8.9.2 EVs in California don't automatically win on cost

**Without solar, driving an EV in California can cost *more* than driving a gas car.**

Gasoline is $5/gallon. A normal car gets 20–30 mpg, so per-mile fuel cost is $0.10–0.20.

An EV gets 2–4 mi/kWh. Public DC fast charging runs $0.30–0.70/kWh, which works out to $0.10–0.35 per mile. Home charging at standard rates lands in the same $0.30–0.70 range. EV-specific TOU plans drop overnight rates to $0.10–0.20, but they raise the daytime rate to compensate. Blended cost is typically still $0.20+ per mile.

So in California, without solar, daily EV driving is not meaningfully cheaper than gas — and is often more expensive.

With solar + daytime charging, per-mile EV cost drops to under $0.05 — a third to a quarter of gas. That is the actual financial case for owning an EV in California.