I have been following this, and similar discussions, with some interest.
Back along I looked into the fuel consumption of one of the popular plug-in hybrids. From what I remember the figure was something like 45 miles per (imperial) gallon overall when using the ICE as required to charge the battery.
My two-ton, ten-year-old, 3 litre V6 diesel gets very similar mileage.
Yes, I know that diesel and petrol are different, but still - this is hardly the massive leap in economy that is being touted as the saviour of the planet.
Here in England electricity generally costs in the region of 20 pence per kWh. On the 20kWh for 100km suggested in an earlier post, that's roughly 3 miles for 1kWh.
One litre of diesel presently costs about 130 pence (most of which is tax). That's the same cost as 6.5kWh, or 20 electric-miles.
At 45.4mpg (imp) (a convenient figure not far off what I get for my car*), that's 10 miles per litre of fuel.
So the all-electric cost per mile is half that of the dieselmobile.
But I mentioned that the fuel cost included taxes. According to the
Royal Automobile Club European fuel cost comparison, in the UK that 130p comprises 50p for the fuel and 80p for taxes.
Re-working the fuel cost on a tax-free basis and we suddenly find that 130p buys 2.6 litres of diesel, enough for 26 miles. Suddenly the diesel car is cheaper to run.
Now I do realise that the cost of electricity also includes taxes so I am making a deliberately unfair comparison, but if nothing else it goes to show that one can pick one's variables to suit the argument.
Recently I noticed that home off-grid natural gas-fuelled generators are becoming a thing here. Natural gas costs the equivalent of about 3.5 pence per kWh. Making the big assumption that one could get as much as 33% efficiency pipe-to-plug, on the face of it there seems to be no reason why one shouldn't generate one's own electricity for about 10p per kWh, or half the grid price.
I know I am conveniently ignoring the purchase cost of the generator, maintenance, load factor and suchlike. I just toss this into the mix to ask the question whether a natural gas powered generator would be a cost-effective way to charge your electric car...?
* I get about 42mpg (imperial) overall, or a touch over 50mpg on highway driving. I can get mid-50s if I am careful (=slow) on the highway.
Please don't flame me. With all the diesel, petrol and natural gas in this post, you risk triggering a veritable conflagration.