Chevy Volt owner surprised to see electric bill go down after getting his Volt, but also knows why

[FMArouet]

13. Also, Peak vs. Off-Peak Rates

When I bought my Chevy Volt, I switched my electricity billing to a variable rate plan. The Super Off-Peak rates between 0100 and 0500 hours are about 1/4 the peak rates during the morning and evening (winter) or middle of the day and evening (summer). Naturally, I've programmed the Volt to charge during these earning morning hours. I also program the dishwasher and the clothes washer to run during these Super Off-Peak hours. The net result is that my total electricity bill has not gone up. It is almost like getting free charging for the Volt.

The actual Super Off-Peak charging for the Volt turns out to cost a little more than 60 cents per charge in the winter and a little more than 50 cents per full charge in the summer. Even in the mid-Atlantic winter, I'm getting about 40 miles of driving per charge--a bit more than the 38 miles-per-charge spec by GM. In short, in terms of real world driving range/gas mileage equivalents, I'm paying less than 50 cents per gallon. My typical driving does not exceed 40 miles per day, so the Volt's gasoline engine almost never needs to kick in. In the past four months, for example, my Volt has burned less than 3 gallons of gasoline.

And now it looks like a good time to switch all of my light fixtures to LED--to make the electricity bill go down, even though I've been using the compact fluorescents for many years.