crash, talk a bit about energy losses and real world charging. Thats the bit I would like som more information on.

A brilliant video for those that don’t know about working out costs for running EVs. If your in the Oakworth area (slippery ford) with E2008 or polestar or Tycan give me a shout for a social distance lockdown drag race against my MG ZS EV with turbo fitted lol

Ta for that, most helpfull

Great video! I’ve been trying to wrap my head around kW and kWh for a while and you have the best explanation. I too have a Tesla M3 SR+ Could you please do a follow up video explaining how kWh translates to range? I do know that aerodynamic, weather, terrain, and driving style cause range to vary.

Hi EVM, Sorry to hear about the memory cards. I’m a new subscriber and find your honest reviews and the channel really useful. I have a question about charging. I know most of us have single-phase electricity at home, but if we can get (or already have) 3-phase electricity, is it true that most EV’s (including Tesla Model 3’s) can’t use the full benefits of a home 3-phase charger ? I think model 3 can take 11kW (which is faster than 7kW single-phase) but not 22kW of a 3-phase. I hope this makes sense. Maybe it’s better for future proofing or when we have multiple EV’s in the future. I’m interested in your opinion. Thanks for all your efforts in educating us about EV’s. You’re definitely winning!

Nice simple explanation, have you ever done a review of home charger suppliers / energy companies? We found this week there's no suitable tariff from any supplier if you have a later BP pulse home charger (the grey smart one) as suppliers are a bit difficult on what smart charger you have with their cheaper tariffs.

Looking forward to your Polestar review. I got one about 4 weeks ago and would be really interested to see how you do for efficiency out of it. I get no more than 2 miles per kWh on average which is considerably lower than what I was expecting. I only do about 120 miles per week and it's made up of 50 or so very short journeys so I was expecting poor figures but not this bad.

Cheers - simple but interesting

Thanks, very well explained even this 70yr old Scotsman understood......toying with the idea of going electric with our 2nd car.

Good effort given the circumstances. I would have wanted to know that stuff before I purchased my ioniq.

Amazing

thank you

1:21 of pointless blither on the front. Well done for getting the basics right (I've seen people try to explain this and just make people more confused). And even people who do understand are really slapdash about using the right units. It might have been helpful to explain that the units match up: so kW times hours gives result in kWh. Once people understand that it gets easier to check: do the units match the calculation?.

This leads to two future videos.. 1) comparing costs at different public charging points. It is easy with an ICE to see the price per litre with petrol..how do I shop around with an ev whilst out on the road 2) insurance costs..is there one provider that is coming out best value.

Great video understood that I’m unfortunately new to EVs and hate them lol but it’s a work vehicle so no choice.

you're the fkn best!

bless Ur ❤ Bro, U v been gr8 help , & all best of wishes in world , thnx 🙏👌.

Love your stuff. In basic terms is just watt I need (pun intended) to make a decision. Your reviews are mostly why I'm collecting my MG ZS EV tomorrow! Still slightly aprehensive about long trips and using KERS etc. I have a business trip to make in a week or so which is 164 miles, the MG will do 163 apparently. So I'm assuming with KERS, a non motorway trip, I should be able to make it there and back... Also, with the daily charge I worked out the MG ZS EV, to full charge, will cost me £6.96p. So many thanks! Note to self: Look for a new electricity provider with an off peak tariff...!!

Very useful. Now how about figuing the efficiency of a PHEV aggregating the KwH value of a gallon and adding actual KwH used from the charger?

Basic but useful anyway. It would be good to add on a conversation about kWh/mile as that makes a difference when comparing models as its not just about the battery. I think Teslas go further than most.

For all those in the UK that are still struggling! Go to smarthomecharge.co.uk it does all the math for you!! Example. Merc C350E (hybrid)5kWh battery on OctopusEnergy economy tariff,costs just £69 a year for 5200 miles !!! Just fill in your car your energy provider and your mileage a week , and it get the latest tariff rates job done!!! Can’t be easier to see if it worth going electric or hybrid what ever you fancy. Keep up the fantastic work on RU-vid 😃

Just to complicate things further; a 30kwh battery doesn't have 30kwh of usable capacity. But I get it, it's about keeping it simple. FYI, love seeing the white board back in use. Honestly M8, this may end up being really popular as folks might tend to type this sort of thing into search engines

Ok so I am still confused and really could do with help please. I'm thinking of buying a 2013 Leaf with 24 kWh battery. I would need to charge at home overnight using a granny cable plugged in to normal home socket. Someone told me to work out cost you take your electricity cost per kWh x battery size (24 kWh)....my electricity at home per kWh is 0.59 cent (Ireland). If I did 0.59c X 24 it works out that my Fiat Punto 1.2 is actually cheaper to run per KM than the Leaf.

How about going through the calculation of Number of 24V Li storage batteries are needed to charge a LEAF which requires 6.6 KWh per day to recharge. And then how many Solar panels are needed to charge these batteries assuming it is sunny every day on a dedicated system of panels just used for the car.

I do have one scenario that i wanted to ask. If you arrived at a charger with 20% and you charged up to 80%, could you give me some advice on working out that please, thanks

Well I can agree it has definitely been one of those weeks.....

If 7kW charger to four hours to charger 28kWh. Then how in the case of tesla Model 3 he says that a 7kW charger running for exactly one hour gives 32kWh please explain

Off topic but you fancy reviewing the smart forfour? i need a small city runaround for 30miles a day and im quite intruiged by the little thing.

Hi there. Brilliant videos. I’m thinking of getting a Skoda enyaq 60 iv car and my energy tariff is 0.32p per kWh. How much would this cost.

Also, I’ve just checked and Ionity (part publicly funded infrastructure across Europe and a JV between various auto makers) are charging 89 cents per kWh as standard, unless you drive a car made by them in which case it costs 29 cents. At today’s currency exchange rates, this makes the charge 86pence per kWh.

so is that daily charging ? that would convert to in USD as 12dollars a day rounded up from 11.99 or 84 dollars a week

Hi am I understanding correctly. I just ordered a Y. Based off google I think it has a 70 KWH Battery Home charger is 11.5 KW (The new home charger 2021/2022) If its at 50% - Half Charged 35KWH It would take a little over 3 hours to charge? and closer to 0% charge would be about 6 hours? from 0-100%. I know my Tesla won't go to 0% and that I should only charge to 80% but this is just to make sure I am doing the math right.

I have a problem with calculating the true cost of power consumption. I have installed a dedicated K.watt hour meter and power factor meter ahead of the charger. We have found that the vehicles onboard computer computes the vehicles consumption from the battery. Not the true input power into the battery. I have found a good 10 - 14 % efficiency losses. Therefore the true cost on an average is 12% more.

It's taken me a long time to fully realise that charging up an electric car could cost as little as £5.00 - which is staggering compared to how much it costs to refuel a petrol or diesel car.

Just had my electricity bill for October. 194kWh of nighttime use (Octopus Go), which gave me around 600-700 miles depending on weather/how I drive etc, and cost less than a tenner. How mush dinosaur juice would that buy, and how far would that take me? 100 miles maybe

Interesting information. Can you indicate the size in kW of the electric motors in a range of cars from LEAF to Tesla and their battery capacity. Can you do a tabulation of km per kWh, for electric vehicles, which in the fossil fuel world is fuel consumption as litres per 100km or in a fossilised system is called miles per gallon.

My question is how much energy would you get out of a 28kwh battery pack?

On a related issue, what do you think the standard should be when talking "energy consumption"? Distance per kWh eg 2 miles per kWh or KwH per 100 miles or km eg 5.7kWh per 100km. Sort of like the old MPG has become # of lites per 100km when talking ICE vehicles.

Hey - one video/analysis I'd like to see would be how much would a EV car cost for someone who *can't* have home charging (ie - no off street parking). Is it viable yet to have an EV and purely depend on public chargers for everything and how much of a hassle and how expensive would that be compared to ICE cars? (maybe have tesla vs non telsa details as well...)

Hello electric leaf Man I have just insured my Toyota RAV4 diesel with Toyota insurance .. I asked for a price for a Hyundai Ionic electric .... They do not insure any full electric cars .... They would insure me for a Toyota RAV4 hybrid. Can you please do a video on car insurance for full electric vehicles ... Thanks for all the videos you make 🤩

good plug for Octopus, but very informative nonetheless

Brought up in Manchester. Love to hear that northern accent!

Looking forward to the Polestar.

You'll have covered this before but I'm gonna ask anyway: what's the range of your model 3 before you have to recharge? How far down is the battery at that point? And would you normally charge to 80% or 100% or some other number?

8:57 I think this example is incorrect: It should be: Leaf 30kWh battery. Electricity costs 10p per kWh. So the cost to fully charge that car is £3. Please let me know if I am wrongz

Good video, Octopus Agile or Go? 1 x 38 kW Hyundai Ioniq, 1 x Vauxhall Ampera

thanks for the info. I was wondering the future savings for when I get around to buying an EV. By my rough math (in Canada with Ontario, Canada prices) to fill the gasoline car I currently drive (Toyota Matrix) from near empty is approximately $40 to "fill" the EV I want (Kia Soul with the 64 kWh battery) will be between $4.16 and $8.58 (depending on Off, Mid, or High Peak rates) Now all I need to do is more to a apartment/house where I am capable of charging at home, and save enough to buy the EV.

Hi Not sure if you are able to assist but I’m needing to replace a type 2 plug for my charging cable, I unfortunately dropped it and do not seem to be able to find anyone who is able to replace and fit a new one, I paid extra for a extended cable to enable charging at a longer distance. I did send it back to the suppliers, however they stated they were unable to assist and just sent it back, stating I could purchas a new cable if I wished, knowing that the only problem was the plug that fits into the car. I’m wishing to get this sorted now as thinking of getting a Polestar 2, especially after seeing your programme, informative and amusing, having a test drive in a couple of weeks. Keep going, great programmes. Richard

Thanks for this, as newbie EV owners we found it very informative. We bought it after going to fullycharged live 2019 and watching you and your fellow EV RU-vidrs during Lockdown I. We decided to ditch our two cars and get one EV (40kWh Leaf) and we've not looked back since! We wanted to get a Smart Meter so we could benefit from the better EV tarrifs (Octopus Go/Agile etc) but we can't get one as we have a domestic 3-phase supply and our supplier (EDF) and others don't seem to fit them - any ideas?

Hi, 😄😄😄😄 TV star. I'm very happy with your channel. I subscribed today, I ordered an EV because of you, I switched to Octopus Energy and purchased an Ohme EV charger yesterday. But, please do not work as a teacher.... Accountant is better job for you 😄😄😄. Regards, Dan.

Sorry to ask here. I have the most basic zoe ZE50 with 22kw max charge rate. Question - can I charge it at a CCS charger?

dont forget that there is resistance loss so 7kw charger requires a bit more than 7kw to charge at 7kw. low resistance batteries will hellp

I’ve noticed that the norm seems to be kWh per 100 km, which means you have to immediately convert it to km per kWh and then to miles per kWh for it to make sense. If a car does 5 miles per kWh and costs 35p per kWh to charge, then the cost per mile is 7p. Diesel costs 13p per mile in your average car or van (based on 41 mpg or 9 miles per litre). The reason why I think this video is so helpful is that would be EV drivers can grasp the basics and qualify all the controversy about the charging infrastructure and the cost per kWh. It also highlights the efficiency of charging at home. I do worry that companies will do to electricity tariffs what they’ve done with fuel prices for decades though, as if they charge 60p, an economical EV will incur costs of 12p per mile - on par with fossil.

If someone does not know what a watt is, what kilo prefix means and what an hour is, I really don't think they should be issued a drivers license. Those terms are all taught my middle school and we don't let middle schoolers drive.