Daniel Sperling

“Energy costs also play a role and are illustrative of the challenge presented by the move to EVs. The widespread assumption is that energy costs are lower for EVs, but that is not true for many current EV owners. That is because many homeowners are subject to tiered electricity rates—the more you use, the higher the cost per kWh of electricity. The extra electricity for the car pushes many homeowners into a higher tier. They often end up paying more for electricity than they would have for gasoline. Electric utilities and their regulators originally embraced tiered rates in many states as a way of motivating energy-efficient behavior. When people pay higher rates for using more electricity, they buy more efficient refrigerators and turn off lights. But adding at-home charging is penalized by that pricing logic. The solution is for electric utilities to adopt new rate structures to accommodate and support the introduction of EVs. It is in their interest to do so because EV charging provides them a mechanism for managing their electricity loads more easily and cheaply. But it represents a radical departure for many utilities and their regulators, and thus it will happen only gradually.”
― Daniel Sperling, Three Revolutions: Steering Automated, Shared, and Electric Vehicles to a Better Future