EV cost per mile?

k6chris

We are starting to do the sums on replacing an ICE car with an EV.  Trying to come up with a sensible planning figure for EV electricity costs in the real world.  Our best estimate is 4p, does that seem a reasonable planning figure?  Vast majority of charging will be at home, overnight.  How much should we budget for servicing??

Be gentle, new to all this!

Keep_pedalling

Really depends on the car and you electric rate. Currently getting around 1.5ppm from my ID3, charging on Octopus Go night rate at 5p kWh. How long these sort of rate will be available who knows. 

Car_54

I’d plan for electricity prices to double over the three years I’d keep the car.

Grumpy_chap

4 pence per mile is a sensible number - it is the number the Government permit to be used as the AMAP rate for fuel for company EV car drivers and they put a lot into to trying to reach a realistic number.

You will, of course, find people who get far lower results through only charging on solar or cheap rates electricity.  Conversely, if you are always charging at public chargers, then the costs will be much higher.

For servicing, it *should* be cheaper than an ICE but, for comparison to an ICE, it is probably reasonable to ignore the service costs.  Use the assumption that the service costs will be the same as ICE and you may then "win" and the calculation is simpler.

You can work up any kind of headache considering too many "what ifs" and need to find ways to simplify the calculations.

YBR

I agree that 4ppm is sensible. I think I estimated 3ppm 18 months ago charging at home on economy 7.
Servicing for my Nissan Leaf is £209 for a major, £159 for a minor. It is a bit cheaper but not massively

macman

However, the long term repair cost should be much lower: no gearbox, clutch, starter motor, water pump, alternator, oil pump, fuel pump, air and oil filters, exhaust system, cat, DPF, radiator...
Even if you allow for charging costs doubling, it's still half the typical cost of fueling an ICE car.

fred990

Why worry/think about the cost per mile? I've not looked into it myself but isn't it working out cheaper than petrol/diesel?

Herzlos

fred990 said:

Why worry/think about the cost per mile? I've not looked into it myself but isn't it working out cheaper than petrol/diesel?

It's almost certainly cheaper than petrol/diesel, but the difference may be important to the budget. I've known people who save so much in fuel it covers the monthly costs of the car, and some where it doesn't make much difference.

As for the cost, if you assume 3m/kwh (the lower end), then you just divide your kwh cost * 1.1 (to factor in inefficiencies in transfer and then divide by 3 to get the miles cost.

So say you're paying 20p/kwh (high for an EV owner), your worst case is about (20 * 1.1 ) / 3 = 7.3p/mile.
If you've got an EV appropriate tariff, then it may go at low as 5p/kwh, which would be about 1.8p/mile.

With diesel, you'll be lucky to get under 15p/mile.

ElefantEd

If you budget for 4p/mile you will almost certainly be pleasantly surprised. After 6 or 7 years of owning an EV and an ICE, cost per mile is about 10p more for the ICE in fuel. Maintenance is also typically less in an EV, there is simply less to go wrong  (e.g. no exhaust system).

BOWFER

Keep_pedalling said:

Really depends on the car and you electric rate. Currently getting around 1.5ppm from my ID3, charging on Octopus Go night rate at 5p kWh. How long these sort of rate will be available who knows. 

Worth pointing out to others that the Octopus Go rate of 5p is only for four hours per night (I have it too).
So on my 7KW charger, I'm getting a max of 28KW into my 40KW car.
Enough to do around 98 miles with my not-particularly-efficient driving.
Of course you can also run other stuff like dishwashers and washing machines during this cheap 4 hour period.
I went for 2030-0030

fred990

ElefantEd said:

If you budget for 4p/mile you will almost certainly be pleasantly surprised. After 6 or 7 years of owning an EV and an ICE, cost per mile is about 10p more for the ICE in fuel. Maintenance is also typically less in an EV, there is simply less to go wrong  (e.g. no exhaust system).

Not a huge saving then unless you're doing mega miles or have to go into a ulez type zone? Its probably what puts most people off without even looking at the purchase price! 

Sadly forcing people into ev's and scrapping perfectly good ice vehicles I don't see as a way to save mankind. Fuel should have been rationed for endless easy motoring decades ago.....degrowth is the answer, I'm sure Greta would agree!