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The energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine is in full swing, especially since the first of October and only to hit again even harder next April. That’s according to the latest forecasts and before Prime Minister Liz Truss at the beginning of last month announced that she would cap bills at £2,500 for at least the next two years – still double what was paid last year. How does all this affect the owners of an electric car?
EVs are still in high demand – but the crisis takes its toll
According to a recent study by the online platform Zap-Map, the number of electric cars on British roads has multiplied steadily and extremely positively since 2016. Well over half a million electric cars can now be found – and the trend is, luckily, still rising. We are now so far into the development, that even pre-loved EVs from brands such as Lexus, VW, BMW etc are on the market and allow more and more households to financially afford one. And yet, as a nationwide poll suggests, the broad majority of 63% of asked Brits are putting off getting an environmentally friendly EV, due to the current crisis. An unfortunate movement spawned by unfortunate grievances in other parts of the world – but how much can be expected in the upcoming months, and can the fear be validated?
Charging will be more expensive, but still cheaper than fuel
A full charge of an electric car currently costs an average of £18.37 with the home rate and will rise to around £33.80. Almost a doubling at 80%! And RAC spokesperson Rod Dennis emphasizes in a statement, that they are “also aware that public ChargePoint operators are having no choice but to increase their prices to reflect the rising wholesale costs they’re faced with, which will heavily impact drivers who have no other choice than to charge up away from home”.
But it will be still far less than the cost of traditional petrol averaging over £100 for the first time already back in July. An average mile of driving will still favour the EV at around 9p, instead of the 19p on fossil fuels. Additionally, charging at the off-peak rates at night at home and only when really needed, or looking online (the previously mentioned Zap-Map offers a service for this, for example) for a charger near you, that you could borrow, may help as well to get your worth out of every pound paid. Avoid rapid chargers and passively increase the life of your battery as a side effect, by avoiding charging everything below 20% and above 80%, as they take the longest and most energy.
The bottom line is that even at nearly twice the cost of charging an EV battery now, an electric car is still more cost-effective than a vehicle that runs on fossil fuels. It’s quite reassuring that even though the costs are rising, we’re still better off than with traditional fuelling, whilst driving green and sustainable. So, anyone who is panicking that the energy crisis is minimising the economic sense and purpose of electric cars can rest easy – you will continue to be ahead economically and ecologically.
