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One Canadian couple reported spending under $9 to charge a Chevrolet Silverado EV for about 120 miles and $25 to charge a Cadillac Optiq for more than 400 miles during a regular week of driving. They also said their solar generation could power their vehicles. These figures describe one household’s experience—not a typical-cost estimate or a controlled comparison.
What the couple tracked in a regular week
In a story published by The Cool Down on October 7, 2026, James Nanzo reported figures shared by Tyson and Alicia of T&A: Live for Today, a Canadian household with a Silverado EV and an Optiq. The couple said they tracked a regular week of driving and charging.
| Vehicle | Reported distance | Reported charging cost | Driving described |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chevrolet Silverado EV | About 120 miles | Under $9 | Mostly commuting to town and back |
| Cadillac Optiq | More than 400 miles | $25 | Included trips to the city |
The amounts are the couple’s reported charging costs for that week. The story does not give the tracking dates, electricity rate, charging method or measurement procedure, so the figures should not be treated as a standardized test. The source is The Cool Down’s October 7, 2026 article.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsWhat the gasoline comparison does—and does not—show
Tyson estimated that a gasoline vehicle would need to achieve more than 75 miles per gallon to match the Silverado EV’s reported operating cost, and more than 85 mpg to match the Optiq’s. Those are his estimates as relayed by the article. It does not provide the inputs behind the calculations, such as fuel prices or the assumptions used to compare vehicles, so readers cannot independently reproduce them from the published details.
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The story therefore offers a snapshot of two vehicles in one household, not proof that EVs always cost less to operate than gasoline vehicles. The comparison cannot be generalized to other drivers, regions or weeks from the information provided.
How solar changes this household’s calculation
The couple said their solar generation was sufficient to power their vehicles, and that charging costs and break-even calculations were largely meaningless to them. That is a statement about their home, not a general finding about solar economics. The article gives no solar-system size, output, installation cost, electricity tariff or details about how charging energy was allocated.
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For a different household, the cost of driving on solar power depends on factors the story does not establish, including whether the electricity is surplus, whether using it for a vehicle displaces another use, and how exported electricity is credited. This account does not show that installing solar will pay for itself or make EV driving free.
Why another driver may get a different result
Weekly charging costs depend on conditions absent from the report: the distance and route driven, each vehicle’s energy use, charging losses, home versus public charging, the local electricity tariff and the price of gasoline. Solar output and compensation for exported electricity can also vary by location and time. The article supplies no province or utility territory, vehicle trims, charger model, fuel-price assumptions or calculation details.
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Those gaps matter because the reported totals cannot be converted into a dependable per-mile rate or applied to a reader’s own commute. The story’s broader point that electricity costs can be more predictable than gasoline is contextual; it is not a quantified comparison for a specified jurisdiction.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to use the example
Read the figures as an illustration of what one Canadian household said it spent over one week, with solar shaping its own economics. They can prompt useful questions about your own charging setup, but do not answer them. To estimate costs for a particular driver, a like-for-like comparison would need distance and routes, vehicle energy use and charging losses, the applicable electricity rate, gasoline price and comparable fuel efficiency, and the value of any solar electricity used or exported.
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The article names no charger or solar installer and does not review or recommend equipment. It reproduces the couple’s caption describing a “regular week of use,” but that wording does not establish an independent test protocol.
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