September 12, 2024 • 12 mins
How much would you save on an 800-kilometer work trip by choosing an electric vehicle over a gas-powered one? In this episode, we break down the costs and logistics of a journey from Hamilton to North Bay, Ontario. We discuss not only the stark difference in fuel expenses—$150 for gas versus $56 for an EV—but also the time and planning considerations involved. Discover how the seamless integration of charging stops into the EV's system makes a compelling case for electric vehicles, not just from a financial perspective but also in terms of reducing your carbon footprint.
Ever wonder how full self-driving features could transform your long-distance travel experience? Join us as we share personal anecdotes about the perks of this advanced technology, including reduced driver fatigue and a more relaxed arrival at your destination. We also touch on the broader impact of electrifying transportation on our environment and how these advancements are steering us toward a more sustainable future. Don't miss out on practical insights and real-world applications of EV technology that could make your daily commutes and business trips more efficient and eco-friendly.
Thanks for listening!
If you like our podcasts, please leave us a review on Spotify or Apple or wherever you get your podcasts from.
Want to be a guest on The Circular Future podcast? Email Sanjay Trivedi at strivedi@quantumlifecycle.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Gas versus EV.
What is the difference in cost,time and emissions of driving
an electric vehicle versus gascar for an 800 kilometer work
trip?
Welcome to the Circular Future.
Your access to thought leadersand innovations to help you be a
business sustainabilitychampion, even if it's not your
(00:26):
core job.
I'm your host.
Stephanie McLarty, head ofSustainability at Quantum
Lifecycle Partners.
Understanding transportationemissions is something that is
becoming increasingly importanton both a business and
individual level.
Last week, I weighed this veryquestion of how to get to
(00:46):
Quantum's warranty repairlocation in North Bay, ontario.
Should I take our gas-poweredvehicle or our electric vehicle,
our EV?
What were the implications ofeach method of transportation?
But before we get into thisanalysis, here's a few updates
you may be interested in.
But before we get into thisanalysis, here's a few updates
(01:07):
you may be interested in.
First off, we've got someexciting news in the world of
recycling and sustainability.
Call to Recycle Canada andQuantum Lifecycle Partners are
joining forces to make batteryrecycling easier in Quebec.
And that's not all.
Quantum is helping folks acrossCanada make a big impact this
October during Circular EconomyMonth.
(01:27):
Whether you're a company or acommunity group, we are helping
organizations like yours to setup e-waste pickup drives.
And here's the cool partThrough Quantum's donation
program, you can turn your oldtech into a force for good.
You can donate the value to acharity you love or use it to
(01:49):
get needed equipment for a localgroup.
And finally, on the podcastfront, thanks to all the great
feedback on our previous episodenumber 36, on the new green
washing legislation in Canada.
We really appreciate yourfeedback, so keep it coming.
Okay, back to our gas versus EVanalysis.
(02:10):
This is something we'restarting to do at Quantum on a
company level as we analyzeoptions to reduce our
transportation emissions and ourcommuting emissions.
Electrifying transportation iscertainly one way to do that.
Where it is possible.
We covered a fascinating casestudy of shipping freight
(02:32):
between the different methods ofdiesel, truck, ev, semi-truck
and rail in our third episode,so you might want to check that
out.
It's easier to look at the gasversus EV debate on a personal
level, since that is actually achoice available today, at least
for my family.
My husband and I have both anelectric vehicle a Tesla Model Y
(02:57):
and a gas-powered SUV a HyundaiTucson.
Gas versus EV on a personallevel is also important because
these will make up the emissionsfor commuting and business
travel, which is in our scopethree supply chain emissions.
So I had to make that choicefor my trip to Quantum's North
(03:20):
Bay location.
This site has been known asParagon Bay since Quantum
acquired this company inDecember 2023.
And, on a side note, I wasreally excited to finally see
this location.
It is quite different fromQuantum's other locations.
We do in-warranty repairs thereas well as out-of-warranty
(03:41):
repairs and a host of otherfulfillment services in the zero
to three-year lifespan of aproduct.
So it's kind of like the spiritof reuse applied in a different
way than our ITAD or recyclingfacilities, which focus on the
age of three years and wellbeyond of a product.
(04:03):
Okay, I digress back to theanalysis.
So North Bay is about 400kilometers, or about 250 miles
for American listeners.
North Bay is about 400kilometers, or about 250 miles
for our American listeners oneway from my home in the Hamilton
(04:23):
area.
That makes it 800 kilometers or500 miles round trip.
Would it make sense to take ourEV or our gas car?
I looked at the fuel cost, thetime factor and the emissions
generated with each method.
So let's start with cost.
So let's start with cost.
By cost in this case I meanfuel cost, gas for the Tucson
(04:48):
and electricity for the Tesla.
Let's start with the gas cost.
To do the trip there and backit would take about a tank and a
half of gas Filling up atroughly $1.50 per litre.
This total would be $150 intotal for both directions.
The cost of electricity for theEV is a bit more complex.
(05:12):
We charge the Tesla at homeovernight and we're on the new
ultra-low overnight rate planwhere electricity is only $0.02
per kWh between 11pm and 7am.
So what does that actually meanin this context?
How much do we spend onelectricity each month to charge
(05:33):
the car?
Well, I looked at our bills andit's only $15 to $30 per month
in electricity for the car.
Yeah, you heard that.
It only costs us $15 to $30 tofuel our car each month at home.
Let's estimate that a fullcharge from basically zero to
100% overnight might cost $5,and we're probably being
(05:57):
generous there.
Then there's the superchargingalong the way.
The cost there is usually 56cents per kilowatt hour to get
this super fast charge.
I stopped once on the way toNorth Bay for about 10 minutes,
charged up while I was in NorthBay and then a quick charge on
the way back.
(06:18):
The total for all the charging.
The supercharging, I should say, was about $51.
So the total for the EV wasabout $56, including the
overnight charging the nightbefore.
Compare that to the gas vehicleof $150 and the EV wins out on
(06:40):
the fuel consideration.
Had we had EV chargers in NorthBay, like some of our other
sites, the cost would havedecreased for the EV even
further, would have decreasedfor the EV even further.
Okay, so let's look at the timefactor.
Is it faster to take the gascar versus the EV?
And hey, I'm not talking aboutthe speed of the car here, for
(07:01):
that the EV would definitely winout.
I'm talking about the totaltrip length, especially
considering the need to charge.
When I plugged the address intoGoogle Maps, it said it was
about four hours drivingstraight.
That's what we'll consider asthe baseline for our gas vehicle
.
(07:22):
For the EV, when you plug thedestination on the car screen,
it automatically calculateswhere you need to stop to charge
and for how long.
To get to North Bay.
It said I should stop at thesuperchargers in Bracebridge for
five minutes.
So that's it, just a quickfive-minute stop.
I would have done that anywayin the gas vehicle for a quick
(07:43):
break in a four-hour journey.
An advantage of the EV is thatI can take the high occupancy
vehicle, or HOV lanes, as asingle occupant.
That basically means it savesme time and hassle.
I also used the fullself-driving function for a lot
of the journey.
I'll talk more about that later.
(08:05):
In North Bay I had to powerback up at the superchargers
there, which was about 25minutes.
I grabbed dinner during thistime, which is something I would
have done anyway if I haddriven the gas car.
So, all in all, the time factorwas not really different
between the vehicles.
We'll call it a tie.
Finally, let's look at theemissions aspect.
(08:27):
For both vehicles.
To drive the gas vehicle 800kilometers, the emissions were
around 0.17 tons of CO2e, that'scarbon dioxide equivalent.
To calculate the emissions fromthe EV, we have to look at the
emissions from the electricitythat fuels it.
The emissions from electricityvary greatly from province to
(08:51):
province, all depending on howmuch fossil fuels are used to
power the grid.
In Ontario the power grid isquite low carbon and when I
plugged this trip into ouremissions calculator, the answer
actually came back as zero.
Not that it was truly zero, butit didn't register after two
decibel points.
(09:12):
So advantage EV on theemissions front, and no surprise
there.
So, when I took these threefactors into consideration, the
time factor was a tie, but bothfuel cost and emissions favored
the EV.
So I took the Tesla and had agreat trip.
The EV.
(09:34):
So I took the Tesla and had agreat trip.
I will say there are a host ofother factors that may play into
the decision making forsomething like this.
The biggest caveat is the EVitself the range and the time it
takes the car to charge.
I say this from experience.
We used to have a 2013 TeslaModel S, and, hands down, it
would have produced a verydifferent result in this
(09:55):
analysis.
That's because it had 350kilometers of range in the end
and took twice as long to chargeas our new Model Y.
I would have, for sure, had tostop twice to charge and take
significantly more time whilecharging.
The time factor would haveplaced a big advantage for the
(10:16):
gas vehicle.
As a side note, I will say thatwe loved that old Tesla and had
no intention of replacing itUntil the air conditioning broke
and it was going to cost over$8,000 to replace the whole
system.
With 320,000 kilometers on thatcar, it was only worth that
(10:36):
much.
The battery, though, was stillgreat for its age at 85% of its
original range left.
So in many ways the batteryoutlasted the rest of the car
and that's in line with thelatest studies on batteries.
Most will last 15 to 20 years.
Other factors you might thinkabout in this analysis the
(10:59):
upfront cost of the vehicle.
Gas definitely wins out here.
The emissions during productionof the vehicle the short-term
advantage is the gas vehicle,but EVs usually surpass gas
vehicles for lifecycle emissionswithin one to three years of
operating them, since theemissions savings on the fuel
(11:21):
side is so significant.
Flexibility might be anotherfactor and gas has the advantage
here.
Say, I wanted to grab dinnerhalfway home, I still would have
had to charge first.
Evs require a little bit morethinking ahead.
Driver fatigue Now our EV onthis one has the advantage since
(11:42):
we have the full self-drivingfunction.
We basically set thedestination and let the car
drive.
Think of it like being amanager versus doer of the work.
You supervise the car and stepin when needed.
Honestly, the full self-drivingmode took a while for me to get
comfortable with, but forlonger, uncomplicated driving
(12:04):
trips it is great and does theheavy lifting, so we feel a bit
more refreshed, I'd say,reaching the destination.
All in all, some food forthought as we look to create a
sustainable, circular future.
And remember, if you arelooking for a leader in
electronics reuse and recycling,we'd love to chat.
(12:27):
Head on over toquantumlifecyclecom and contact
us.
This is a Quantum Lifecyclepodcast and the producer is
Sanjay Trivedi.
Thank you for being a CircularFuture Champion in your company
and beyond.
Locking off.
Gas versus EV.
What is the difference in cost,time and emissions of driving
an electric vehicle versus gascar for an 800 kilometer work
trip?
Welcome to the Circular Future.
Your access to thought leadersand innovations to help you be a
business sustainabilitychampion, even if it's not your
(00:26):
core job.
I'm your host.
Stephanie McLarty, head ofSustainability at Quantum
Lifecycle Partners.
Understanding transportationemissions is something that is
becoming increasingly importanton both a business and
individual level.
Last week, I weighed this veryquestion of how to get to
(00:46):
Quantum's warranty repairlocation in North Bay, ontario.
Should I take our gas-poweredvehicle or our electric vehicle,
our EV?
What were the implications ofeach method of transportation?
But before we get into thisanalysis, here's a few updates
you may be interested in.
But before we get into thisanalysis, here's a few updates
(01:07):
you may be interested in.
First off, we've got someexciting news in the world of
recycling and sustainability.
Call to Recycle Canada andQuantum Lifecycle Partners are
joining forces to make batteryrecycling easier in Quebec.
And that's not all.
Quantum is helping folks acrossCanada make a big impact this
October during Circular EconomyMonth.
(01:27):
Whether you're a company or acommunity group, we are helping
organizations like yours to setup e-waste pickup drives.
And here's the cool partThrough Quantum's donation
program, you can turn your oldtech into a force for good.
You can donate the value to acharity you love or use it to
(01:49):
get needed equipment for a localgroup.
And finally, on the podcastfront, thanks to all the great
feedback on our previous episodenumber 36, on the new green
washing legislation in Canada.
We really appreciate yourfeedback, so keep it coming.
Okay, back to our gas versus EVanalysis.
(02:10):
This is something we'restarting to do at Quantum on a
company level as we analyzeoptions to reduce our
transportation emissions and ourcommuting emissions.
Electrifying transportation iscertainly one way to do that.
Where it is possible.
We covered a fascinating casestudy of shipping freight
(02:32):
between the different methods ofdiesel, truck, ev, semi-truck
and rail in our third episode,so you might want to check that
out.
It's easier to look at the gasversus EV debate on a personal
level, since that is actually achoice available today, at least
for my family.
My husband and I have both anelectric vehicle a Tesla Model Y
(02:57):
and a gas-powered SUV a HyundaiTucson.
Gas versus EV on a personallevel is also important because
these will make up the emissionsfor commuting and business
travel, which is in our scopethree supply chain emissions.
So I had to make that choicefor my trip to Quantum's North
(03:20):
Bay location.
This site has been known asParagon Bay since Quantum
acquired this company inDecember 2023.
And, on a side note, I wasreally excited to finally see
this location.
It is quite different fromQuantum's other locations.
We do in-warranty repairs thereas well as out-of-warranty
(03:41):
repairs and a host of otherfulfillment services in the zero
to three-year lifespan of aproduct.
So it's kind of like the spiritof reuse applied in a different
way than our ITAD or recyclingfacilities, which focus on the
age of three years and wellbeyond of a product.
(04:03):
Okay, I digress back to theanalysis.
So North Bay is about 400kilometers, or about 250 miles
for American listeners.
North Bay is about 400kilometers, or about 250 miles
for our American listeners oneway from my home in the Hamilton
(04:23):
area.
That makes it 800 kilometers or500 miles round trip.
Would it make sense to take ourEV or our gas car?
I looked at the fuel cost, thetime factor and the emissions
generated with each method.
So let's start with cost.
So let's start with cost.
By cost in this case I meanfuel cost, gas for the Tucson
(04:48):
and electricity for the Tesla.
Let's start with the gas cost.
To do the trip there and backit would take about a tank and a
half of gas Filling up atroughly $1.50 per litre.
This total would be $150 intotal for both directions.
The cost of electricity for theEV is a bit more complex.
(05:12):
We charge the Tesla at homeovernight and we're on the new
ultra-low overnight rate planwhere electricity is only $0.02
per kWh between 11pm and 7am.
So what does that actually meanin this context?
How much do we spend onelectricity each month to charge
(05:33):
the car?
Well, I looked at our bills andit's only $15 to $30 per month
in electricity for the car.
Yeah, you heard that.
It only costs us $15 to $30 tofuel our car each month at home.
Let's estimate that a fullcharge from basically zero to
100% overnight might cost $5,and we're probably being
(05:57):
generous there.
Then there's the superchargingalong the way.
The cost there is usually 56cents per kilowatt hour to get
this super fast charge.
I stopped once on the way toNorth Bay for about 10 minutes,
charged up while I was in NorthBay and then a quick charge on
the way back.
(06:18):
The total for all the charging.
The supercharging, I should say, was about $51.
So the total for the EV wasabout $56, including the
overnight charging the nightbefore.
Compare that to the gas vehicleof $150 and the EV wins out on
(06:40):
the fuel consideration.
Had we had EV chargers in NorthBay, like some of our other
sites, the cost would havedecreased for the EV even
further, would have decreasedfor the EV even further.
Okay, so let's look at the timefactor.
Is it faster to take the gascar versus the EV?
And hey, I'm not talking aboutthe speed of the car here, for
(07:01):
that the EV would definitely winout.
I'm talking about the totaltrip length, especially
considering the need to charge.
When I plugged the address intoGoogle Maps, it said it was
about four hours drivingstraight.
That's what we'll consider asthe baseline for our gas vehicle
.
(07:22):
For the EV, when you plug thedestination on the car screen,
it automatically calculateswhere you need to stop to charge
and for how long.
To get to North Bay.
It said I should stop at thesuperchargers in Bracebridge for
five minutes.
So that's it, just a quickfive-minute stop.
I would have done that anywayin the gas vehicle for a quick
(07:43):
break in a four-hour journey.
An advantage of the EV is thatI can take the high occupancy
vehicle, or HOV lanes, as asingle occupant.
That basically means it savesme time and hassle.
I also used the fullself-driving function for a lot
of the journey.
I'll talk more about that later.
(08:05):
In North Bay I had to powerback up at the superchargers
there, which was about 25minutes.
I grabbed dinner during thistime, which is something I would
have done anyway if I haddriven the gas car.
So, all in all, the time factorwas not really different
between the vehicles.
We'll call it a tie.
Finally, let's look at theemissions aspect.
(08:27):
For both vehicles.
To drive the gas vehicle 800kilometers, the emissions were
around 0.17 tons of CO2e, that'scarbon dioxide equivalent.
To calculate the emissions fromthe EV, we have to look at the
emissions from the electricitythat fuels it.
The emissions from electricityvary greatly from province to
(08:51):
province, all depending on howmuch fossil fuels are used to
power the grid.
In Ontario the power grid isquite low carbon and when I
plugged this trip into ouremissions calculator, the answer
actually came back as zero.
Not that it was truly zero, butit didn't register after two
decibel points.
(09:12):
So advantage EV on theemissions front, and no surprise
there.
So, when I took these threefactors into consideration, the
time factor was a tie, but bothfuel cost and emissions favored
the EV.
So I took the Tesla and had agreat trip.
The EV.
(09:34):
So I took the Tesla and had agreat trip.
I will say there are a host ofother factors that may play into
the decision making forsomething like this.
The biggest caveat is the EVitself the range and the time it
takes the car to charge.
I say this from experience.
We used to have a 2013 TeslaModel S, and, hands down, it
would have produced a verydifferent result in this
(09:55):
analysis.
That's because it had 350kilometers of range in the end
and took twice as long to chargeas our new Model Y.
I would have, for sure, had tostop twice to charge and take
significantly more time whilecharging.
The time factor would haveplaced a big advantage for the
(10:16):
gas vehicle.
As a side note, I will say thatwe loved that old Tesla and had
no intention of replacing itUntil the air conditioning broke
and it was going to cost over$8,000 to replace the whole
system.
With 320,000 kilometers on thatcar, it was only worth that
(10:36):
much.
The battery, though, was stillgreat for its age at 85% of its
original range left.
So in many ways the batteryoutlasted the rest of the car
and that's in line with thelatest studies on batteries.
Most will last 15 to 20 years.
Other factors you might thinkabout in this analysis the
(10:59):
upfront cost of the vehicle.
Gas definitely wins out here.
The emissions during productionof the vehicle the short-term
advantage is the gas vehicle,but EVs usually surpass gas
vehicles for lifecycle emissionswithin one to three years of
operating them, since theemissions savings on the fuel
(11:21):
side is so significant.
Flexibility might be anotherfactor and gas has the advantage
here.
Say, I wanted to grab dinnerhalfway home, I still would have
had to charge first.
Evs require a little bit morethinking ahead.
Driver fatigue Now our EV onthis one has the advantage since
(11:42):
we have the full self-drivingfunction.
We basically set thedestination and let the car
drive.
Think of it like being amanager versus doer of the work.
You supervise the car and stepin when needed.
Honestly, the full self-drivingmode took a while for me to get
comfortable with, but forlonger, uncomplicated driving
(12:04):
trips it is great and does theheavy lifting, so we feel a bit
more refreshed, I'd say,reaching the destination.
All in all, some food forthought as we look to create a
sustainable, circular future.
And remember, if you arelooking for a leader in
electronics reuse and recycling,we'd love to chat.
(12:27):
Head on over toquantumlifecyclecom and contact
us.
This is a Quantum Lifecyclepodcast and the producer is
Sanjay Trivedi.
Thank you for being a CircularFuture Champion in your company
and beyond.
Locking off.
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