Updated 18 Aug 23 and the ROI looks even worse !
Ignoring all the good things about going Green what are the current economics of choosing between Petrol/Diesel and Electric Cars ?
I drive a 6 year old Volvo XC60 that I have owned since new - so were I to replace this it would likely be with an XC40 or XC60 Recharge. A PHEV rather than electric only given the distance to the kids houses, the M25 parking lot and my range anxiety.
The majority of my miles are daily trips to the golf club (a 15 mile round journey) I can safely assume that roughly 5,500 of my 9,000 miles per year would be within electric range of even a modest 10kWh battery.
The additional motor and battery will add roughly 360Kg to the cars weight and that will reduce pure gas mileage by 10% to 15% - so the 3,500 non electric miles will be less efficient, say 34 mpg versus the current 38 mpg average. But conversely the electric mileage is replacing the current higher consumption miles, being the multiple small journeys, when a diesel engine is at it's most inefficient cold and stop starting. So these two costs would probably cancel each other out.
Buying a new luxury car in the UK, i.e. anything with a list price when new of £40K or more (and all Volvo electric cars are therefore a luxury) attract a 5 year tax surcharge penalty of £390 per year above that of the normal petrol/deisel car tax. So a new car would cost another £1,950 to run over 5 years. A 3 year old used car would attract £780 extra Tax. But this is the same for both Gas and Electric Volvo's (But not say for a Ford which cost less).
Finally there is the extra cost of installing an electric Charge Point at home. In the UK this is typically costs around £1,000
The current plug-in electric cost per mile works out at 11.3 pence per mile (based on the manufacturers estimated range and battery size 2.84 miles per KWh and electricity costs of 35 pence per KWh, after current government subsidy). Given that manufacturers mileage ranges are notoriously optimistic this is probably a best can do figure.
The fuel cost for Diesel is roughly 18.6 pence per mile (based on 155p/litre and 38mpg, I love the British use of mixed units)
Therefore the electric saving is the difference of the costs per mile or roughly 7.3 pence per mile. So for 5,500 miles is roughly £402 per year, just 3 Starbucks more than the extra luxury car tax costs).
Basic XC60 price delta for Electric vs Diesel new is (£49,900-£40,350) = £9,550 giving a time to break even new = (£9,950+£1,000)/£402 = 27 years
Basic XC60 price delta Electric vs Diesel at 3 years old is (39,900-35,500) = £4,400 giving a time to break even used = (4,400+1,000)/£402 = 13.4 years
I doubt that I will still be driving a car in 13 years time....
XC40 Option
The XC40 is relatively cheaper.
According to carwow.com it has a 10.7 KWh battery that is rated for around 28 miles that is 2.61 miles per KWh or 13.4 pence per mile. They also state that 30mpg is the typical petrol mileage at a cost of £1.50p per litre that is 17.9p per mile
So 9,000 at 18.6p less 5,500 miles at 13.4p less 3,500 at 17.9p is an annual saving of £310.50p when compared to the XC60's diesel.
This "saving" is less than the extra Tax Charges on an Inscription model....