One of the biggest incentives to switching to an EV (electric vehicle), claimed environmental benefits aside, is the reduction in running costs.
Of course the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, fuelled by increased energy prices, has meant that drivers of EVs and ICE cars alike are taking a bigger hit to the wallet, but inflated fuel costs are still battering owners of the latter harder than those of the former.
This is particularly true when it comes to charging from home, where electricity prices are lower than you’ll typically pay at a public charging station. This is particularly relevant when you consider that more than 90% of EV drivers do most of their charging domestically.
Not only does this allow them to access energy more cheaply, it means they can leave home each morning with a ‘full tank’, having topped-up overnight when electricity should be at its cheapest.
Yet there’s no denying the gap between running an EV and an ICE machine is narrowing, a situation that’s not helped by the much higher initial purchase price of an electric car over it’s fossil fuel-fired equivalent - as an example, you’ll pay £11,000 more for a battery-powered Peugeot e-208 compared to an otherwise identical petrol version.
Then there’s the increased cost of using the network of public chargers, with some of the rapid DC units that can add as much as 80% battery capacity in well under half an hour costing drivers nearly as much as filling the tank of a traditional ICE machine. Of course, there are cheaper options, but they’re not as quick and usually not as conveniently located.
So, with the UK Government still planning to ban the sale of all pure ICE cars by 2030, and various global events continuing to rock energy markets, it’s more important than ever to take a deep dive into the costs of charging an EV.
So, here’s Autocar’s complete guide to doing just that.
How much will it cost to charge my car at home?
As we’ve already seen, the vast majority of EV drivers plug-in at home where it’s not only cheaper, it’s far more convenient as it allows you to start everyday with a fully charged car. Obviously it depends on the car you’re charging and your electricity supplier’s tariff, but even with the recent hikes in electricity prices, you will still be saving cash on every refill compared with a traditional petrol or diesel car.
For example, when plugging in a 64kWh Kia e-Niro with a claimed 281-mile range, it should cost around £20 for a full charge, based on the current average cost of 34p per kWh (according the Government's Energy Price guarantee as of the first quarter of 2023).
Now, that’s a lot more expensive than a year or two ago when off-peak tariffs were as little as 12p per kWh, but based on the car’s claimed range of 285 miles, then twenty quid isn’t bad for a tankful - you’d expect to pay around a third more to fuel an equivalent petrol hatchback over the same distance.
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I pay 7.5p per kWh on Intelligent Octopus. Costs me less than 2p per mile to drive a car that performs better than the most exotic petrol cars I've owned. A no brainier if you can stump for the up front costs
bol, agreed, I'm om this tariff too, it's 52 miles round trip to work, yesterday cost me £1.07, great stuff
Yeah, but what never report is that your 'day rate' and your standing charge on this taffif is about 25% higher than normal, so all in all, you don't really save as much as you think.
Good research vertigo, I suspect the BEV fuel cost for the majority of 10k mileage users is between £200 and £400 a year.
EV is running at 3.6 miles per kWh (278 Wh/mi), which is my i3S's overall average. You'll get similar in a Model 3 or most compact/medium hatchbacks. Petrol price is current average of £1.37/litre.
£2,491: petrol at 25mpg.
£2,076: petrol at 30mpg.
£1,917: EV charging at Ionity rapids with no subscription (most expensive way to charge, 69p/kWh).
£1,557: petrol at 40mpg.
£1,246: petrol at 50mpg.
£1,038: petrol at 60mpg.
£972: EV charging at BP Pulse rapids with contactless payment (most common rapid, 35p/kWh).
£433: EV home-charging at my daytime electricity rate (15.59p/kWh).
£193: EV home-charging at my overnight electricity rate (5p/kWh).
£0: EV charging at the cheapest public destination chargers: mostly Pod Point, Tesla, ZeroNet or ChargePlace Scotland.
Personally the vast majority (~90%) of my charging is on the overnight rate, with an occasional half-kWh of the daytime rate when pre-heating the cabin. I use free destination chargers when shopping in cities or staying at hotels (roughly once a month), and have used 25-39p/kWh rapids three or four times in the last year. Never used an Ionity, due to pricing.
At those rates and assuming it costs 10k more for an electric car, payback is around 7 years.
You also have to factor in the greater depreciation of electric cars so there is little economic advantage at the moment.
Absolutely true. No real cost savings at all - it's all smoke'n'mirrors.