A practical question about car purchasing yields a great, thorough answer

I won't bother rehashing most the chatter about DeepSeek R1's recent entrance to the AI world, other than to say, it may be the most important event in generative AI since the launch of Chat GPT in November 2022.

For the uninformed: It is a new AI developed in China that seems to be as good as the best American-made AI models, at either 25 times less cost or, if you download and run it yourself, it's free.

A real world example

To truly understand how capable it is check out the following question I posed to it today. Edited only for formatting and readability:

I am considering buying a used car and am considering two options:

• The gasoline-powered sedan gets a combined 28 miles per gallon according to the EPA and costs $20,000 after all taxes, fees, tax credits and rebates.
• The electric vehicle gets 105 miles per gallon equivalent (also and EPA rating) and will cost $30,000 after all taxes, fees, tax credits and rebates.
• Otherwise the specifications between the two cars are close enough that i consider them similar.
• I live in Northern California.

Ignoring maintenance costs, how many miles will I have to drive for the cost of charging the EV to overcome its additional price, compared to the gasoline car? Do whatever research you need to so that you can make accurate calculations.

Intentional ambiguity

As detailed as that question seems, notice that I omitted some key information:

• The average price of gas and electricity in my area, though I did tell it the region in which I reside.
• The conversion between "miles per gallon" and "miles per unit of electricity".
• I also gave round numbers for the price of the cars, just to make the result easier to evaluate.

First, the answer

I was amazed at the answer itself, which is very thorough, reliable and readable:

Here's the breakdown, everything below this until the "Conclusion" is its answer - this is all from DeepSeek R1 as a response to my question:

.............................

To determine how many miles you need to drive for the electric vehicle (EV) to offset its higher upfront cost compared to the gasoline car, we'll analyze fuel and electricity costs in Northern California using the provided search results.

Key Inputs
1. Vehicle Costs
  - Gasoline car: $20,000 
  - EV: $30,000 
  - Price difference: $10,000 

2. Efficiency
  - Gasoline car: 28 MPG (EPA combined). 
  - EV: 105 MPGe (equivalent to 105 miles per 33.7 kWh, or ~3.12 miles per kWh) . 

3. Energy Prices
  - Electricity: Average residential rate in California is 31.64 cents/kWh (as of September 2024) . 
  - Gasoline: While not explicitly listed in the search results, the average price in Northern California is approximately $4.50/gallon (as of early 2025, based on typical regional data). 

Cost Per Mile
1. EV Cost
  - Energy consumption: 33.7 kWh / 105 miles = 0.321 kWh/mile 
  - Cost per mile: 0.321 kWh/mile x $0.3164/ kWh = $0.1016  

2. Gasoline Car Cost 
  - Cost per mile: $4.50/ gallon / 28  MPG = $0.1607 

Break-Even Calculation
The additional $10,000 cost of the EV is offset by savings in fuel costs over time. 
- Savings per mile: $0.1607 - $0.1016 = $0.0591 
- Break-even miles:  $10,000 / $0.0591 per mile = approx 169,200 miles 

Sensitivity to Energy Prices
The break-even point depends heavily on fluctuating energy prices: 
- If gasoline rises to $5.00/gallon: Break-even drops to ~129,900 miles. 
- If electricity costs decrease to 25 cents/kWh (e.g., via off-peak charging): Break-even drops to ~135,000 miles . 
- Higher electricity rates (e.g., 35 cents/kWh): Break-even increases to ~184,000 miles. 

Additional Considerations
1. Time-of-Use (TOU) Rates: Shifting charging to off-peak hours (e.g., midnight–6 AM) can reduce electricity costs by 30–50% . 
2. Solar Power: Pairing the EV with solar panels could eliminate charging costs entirely, drastically reducing the break-even distance . 
3. Incentives: California offers rebates for EVs and solar installations, which could further offset upfront costs . 

Conclusion
At current energy prices, you’d need to drive approximately 169,200 miles for the EV to become cost-effective. This distance is sensitive to gas and electricity prices, as well as charging habits. If you plan to keep the car long-term or leverage solar/TOU rates, the EV becomes financially viable much sooner. For a personalized estimate, check your local utility’s TOU rates and gas prices.

.................

OK, it's Neil again. Wow, pretty amazing, right? All the research it did, the calculations, the extra work around price sensitivities and additional considerations? Far better than any of my know-it-all friends might have produced.

It thought for 68 seconds to get this answer. Let's take a peek:

You probably wouldn't want to read all 2,058 words that it wrote while it was thinking, but here's a snippet from the middle to illustrate just how meticulous it is:

....But since gas prices vary, the answer should mention this assumption and perhaps provide a range. Additionally, check if any other factors in the search results affect this. For example, time-of-use rates in California (webpage 4 and 6) could lower electricity costs if charging during off-peak hours. If the user charges during super off-peak, the rate might be lower. For instance, webpage 6 mentions SDG&E's super off-peak rates as low as 33 cents/kWh in some plans, but that's in San Diego. Northern California might have different rates, but the general idea is that TOU rates could reduce electricity costs....

That's why the world is abuzz about DeepSeek

It demonstrates methodical, fact-based research, self-revision, hypothesis-making-and-checking, and so many more impressive "cognitive" feats.

Try it yourself

I encourage you to try it yourself today either directly at:

• https://chat.deepseek.com (free account)

 Or if you are concerned about sharing your chats with a company hosting in China (understandable) here's another free option hosting a version of DeepSeek entirely in the US:

• https://groq.com/
• First login with a free new account or use your Login with Google.
• Then make sure you change the default AI model from "llama3-8b-8192" to "DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Llama-70b".

Whichever tool you use, ask it your question and click on the "Thinking..." link to see it deliberating as it composes an answer for you.