At present the sales of electric cars are in full growth, although their number could be much higher. The main brake is the belief that its cost is higher. But according to the data, although the purchase price is usually higher, the cost of ownership is already lower. And over the years this difference will only increase.
This is demonstrated by a study that has come to the conclusion that even if the purchase price indicates that the electric one is more expensive, this is usually cheaper than a combustion engine model in the long run.
Of course, many variables must be taken into account. Both the cost of the vehicle, its operating expenses, government aid… Data taken into account by the experts of the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems Research and Innovation, which also included the resale value of cars or the impact of other aspects such as insurance and taxes.
An electric car is already cheaper than a diesel or gasoline
If you just look at energy costs, electric cars have long had a clear advantage over models powered by a combustion engine. Even taking into account the high electricity prices reached last year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The gap between electric and combustion ones widens the longer the vehicle ownership lasts. Something that warns us that formulas used up to now, such as leasing, might not have the same meaning with respect to combustion ones when we talk about electric cars and their long useful life, low maintenance and the savings that they offer us precisely in the long term. An important aspect for administrations, which are not subject to factors such as image to change their vehicles.
This increasingly pronounced difference in costs is due to the fact that according to the Fraunhofer Institute, energy prices tend to be increasingly cheaper in the case of electricity due to the expansion of renewable energywhile on the other hand the fuels for thermal engines will become more expensive due to the increase in CO₂ prices.
This means that the current cost advantage is currently 2.22 euros for every 100 kilometers in favor of electric, taking into account the energy costs of Germany. A difference that will increase to more than 7.5 euros for 2037.
In the accounts, as always, there are different variables that can make the repayment terms very different.
For example, a customer who can charge at home will not be the same as another who has solar panels at home, or one who depends on public networks. The latter can see how the cost of each recharge becomes 42% higher than the first cases.
On the other hand, the vehicle segment also has its role. According to the study, average electric cars manage to amortize the difference compared to their combustion engine equivalents in just three years. For their part, urban models may need between five and eight years to achieve this.
The study offers us a practical example. For a client who Your vehicle will be at least 10 years old, acquisition costs represent approximately the same proportion of total costs in the long run, ie 63%. But with combustion engines, energy costs are more important: after ten years, they represent 19%, while for electric ones the figure is between 13 and 14%.
An average electric car, like the Tesla Model 3 Standard Rangehas a cost of ownership after 10 years of 66,303 euros, including operating and financing costs. For its part, a model with a gasoline engine, such as the Volkswagen Passat Variant 1.5 TSI OPF, will cost €77,524 after those same 10 years.
something that supposes an average saving of 11,221 euros, which will be higher for drivers with solar panels or special rates for electric cars, or lower for those who depend on public charging. A figure that, according to these data, will not stop increasing in the coming years with the foreseeable drop in electric prices.
