How much cheaper is an electric car to run?

[BewareTheBeardedDragon]

Totted up the monthly cost of running my 12yo diesel people carrier - all in. With astronomical fuel prices now and additional pollution levies it is about £550 per month.

My preference would be to just get rid if I had the choice but sadly this is not logistically possible for a good few years yet.

So I'm just idly wondering, excluding the cost of buying it, how much the running cost of an electric car would be? Including and tax, insurance, maintenance, and electric costs.

I probably drive approx 300 miles per month averaged out.

My DH does exactly that commute (well 150 miles!). He's currently in our E Niro (range of 280 miles) but also used an ID3 (range of 240 miles) for about 4 months. Both are absolutely fine for that commute. He normally has 20-30% battery remaining which is plenty to get to a charger to charge to get home.

We did have a Citroen E-C4 for a couple of months (range of 160 miles) but he wouldn't have taken this as the range just wasn't enough for his trip and we had an E Niro anyway.

We've also now got a Skoda Enyaq (range 240 miles) which he'd also happily take.

Even as a commuter who has to charge once a week using public chargers, DH still prefers an EV and doesn't want to go back to an ICE car. We would just be spending so much on fuel!

Also, EVs love stop start traffic because of the regenerative breaking so they actually love a bit of traffic. Not great for the person driving but it won't have much of a detrimental effect on your range!

He wouldnt be able to charge at work as he is either driving round all day to appointments or its left at random roads near where he works, he cant guarantee where he can find a space.

I thought I read that the ID3 (is that the bmw?) did about 170 odd miles?

Sorry getting muddled with the i3, too many cars with similar names!!

www.topgear.com/car-reviews/bmw/i3

I was looking into it but too expensive as I have low mileage plus I love driving manual so I'll be sticking to manual driving for as long as I can

Yeah the ID3 is a VW. It looks like a Golf.

If he does 160 miles in a day, he wouldn't need to charge with any of the cars that we have had (except the Citroen - wouldn't really recommend that one).

If you can have a home charger and he does high miles, I reckon you'd love an EV for the amount you'd save.

So cheap to charge at home. £14 a charge 280k on one charge, charge it like every 3 weeks for local driving. LOVE OUR ELECTRIC CAR!!

Overall cost of ownership of electric vehicles is significantly higher than ice due to the battery decline then replacement. Plus sadly there is a significant fatality risk with ev right now as if you wrap it round a tree the fire brigade can’t extinguish the fire. Never charge it near your home, as just like your iPhone the battery degrades and over heats. The older it is, the less miles you get on a charge. Thermal heat management is a critical element being worked.

two things you need with an ev,,,an escape plan if you crash it and an ability to charge it away from your home

the manufacturers are working hard now to resolve these issues. And in the next five years it will change.

but right now steer clear op.

Theres so much to take into account though because we normally pay about 5k for our cars so we never have any finance, that would have to be different if he got an electric car so would need to be less than the current amount of fuel he pays out for, bearing in mind that petrol might come down in cost at some point. Plus he only pays pennies for tax and very low insurance because the cars are so cheap

So as an example, I just did a quick search on auto trader, looked for all e cars over 200 mile range (second hand), cheapest ones are coming in at 15k and up, however this one below (the cheapest I could see that doesnt have a lease battery as we wouldnt want that either) says it takes 30 HOURS!!! to charge the battery

I dont understand the other measurement where it says it takes 7.5 hours at the supermarket either?

www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202205256070700?radius=1500&fuel-type=Electric&include-delivery-option=on&battery-range=OVER_200&advertising-location=at_cars&sort=price-asc&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used&postcode=br49hb&body-type=Hatchback&page=1&percentVehiclePriceDeposit=true

There are 3 different ways of charging:

3 pin plug - Often called a granny charger. It's not really recommended other than occasionally or emergencies. Some people will say that is what they use but it's really not the best or fastest way to charge. This is the 30 hour figure.

Type 2 - This is a home charger or some public chargers. This is the 7.5 hour figure.

Rapid chargers - These are public chargers. They cost the most but will charge your car the quickest. They can often charge it to 80% in about 30 minutes.

The hour figures are slightly misleading as they're calculated going from 0% to 100% which in reality you very rarely do. Most EV owners charge up to about 80% on a regular basis, 100% either once a month or when needed for longer journeys. We have cheap electricity for 4 hours a night so only really charge for a maximum of 4 hours. That would take our cars comfortably to be 80% on most occasions or DH's car to 100% from about 50-60%.

I see, it will take some thought to be honest, i suspect the home charger installation costs does it? Doesnt come with a second hand car?

The PCP rate for these cars is at nearly 10% and still leaves a huge chunk to pay at the end of the period, PLUS he wouldnt be able to drive his normal mileage, its capped at 10k miles a year, he does at least double that once other journeys are added in.

Its not looking affordable for us at the moment.

Does your or your partners work run a salary sacrifice scheme for EVs? Ive just ordered a Mini E through DHs work. £280 a month, 10,000 miles a year, all servicing included and also includes fully comp insurance.
I currently pay about £300 a month in diesel on my old car.

only slight hiccup is the long wait times for new cars.

agree with driving them though, like bloody go karts. HUGE fun.

I live in a terraced house on a (relatively) main road with just a general parking lay-by for parking. Nowhere to put a charge point and even if there was, no way to guarantee a spot near it. I’m getting the feeling that it’s a no-goer for me until they magic up magnetic chargers from road surfaces

I dont know thats worth asking. The problem will be the limit on mileage he does about 25k a year, all these finance deals which I keep seeing limit it at 10k a year

We also like to keep our cars for about 10 years (run them into the ground), so whatever is chosen we cant afford to replace in a few years.

Had our i3 for 6 years & done 106,000 miles - no battery degradation here (& we have the smallest i3 battery - max 80 miles in good weather so we watch them miles closely). Charge on our fast home charger overnight with the cabin preheated (& windows defrosted) & the battery prepped to go.

0 car tax. 5 p/kwh overnight charging slot with Octopus Go. Biannual servicing - brake pads, pollen filters & air-con gas check. Less moving parts to be subject to wear & tear than an ICE and massively less complicated than a hybrid (the worst of both worlds IMO).

No idea what @Fushiadreams

Is taking about - ICE cars are flammable too - that big tank of fuel burns will too. We all need an escape plan for car accidents - though humans aren't designed to decelerate from above 50mph whatever type of engine is propelling the vehicle.

Home charging is also fine - though different cars have different levels of battery management.

Plus it's SO fun to drive - nippy, responsive, quiet & not wasting fuel when sat in traffic. Test drive one & see

There were higher mileage options on salary sacrifice, obviously that will affect monthly costs, but it is overall a lot cheaper than a standard lease scheme if you don’t want to commit fully.

lease works for us, we needed a slightly more sensible second car for now but aren’t sure whether we’ll still need one in a few years time. Personally I’ve always liked the idea of a monthly cost and knowing that no matter what happens that’s all it will cost.

We’ve bought cars in the past that were a couple of years old that then went on to fail spectacularly and expensively just out of warranty. We were extremely unlucky. There was also a clause in DHs work contract about the age of the vehicle he can use so we have to keep something relatively new between for the odd occasion he needs to meet a client.

That's a lot in petrol! I drive 900 a month in a not particularly fuel efficient Peugeot 208 1.6 petrol car and only spend about £400. I also don't drive in a fuel efficient way! That's a very low MPG!

I’ve looked into going electric…currently drive an old Land Rover discovery which is worth nothing.

However the cost of buying an electric car is astronomical. 15k for a 10 year old one in most cases, I can’t have a tiny car and need a fairly decent size vehicle, I couldn’t find a lease for much less than £300 per month and those were for small cars.
I looked into the outlander PHEV but it only has a range of 25 miles before the petrol kicks in. What’s the point of that?

My car is ancient and I can’t afford £500 for a PCP or finance…so I’m destined to be crippled in fuel or finance, but either way crippled 🙁

This is all very outdated information and wrong.

The decpreciation on a Tesla is slower than a traditional car. The new batteries that are being produced now have very, very long lives, and might well outlast the chassis.

The fatality risk is nonsense. Yes, don't wrap your car around a tree. You shouldn't do that with a petrol car, either - petrol is flammable, too. Yes, Lithium battery fires are very hard to put out, but if you've damaged the car badly enough to breech the battery, chances are you are already in deep trouble. Also, many cars use LFP batteries these days, which are much more stable.

I also prefer a manual but was very pleasantly surprised when test driving the Audi Q4. It’s very responsive.

Mine is a 2l diesel, wide, long and high, which is almost always carrying at least 5 people plus luggage and/or equipment so probably a decent whack of weight to transport. I guess that affects the fuel cost. I try to drive as fuel efficiently as possible but most of the driving is city so not really helpful.

I don't disagree that EVs are expensive but just bare in mind that all used cars are astronomical at the moment. Last autumn we were looking at 3 year old family SUVs and estate ICE cars and they weren't much cheaper than the new versions. It's the market at the moment.

And therein lies the problem, if you want a load lugger/workhorse EVs are very expensive, the ones that are cheaper are small cars so only really good as second cars or just ones that people use for commuting, no good for larger families. We tow a caravan so will be buying a newer diesel for now which will take us for another few years and then we will evaluate. I am looking at EV to replace our small car for more local journeys but the boot is very small so not very practical for much else.