Finding gasoline for less than $1.50 a gallon is impossible. But drivers of electric vehicles are able to do just that.
A new statistic — the eGallon — will now be calculated monthly by the Department of Energy to gauge the price paid by electric vehicle drivers to go the same distance that a driver of a conventional car will travel, on average, using a gallon of gas.
People who own electric vehicles may already know what they're paying to fill up, but the agency introduced the new "eGallon" metric to help consumers who are thinking about buying electric vehicles.
Based on the 2012 model year, the department's analysis concluded that consumers are paying $1.14 a gallon nationally to drive 28.2 miles, the average distance traveled by comparable 2012 non-electric small and medium-size cars.
That $1.14 per eGallon compares with $3.65, the national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline.
In Wisconsin, gas prices are running above the national average — and so are electricity rates. Motorists charging their cars in Wisconsin are paying $1.32 an eGallon on average, compared with $4 a gallon for regular unleaded gas.
The eGallon, of course, isn't a complete picture of the cost of owning an electric vehicle. It doesn't include the cost of adding a home-charging device, or take into account the premium paid for buying a Chevy Volt or a Nissan Leaf.
When it comes to fueling, "Consumers can see prices at their corner gas station, but are relatively in the dark on the cost of fueling an electric vehicle," said David Danielson, assistant secretary of the Energy Department, during a conference call with reporters.
About 50,000 plug-in hybrid vehicles were sold across the country last year, about three times as many 2011, he said, and another 30,000 have been sold so far this year.
The eGallon is computed by calculating the average kilowatt-hours per mile from the leading electric vehicles, such as the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt, and comparing it with the distance a similar small or midsize new car can go on a gallon of gas (28.2 miles).
EPA mileage stickers already tout the fuel economy of driving with electricity, listing equivalent miles per gallon of 100 mpg for some models.
"But that metric doesn't communicate the fuel cost benefit as well as a direct comparison to gasoline prices does," Danielson said.
Michael Sivak of the Transportation Research Institute in Michigan and alternative fuels expert Christopher Damm at the Milwaukee School of Engineering both took a look at the methodology behind the eGallon for the Journal Sentinel, and gave it a thumbs-up.
Damm said it's an appropriate way to make an "apples to apples" comparison of the different driving costs.
"I personally think it is more straightforward to compare the cost per mile numbers directly instead of taking the extra step of pricing an eGallon," he said. "But the ratio of the costs are the same for both approaches.
"The driving costs are about three times higher for gasoline fueled vehicles," he said.
Lisa Geason-Bauer bought a Nissan Leaf for her Oconomowoc home-based marketing business, Evolution Marketing, last summer. Based on the first 11 months of driving, she estimates she's paid $168 to charge the car, or about $15 a month.
"I've had people come up to me and say, 'Do you know I spend $100 a week just on gas for my car?'" Geason-Bauer said Wednesday.
Geason-Bauer agreed with Damm that the best way to measure is in cents per mile. Based on what her business paid for gasoline in a 25-mpg Chevy Malibu, she estimates she paid about 14 cents a mile on fuel last year when gas prices averaged $3.50 a gallon. Since she bought the Leaf, she said, that's dropped to less than 2.5 cents a mile.
"I don't know if the eGallon is the best way to describe the savings because people don't think in gallons, they think of cost per mile," she said. "This is a good first step, but it doesn't go far enough."
Another challenge with the new statistic is that it's a statewide average rather than based on the electricity rates that a driver actually pays.
Just as gas prices can vary from two stations across the street from one another, electricity rates vary from utility to utility. That can be the case in metro Milwaukee.
A typical We Energies customer, for example, pays about 13.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, which would bring the eGallon driving costs slightly above the state average of $1.32. But drivers who charge their cars with electricity, such as Geason-Bauer or Ben Nelson of Oconomowoc, pay electric rates that are below the state average.
"Another huge consideration is that the eGallon completely ignores time of day billing," said Nelson. These rates allow homeowners to get charged lower rates at night when electricity demand is low — and when plug-in hybrids and EVs are charged.
"While the current eGallon may be $1.32 in Wisconsin, with my local power provider it's closer to $1," Nelson said. "With time of day billing, charging at night, it's only 50 cents."
The co-founder of Drive$mart Wisconsin, formerly the Milwaukee Hybrid Group, sees the eGallon as a useful tool for anyone looking to find ways to save money in driving.
"It's a fair representation for the average person who's going to be making some decisions on what to do for their transportation needs," said Bradlee Fons. "It gives you a rough guide as far as the potential savings, comparing it to gas."
But drivers of any vehicle — plug-in or not — can save fuel, and money, if they stop speeding, stop being a lead-foot on the brakes, and keep tires properly inflated, Fons said. Steps like that can boost fuel economy, which adds up to savings when gas is $4 a gallon.