Car owners are feeling it more and more in the hip pocket. With petrol prices in Australian capital cities hovering just under the $2 per litre mark, it is costing most of us close to $80 to fill up our cars every week.
It seems unlikely that petrol prices are going to get cheaper anytime soon, which has many of us considering alternatives. As prices escalate, many of us are using our cars less. And while that is a good thing, generally, it does strip us of our mobility.
Is buying an electric car a way to offset the ongoing cost of owning a car? Just how realistic an option is it?
Putting the cost of powering your car aside, one of the benefits of the electric car is that they have fewer moving parts, which means they don’t need to be serviced as frequently. In the long-term, you will be buying fewer replacement parts.
It is estimated that the maintenance costs for a petrol car are approximately 7 cents per kilometre, whereas the cost of an EV is just 2 cents per kilometre. Through the life of a car, that can really add up.
There is no clear answer on how much it costs to charge an electric car as there are a lot of variables in place. The cost will largely depend on how you are charging the car and what size battery the car has. Also, if you have a solar battery at home, that can bring the cost down even further.
There are three types of chargers available to electric vehicle owners:
Level 1 – These chargers are the slowest. Usually when you buy a car it will come with a Level 1 charger. These are the slowest and can take between 8-40 hours (or more) to get a full charge off a home 240v socket. Charging this way will cost about $0.15 -0.30 per kWh
Level 2 – You can expect your car will be charged approximately two to four times faster than using a level 1 charger. Home level 2 chargers can also be purchased and installed, but for the convenience of the faster charge time, it will cost between $900-$2000 and that is before the cost of installation, which can double the expense. A charge like this will cost about $0.20 – $0.25 per kWh.
Level 3 – This is the fastest type of charger. Using a level 3 charger has the potential to deliver an 80% charge in a car. At 80%, a car battery’s management system will then throttle the speed of the charge in order to protect the health of the battery. This high speed charge is also the most expensive, costing about $0.30 – $0.60 per kWh.
To get a sense of what a full battery will cost, these are four of the most common electric vehicles, citing their range (ie how far the car can travel on a single full charge) and their battery capacity:
- Hyundai Ioniq Electric (290km / 38.3kWh): $7.66
- Nissan Leaf (385km / 60kWh): $12.00
- Hyundai Kona Electric (450km / 65kWh): $13.00
- Tesla Model 3 Long Range RWD (520km / 75kWh): $15.00
Quite clearly, it is considerably cheaper to run an electric car. But you still have to buy one first.
Considering the purchase of an electric car only really makes sense if you are already in the market to buy a car. As a relatively new product category, they’re still priced as luxury cars rather than everyday vehicles.
In Australia, we spend an average of $40,729 on new cars. For small cars, Australians are spending $26,150 on average, but for sedans we’re spending $44,557 and on SUVs $43,545.
The price of an electric car in Australia is slightly above the average of what we are spending elsewhere. Worth considering is that these prices reflect standard range vehicles. If you want a long range version of these vehicles, enabling you to travel much farther with a single charge, those costs are considerably higher.
This is what you can expect to pay for the same vehicles mentioned previously:
- Hyundai Ioniq 5 – prices start $71,900
- Nissan Leaf – prices start $49,990
- Hyundai Kona – prices start $59,990
- Tesla Model 3 – prices start $59,900
If the price of fuel is limiting you from travelling far from home and the price-tag of an EV is out of your budget, there are alternatives.
Public transport is an option if you’re in a metropolitan area – trains and buses are relatively inexpensive, plus they provide a great opportunity to sit down, relax, and enjoy reading the latest Our Generation magazine.
While an electric car might cost a bit too much, you may want to consider an electric bike. Priced between $2000-4000, they are a great way to get around. They require far less physical exertion than a regular bike, but have the benefits of a regular bike by getting you out and about. You can also buy a saddle bag and ride down to the local shops whenever you need a few things.
Just remember to stay alert on the bike and wear your helmet.
If you’re feeling adventurous, for about the same price as a bike, electric ride-on scooters are also great for zipping around your local suburb. Laws surrounding scooters are very different in every state, so keep that in mind before buying one.
