Electric car owners celebrate August 1 as ‘average gas bill exceeds electric vehicle charging costs for the calendar year’
Electric car owners celebrate August 1 as ‘average gas bill exceeds electric vehicle charging costs for the calendar year’
- It is estimated that EVs today are ‘free to drive’ compared to petrols
- The calculation is based on the cost for an average annual mileage of 7,400 miles
Electric car drivers across Britain are said to be celebrating today.
That’s because August 1 marks the date when the cost of fueling a gasoline car exceeds the electric bill for charging an electric car for the calendar year, according to a company operating in the electric sector.
It estimates that the average electric car owner pays £740 a year in charging costs – and drivers of petrol-powered cars will have earned the same amount on fuel vouchers today.
The electric car scheme has calculated that today is the date petrol car drivers have spent as much on fuel bills as what electric vehicle owners pay to charge their vehicles all year
Today, it’s said to be the crossroads where EV owners “ride for free” compared to those who own petrol cars, says The Electric Car Scheme — a company that helps motorists access government tax breaks for sacrificing EVs.
It has dubbed August 1 “Electric Car Day” because it “underscores how much cheaper electric cars are, with the average EV driver essentially getting five months of free driving.”
The bold claim comes after it crunched the annual fuel cost figures for the average British driver to travel 7,400 miles a year (the national average in 2019).
The calculation is based on the average price of petrol so far this year (146.26 pa litres) and a vehicle returning 38.8 mpg, bringing the total annual fuel bill to £1,268.
For the cost of running an electric car, it used a figure of 0.10 pence per mile for electricity, which – to cover 7,400 miles – would bring the annual cost to £740. This is based on the assumption that an EV owner only connects his car at home at a cost of 34 p/kWh.
That worked the average petrol car will cost £3.47 a day in 2023, meaning an owner would have spent £740 on 1 August.
However, the numbers can be questioned.
While the vast majority of EV owners today use home chargers to top up their car batteries, the increased cost of using public devices is overlooked, especially when making longer journeys and the increased cost of highway services .
Although EV drivers can also claim that there are special electricity rates for EVs where the cost of off-peak charging is much lower than the price cap of 34p/kWh.
The calculation is based on the average price of petrol so far this year (146.26 pa litres) and the average cost per kilometer for electricity of 0.10 pence. It found that the average petrol car will cost £3.47 a day in 2023, with £740 spent on August 1
With fuel prices changing by the day and electricity costs also subject to inflation and deflation, the date the company says the transfer point arrives is not static.
For example, when fuel prices in the UK were higher a year ago, the date electric vehicle owners would drive for free was from 7 July.
And with the AA reporting today that both petrol and diesel prices are rising again, it suggests EV owners could reap the benefits of cheaper ‘fuel’ costs sooner than August 1.
Thom Groot, CEO of Electric Car Scheme, said: ‘The next time you pull into a gas station to fill up your car, take a moment to think about how much you’ve already spent on petrol this year.
“If you were driving an electric car, that money you’ve already spent would be your total fuel cost for the year, but instead you’ll have to put a lot more money in your gas tank before the year is out.”
“And we’re not even talking about the emissions that come out of your exhaust.”
However, he adds that the calculation does not take into account the upfront premium associated with buying an electric car instead of one with an internal combustion engine.
Today, the price difference of a new electric family car compared to an equivalent petrol car is around £10,000. Given that the Electric Car Scheme has calculated that the annual price difference in annual ‘fuel’ costs is £528, it would take almost 19 years of cheaper charging to recoup this difference using the basic calculation.
Edmund King, chairman of the AA, added: ‘The data is clear: it is much cheaper to drive an electric car than one that runs on petrol or diesel, and that difference is likely to widen in the coming years .
“EVs continue to be more expensive than petrol cars up front, but prices are falling, so I advise everyone to find out if an EV is a better deal for them financially and environmentally in the long run.”
