AUTONEWS

ADAC: Electric cars are generally more expensive to drive than petrol and diesel cars

Every day, more and more affordable electric cars are on the market, and their prices, unlike petrol and diesel cars, are falling. But what about the overall costs?

The German automobile club ADAC has calculated which type of drive is the cheapest by comparing the costs of electric cars, plug-in hybrids and cars with internal combustion engines, and the truth is quite sad for electric cars.

In April, ADAC experts carried out a major analysis of all driving costs to calculate whether it is worth switching to an electric car or a plug-in hybrid. The result is quite unfavorable for the "green" alternatives. If you take into account all the costs of a car, from the purchase price, to operating and maintenance costs, to depreciation, petrol or diesel cars are generally at an advantage, depending on the model.

As Jutarnji.hr reports, although the prices of new electric cars tend to fall, electric cars are still more expensive than vehicles with internal combustion engines, which affects depreciation and thus the overall costs. The increased costs of charging at public chargers and the currently quite moderate prices of gasoline and diesel also contribute to the fact that internal combustion cars are more cost-effective.

Unlike internal combustion cars, where ADAC calculated the costs using average fuel prices over the past three months, the electricity costs for electric cars depend largely on individual factors. For example, someone who charges almost exclusively at home, has their own photovoltaic system and possibly uses a dynamic household electricity tariff will have much lower energy costs than someone who cannot charge privately and depends only on public charging infrastructure with currently high tariffs.

ADAC therefore carried out four different cost calculations based on different electricity prices and compared gasoline, diesel, plug-in hybrid and electric versions. The electricity costs are based on 18 cents/kWh for charging via the vehicle's own photovoltaic system (as it is not always possible to count on the electricity from the photovoltaic system, depending on the weather), 35 cents if the vehicle is charged at home using the "normal" domestic electricity tariff, and 45 cents for a scenario in which charging is mainly done at home, but occasionally in a public place. ADAC also assumes 60 cents per kWh in the case of an electric car using only public electricity.

With an electricity price of 60 cents/kWh, electric cars are not at all price-competitive compared to cars with internal combustion engines. In only 16 percent of the models tested, driving an electric car is cheaper than driving a diesel or petrol car. Assuming an electricity price of 45 cents, 22 percent of electric cars win the cost comparison, and at a price of 35 cents, this figure is 28 percent. Even those who count on the lowest electricity prices of 18 cents/kWh usually drive more expensively than owners of cars with internal combustion engines. And at this electricity price, electric cars only win in 36 percent of cases.

The ADAC concludes that only when electricity costs and the purchase price of electric cars fall will electric cars be able to compete better in terms of overall costs and profitability.

You can see the detailed results of this comparison with specific models on the Adac.de website.

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