Using an Electric Car to Doordash

This is a very old post that I never finished so I of course never posted it. It was written about ten months ago; probably a year ago. After all this time, I decided that I should finish it off and publish it. Now that I have more experience with electric cars, I can surely add a bit more information than when I first started using an electric car.

The main expense that a dasher will ever have to face is their gasoline cost. Having an economic and fuel efficient vehicle will surely lower the cost, but it is still an expense that cannot be avoided. The guy with the Prius will surely have a lower gas expense than the guy driving a Ford pick-up truck.

When I first began dashing, I was that guy that was using his Ford pick-up truck. Not a very good vehicle to be dashing in, but it was the only thing available to me at the time. I got 17 miles per gallon in my truck. I had to be very selective in dashes that I accepted or denied. I would always calculate the cost of gasoline that I would use with each call to get a closer determination of what I was actually making for a delivery. Of course there are other expenses that one would want to consider to precisely determine what they are making for a delivery, but gasoline is the main expense. I would easily spend $20 a day on gas; sometimes much more than that. If I dashed everyday, I would be spending at least $600 per month on gas for dashing purposes. What was my solution to lower my costs? I wanted to get better mileage. The best answer for me was an electric car. This was something I went in to knowing nothing about.

Buying my electric car to do Doordash

Like most people, I had no idea about how electric cars work. I knew that they ran on electricity and not gasoline, but that is all most people know. How would I charge the vehicle? What would happen if I am going to run out of energy while I am driving on the street? It's not like I can just pull up in to a gas station and fill her up. Also, I seen these charging things on the streets before. Would it cost me money to charge up my car or will it be free? How long would it take? Question after question ran through my mind. I did all of the investigating and reading about electric cars that I could. I was not going to study so much that I would earn a degree on the subject, but I learned enough to get comfortable enough to make a purchase.

Time to purchase an electric car to Doordash

I was not going to buy a very expensive car. I was not going to spend $30K on a vehicle that I was mainly buying to dash. I was looking in the $8K to $10K range. I ended up finding a blue 2014 Nissan Leaf that I wanted. It had low miles on it, was in very good condition and seemed like the prefect dashing vehicle.

What are the different levels of charging?

Now that I had my electric car to start dashing in, it was time to learn a little bit about charging my car up. When purchasing my Nissan Leaf, the car dealer tried explained a little about level 1 charging, level 2 charging and level 3 charging. In all honesty, this car dealer did not seem like he knew too much about electric cars. I ended up learning mostly everything that I know on my own.

A level 1 charge is the slowest charge method that can be used. Most owners of electric cars will use level 1 charging while they are sleeping so that their vehicle will have a full charge in the morning when they wake up. There is no additional equipment or installation of anything to do a level 1 charge. Your electric vehicle will have come with a plug in wire that you connect from your car to the regular outlet in your house. All cars are different, but my Nissan Leaf will take about 10 hours to get a full charge using a level 1 charge. I always charge up my car using this level 1 method so that when I begin my dashing in the morning I have a full charge.

 

A level 2 charge is much faster than a level 1 charge. You can have a level 2 charger installed at your home or you can use public level 2 charge stations. Again, all vehicles are different, but if I'm down to my last miles and need a charge, my Nissan Leaf will take three hours to get a full charge using a level 2 charger. You will find level 2 chargers at most public charge stations. Many electric car owners will have a level 2 charge station installed in their home garage. It is not very expensive and can range anywhere from $500 to $2000. I personally never did this as I do not own my home, but if I did own it I would install a level 2 charger in heartbeat. There are also many tax breaks and rebates that an electric car owner can take advantage of including the installation of a level 2 charger. I rarely use a level 2 charger when I am dashing unless I am going to take a three hour break between my dashing schedule. It is rare that I use a level 2 charger, but it does happen every now and then.

A level 3 charger is the fastest charger. My Nissan Leaf will get a full charge in 30 minutes and give me 80 miles. Once again, all vehicles are different. For example, a Chevy Bolt can take up to two hours to get a full charge. Compared to my 80 miles capacity with my Leaf though, the Chevy Bolt will get 280 miles. Level 3 chargers are only found at public charging stations.I always use a level 3 charger when my initial level 1 charge has ran out. In 30 minutes I am back on the road again dashing.

A level 2 charger to the left. Level 3 super chargers on the right.

How much am I spending on gas now that I use my electric car to dash?

Unlike people that buy a new electric car, I was not fortunate enough to get free charging for any amount of time. Instead, I have to pay for charging. There are different companies out there that own the charging stations. Some of them include EVGO, Charge Point, Blink and many others. I decided to become a member of EVGO. By doing so, you end up paying much less for your charges. This is especially true for someone like me that would be charging every single day. Those that do not charge so often would be better off not being a member. Sure charges would cost a bit more, but there would be no membership monthly fee.

Anyways, back to the point though of how much am I spending on gas; or should I instead say energy. Remember that my gas car costs me at least $20 per day or $600 per month. With my Nissan Leaf, I am paying 20 cents per minute to charge with a super level 3 charger. So if I go to the charge station with almost no miles left, it will cost me $6 at the most. Most of the time I do not go there with so little miles so the cost would be less, but that is the worst case scenario.

A full charge would usually be enough for a full day of dashing when including my initial level 1 charge at home during the night. As I have mentioned, I get my first full charge of the day at my home during the night and after doing some figuring that is costing me roughly $2 per night. I'll start my dashing off of that charge, but when I start to get low I'll head to a charge station. Spending $6 per day instead of $20 is a real money saver. If we add the $2 home charge for the night, I am spending at most $8 per day. That is $240 per month instead of $600. That is saving $360 per month of fuel cost. That is almost $4500 in a year.

 

 

How many miles does my electric car get on a full charge?

As I have mentioned, it will cost me $6 to get a full charge at a level 3 EVGO fast charge station when I am near empty. A full charge will give me 80 miles. So it is costing me $3 for 40 miles or $6 for 80 miles. With the price of gasoline so high in my area, and most of the country I believe, I am coming out way ahead. As I mentioned earlier, my nightly home charge is costing me roughly $2 for a full charge which gives me my 80 miles. With the level 1 home charge, I am paying $2 for 80 miles. So, I am paying $1 for 40 miles. When all is said and done, I am paying $8 for 160 miles of driving. Compare that to the 34 miles or so that I would get for around $8 before with my pick-up truck.

How do you know where charge stations are?

This is a learning experience, and an electric car owner will soon have all of the charge stations memorized. I think that many people shy away from purchasing an electric car for the fear of becoming stranded somewhere. It has never happened to me, and I don't plan on it ever happening.

There are apps out there that you can download on to your cell phone that will tell you where all of the charge stations are. The one that I have on my phone is called PlugShare. When using PlugShare, you are able to find all charging stations not only around your area, but other areas also. You are able to distinguish level 2 chargers from level 3 super chargers and so on. You can even leave or read reviews from others about a certain charge station. Like I said though, soon you will have most of your normally used charge stations memorized.

 

The problems of dashing with an electric car

Just because I am dashing in an electric car does not mean everything is perfect. Remember that it takes me half an hour to get a full charge on my Nissan Leaf. This is time taken away that I can be making a delivery.

That is the least of the problems though. As I mentioned earlier, not becoming stranded and paying attention to your miles is something that you must master. The charge station in the region that I work in is like my main station that I have to work around. When I have lots of miles on the car, it does not matter, but once I hit 30 miles I need to make the local charge station my center point and work around it. I cannot take some ridiculous Doordash call that is going to send me 15 miles out. I may not make it back to the charge station and can possibly get stuck. Even if a call was 10 miles away, that is 10 there and 10 back to the charge station. This is too close to comfort and a call that I would not take.

When low on miles, I will stick to very close calls. I have no problem with this, and it always works out great. If it is kind of slow and no calls are coming in, that is the time to recharge the car no matter how many miles I have. Always keeping the miles as high as possible is always a good thing.

 

Another problem is when other people are using the charge station. They can be there for an hour. What if I have five miles left? I will have to just sit there and wait as I don't have enough miles to dash. This can be a real problem!

I very rarely put myself in this situation. As I already mentioned, when I don't have a call, I am charging the car. For example, if I have 40 miles left, and I am not getting any Doordash calls, I will go to the charge station and see if anybody is charging. If they are not, I will start charging up my leaf. While charging, I will usually get a Doordash call. To get from 40 miles to 70 miles would take around 10 to 15 minutes so I will just continue charging and then be on my way to continue my dashing. Continually replenishing your charge is the key here to never be put in a problematic situation. A major advantage that I have in my region is that there are three level 3 super charge stations around. It is very rare that there is not at least one available.

Using an electric car for Doordash is one of the best decisions that I have ever made. I can't imagine paying high gasoline prices again when I am dashing. Besides that, I am able to use my electric car for other personal things and never pay for gas. I can run around town and do errands without thinking about gas. Electric cars are definitely the future! Purchasing my electric car to dash was the best thing that I ever did.