How much is your EV costing you to run?

How much is your EV costing you to run?

Author
Discussion

OutInTheShed

7,672 posts

27 months

Wednesday 8th June 2022
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Ransoman said:
Folks, can you please include finance or lease costs as otherwise your cost breakdowns are very misleading.

It's great that your tesla model 3 is costing you 6p per mile but how much is that when you factor in the purchase price?
Depends what you want to know.

There's three main elements of cost for a vehicle,
1 the capital cost of buying it or leasing it or whatever and just having it sat there.
2 the fixed annual costs like year-based depreciation, insurance, MoT etc
3 the cost of each mile. That's fuel and wear-based repairs, mileage based depreciation.

Sometimes I want to know what's my total yearly cost for 10k miles, sometimes I want to know what does it cost to drive to Cumbria given that I'm already committed to owning the vehicle.

You can look at it many ways, if the Tesla is leased, then maybe up to a mileage limit, the cost of an extra trip is really just the electricity. But then go over your limit it's how many p per mile?

But unless everyone's looking at it the same way, we might as well be listening to Boris?

Just tell us raw information. So many miles per kWh, and how many of you have had significant repair or servicing costs? Please?

dmsims

6,539 posts

268 months

Wednesday 8th June 2022
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Amateurish said:
You're right, if you can arrange all of your electricity usage between 1am and 4am then my argument is "nonsense".

However, in the real world that's not actually how people live their lives.
Did complete any form of education?

Appliances come with a built in timer (even our 18 year old Bosch washing machine has one)

Tariffs can start at other times (mine starts at 8.30pm)

M4cruiser

3,657 posts

151 months

Wednesday 8th June 2022
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NDA said:
dmsims said:
M4cruiser said:
^ ^ Have you forgotten Depreciation, which is £1 per hour whether you're using the car or not ...
Custard time - please show me one for £40K that's a year old..............................
My Tesla is worth more than I paid for it - so it's going the other way. smile
Short term there are rapid / unusual fluctuations in both directions, but long term they lose money.
The past 18 months have been very odd with everything going up, but they will crash down again at some point.

I normally work on 15% or 20% per year. So a car that's say £60,000 new will be, in each successive year, £48,000, £38,000, £31,000, £25,000, £20,000, and after 6 years it's worth £16,000. It's not an exact science.
But with electric cars the technology gets out of date, and the new ones are much more desirable.

.

Maracus

4,243 posts

169 months

Wednesday 8th June 2022
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M4cruiser said:
and the new ones are much more desirable.
......and expensive hehe

NDA

21,615 posts

226 months

Wednesday 8th June 2022
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M4cruiser said:
But with electric cars the technology gets out of date, and the new ones are much more desirable.
My Bentley, which I bought new, lost a ton of cash in the first year - every year actually. My EV is going up in value and seems like it will hold its value reasonably well when it does start depreciating at some point.

I am not clear on what tech is going out of date on my Tesla. Its software keeps being updated - apart from that, it's a screen, 4 wheels and a battery.

M4cruiser

3,657 posts

151 months

Wednesday 8th June 2022
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Maracus said:
M4cruiser said:
and the new ones are much more desirable.
......and expensive hehe
Doesn't necessarily work that way all the time. Nissan Leaf was £30K in 2012, now you can still get a new one for £30K, which has 2.5 times the range on a charge..
The "government discount" confuses the picture though.
10-year old Leafs are about £7K, but 2 years ago they were £5K.

M4cruiser

3,657 posts

151 months

Wednesday 8th June 2022
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the-photographer said:
Amateurish said:
My Leaf costs about 7p / mile to charge, based on the standard price cap electricity price. Presumably this will go up to about 10p / mile in the autumn.
I'm brand new to electric, so for my first dummy question. Can I use your 10p / mile estimate for any EV with any battery capacity?

I'm on the standard tariff and consider the switch to a Mini EV with a 32Kw battery, average miles a week 120.

Thanks
There's a big flaw in the argument there!
If your electricity is (say) 25p per kwh, then any EV will charge at 25p per kwh. But they don't all cost the same to run.
Any petrol car can be filled for £1.80 per litre, whether a Corsa or a Jaguar. But the Jag will drink more of it per mile.
A large EV will use more of its stored electricity per mile.



LordGrover

33,549 posts

213 months

Wednesday 8th June 2022
quotequote all
The simplest way to guesstimate cost to run (fuel only) is to divide the price per kW (e.g. 5p/kW) by the car's economy (e.g. 4.0 miles/kWh) - that is roughly what I'm paying.

5 / 4 = 1.25 p/mile

NB My i3 is relatively economical averaging 3.9 mi/kW over a year, and I'm on a decent tariff as I signed up last June, before it all went tits up.

A more realistic cost with tariffs available today would be more like 15p/kW

15 / 4 = 3.75 p/mile

OutInTheShed

7,672 posts

27 months

Wednesday 8th June 2022
quotequote all
NDA said:
My Bentley, which I bought new, lost a ton of cash in the first year - every year actually. My EV is going up in value and seems like it will hold its value reasonably well when it does start depreciating at some point.

I am not clear on what tech is going out of date on my Tesla. Its software keeps being updated - apart from that, it's a screen, 4 wheels and a battery.
The updating software would concern me when it gets old.

We've all had 'screens' which keep updating until one day they don't work any more.

TheRainMaker

6,344 posts

243 months

Wednesday 8th June 2022
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Here are the costs for mine, this all goes through the company.


the-photographer

3,486 posts

177 months

Wednesday 8th June 2022
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LordGrover said:
The simplest way to guesstimate cost to run (fuel only) is to divide the price per kW (e.g. 5p/kW) by the car's economy (e.g. 4.0 miles/kWh) - that is roughly what I'm paying.

5 / 4 = 1.25 p/mile

NB My i3 is relatively economical averaging 3.9 mi/kW over a year, and I'm on a decent tariff as I signed up last June, before it all went tits up.

A more realistic cost with tariffs available today would be more like 15p/kW

15 / 4 = 3.75 p/mile
Thanks!

Separating running/operating costs from purchase costs, the Mini EV would be

30 / 4 = 7.00 pence/mile

120 miles per week * 7.00 = £8.40 per week or £440 per year

Compared to petrol £2.00 litre * 50 = £100 per month or £1200 per year

Tyres = about the same
Servicing = reduced but not eliminated
Insurance = assuming about the same

That just leaves the cost of change, in my case the running costs savings only reduce that by a small amount because I currently have an eleven year old car worth under £10,000

NDA

21,615 posts

226 months

Wednesday 8th June 2022
quotequote all
OutInTheShed said:
The updating software would concern me when it gets old.

We've all had 'screens' which keep updating until one day they don't work any more.
While you're waiting to get comfortable with the idea of technology, you're missing out on pretty substantial savings.

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

55 months

Wednesday 8th June 2022
quotequote all
LordGrover said:
The simplest way to guesstimate cost to run (fuel only) is to divide the price per kW (e.g. 5p/kW) by the car's economy (e.g. 4.0 miles/kWh) - that is roughly what I'm paying.

5 / 4 = 1.25 p/mile

NB My i3 is relatively economical averaging 3.9 mi/kW over a year, and I'm on a decent tariff as I signed up last June, before it all went tits up.

A more realistic cost with tariffs available today would be more like 15p/kW

15 / 4 = 3.75 p/mile
Pleeeeeease, it’s a kWh not a kW.

Toaster Pilot

14,621 posts

159 months

Thursday 9th June 2022
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Amateurish said:
The problem with Octopus Go (as someone else said upthread) is that you are paying more for your daytime electricity. So you can't just say 7.5p/kW = 2p/mile.

The additional cost for electricity for the other 20 hours per day is 7p/kWh. Average electricity usage for a household is 10 kWh / day, so we are looking at 70p a day extra costs, or about £5 a week. For 120 miles a week, this adds about 4p / mile to the cost of your electric vehicle. So now your 2p / mile rises to 6p / mile. Which is very similar to my 7p on the standard tariff.
It does actually average out pretty favourably if you shift some other stuff to run during the Go window, depending on how heavy your usage is of course.

The biggest problem that the “omg 1p/mile” crowd forget to mention is that 28kWh a night might not be enough if you’re covering a decent daily mileage!

JonnyVTEC

3,006 posts

176 months

Thursday 9th June 2022
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Comparing a TV to car charging is pretty comical.

More during the day? Not from wha I’ve seen. All tariffs are horrendous at mo. Although I’m pretty smug currently as I’ve been renewed on my go Faster tarrif. 13.4p peak and 5.5p between 20:30-01:30. I’ve even got a timer on the immersion heater now as electricity is cheaper than gas and even the wife has worked out the dishwasher timer and use to only use at those times…

Over the 22k in my IPACE it’s worked out 2.7p/mile real energy use from home and public (ie grid power rather than what the car reports). Most cars around 85-90% efficient chargers at 32A and it drops at lower speeds (consider that granny chargers wink)

georgeyboy12345

3,524 posts

36 months

Thursday 9th June 2022
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Island Hermit said:
What make or model do you have?
What is your usage like? For example, 10 miles a day or 100 miles a week.
How much does it cost you to charge? For example, overnight off my solar charged power wall it’s free. Or, 12 hours overnight and a couple of quid. Public chargers etc.
For you torque monsters out there are your tyres costing you more annually?
Any other hidden costs? Given there are no oil changes.

Breakdown your answer however you like. I am trying to get an idea of what the savings might be. Although it is a given that ‘leccy’ is costing more.

We’ll all be forced to go electric one day it feels. I have decided after 30 years of driving it’s time to go electric for my next car.

My current daily is a Mercedes W205 220d with a larger capacity fuel tank. I can net 600-800 miles on a tank. Mainly long journeys a few times a month. About 200-300 miles to make an appearance at HQ which is not served well by public transport.

I am hoping this thread can inform my decision.
My shortlist is the BMW i4 and Tesla Model 3.
Wildcard being: Ford Mach-E

Cheers


Mercedes W205 C220d
Standard diesel with the odd v power tank: £1,400 a year
Maintenance: About £600 a year on average (Service A/B etc.)
Insurance: £300 a year
Road “fund” license: £520 a year up from £450
Total: £2,820 a year (approximately).

Edited by Island Hermit on Friday 3rd June 07:22


Edited by Island Hermit on Friday 3rd June 07:23
Using your format

Audi A3 etron PHEV

Annual petrol cost £400
Annual electricity cost £360 charging at home on £18p/kwh
Maintenance is £200 a year on an annual service
Insurance is £400 a year
RFL £0
Total £1360 a year

Annual mileage last year was around 8000, mostly short <10 mile journeys


Edited by georgeyboy12345 on Thursday 9th June 08:30

ChocolateFrog

25,470 posts

174 months

Thursday 9th June 2022
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We charge just off our standard rate and with no solar so with the price increases that's going to work out at about 7-8p per mile.

We're with Octopus though so really need to pull my finger out and get set up on Octopus Go, which for our usage should mean all the charging can be done at 7.5p/kwh giving 2p per mile.

It's an ID3, salary sacrifice lease at £220pm but that covers everything including insurance.

Uncle boshy

267 posts

70 months

Thursday 9th June 2022
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i've got an e-golf and had it for two years

like many others i'm on Octopus GO @7.5p a Kwh vs day rate of 30p (which was 2p per kWh higher than the standard i was offered at renewal)
- was 5p when i first had the car.

97% of charging done at home.

averaged 4.2 miles per kWh, 9k miles a year
= electric cost of circa £160 a year - i've put in about £40 on top of that for charging away from home, so say £200 total
Extra electricity cost for the house from being on higher day rate is around £120

so net, net my electricity usage has gone up around £320 per year total (car + house)

in my case it's a company car, so lease costs a little less comparable,. the internal lease cost was fractionally higher for an equivalent spec petrol golf (1.5tsi SE), but more or less the same
- big saving for me was company car tax, approx £3000 a year.

service was £126 after two years - in reality this was just a very expensive car wash, but cheaper than the cost of a petrol golf 2 year service

just had front tyres changed at 17k miles, standard cost, nothing especially different there

the petrol golf would be around 43mpg
- for similar miles that would give a fuel cost of £1760 based on petrol at our garage this morning of £1.85












LordGrover

33,549 posts

213 months

Thursday 9th June 2022
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One little bonus; I still get 40p/mile for business mileage. Not a fortune as I only do a few hundred miles a month, but even so... worth having.

_Mja_

2,182 posts

176 months

Thursday 9th June 2022
quotequote all
Interesting thread, I thought I would compare some of the numbers to what my diesel car has cost me over the last 9 years. Unfortunately my cost includes the capital depreciation of the car as well all other costs but I average 34 pence per mile over the last 90,000 miles or an average of 14 pence on fuel use alone. Those pence per mile costs are set to go up I would assume from here on as the diesel average price increases and so does this risk of maintenance, of which I have only needed to do annual servicing, tyres, first set of brakes and a cambelt and waterpump.

I wonder if I can switch to an electric car of equivalent style - family estate, leather etc for less money?

Purchase price = £15,500 (6mths old)
Miles covered = 90,000
Ownership = 9 yrs
Long term MPG = 45mpg
Gallons used = 2000
Litres used = 9092

Insurance and tax = £3240
Fuel Cost over 8 years = £12,274.44
Maintenance inc tyres = £4310

Car value today = £4500

Total Costs £30824

Cost per mile = 34p
Cost per mile (fuel only) = 14p

Total Cost per year = £3424.94

Total Cost per month = £285

Can I lease or buy something for around £240 per month to allow of consumables and electricity that is equiv - family estate, leather, xenons, nav, nice alloys etc. Needs to be big enough for family of 4 and dog. I'll go check but will be interesting to see what thet tipping point is for where an Electric car becomes good value for me over my old diesel.

I have 3 x fun cars so the family car just needs to be good value and keep money available for restorations etc etc.