Rico
COSTA RICA EXTRA: How much energy does you gas auotomobile use? According to a report by Forbes magazine, if you drive 24.000 kilometres (15.000 miles) a year and get a respectable 25 miles per gallon you’ll be burning 600 gallons of gasoline.
At an average of US$5.35 per gallon price of super gasoline in Costa Rica, that will cost you US$3.210 per year.
But, if you went electric, like the Tesla, that same distance would run you only US$720 a year.
It takes about 85 kWh of electricity to fill up a Model S Tesla with a 480 kilometre (300-mile) range battery. For simplicity sake, this amounts to about ¢7.735 colones (US$14) worth of electricity, for an average cost per kilometres of about ¢16 colones (3 cents).
In reality, like in Costa Rica every simple is made difficult, the final cost will be higher based the fact that electricity rates in Costa Rica are ¢91/kwh for the first 200 kwh and the ¢164/kwh after during billing month and on the time of day or if during weekdays or weekends and holidays.
In Costa Rica, electricity rates have three rate points: “Período Punto”, the highest between 10:00 and 12:30 and 17:31 and 20:00, and not applied to Saturdays, Sundauys and holidays; “Período valle”, medium rates between 6:01 and 10:00 and 12:31 and 14:30; and “Período nocturno”, from 20:01 to 6:00.
And then there is also the “commercial” and “residential” factor. Confused? You’re not alone.
So, based on the simplest form, if you’re driving 24,000 kilometres a year in your Tesla your fuel bill will come to about US$720. That’s a US$2.490 yearly savings over gasoline.
But then again, the Tesla would cost you around $125,000 in Costa Rica, based a sticker price of US$75.000 in the U.S. and adding in the cost of transport, import taxes and duties, when compared to US$90.000 for a similar class gasoline powered vehicle, an Audi for example.
And there is the fact that most of that fuel savings will be wiped away when you have to shell out US$12,000 (U.S. price) to replace your battery after five years or so.
