EVs cheaper: research

Most electric vehicle fans know they’re cheaper to own and run than fossil fuel vehicles.

New research supports that, especially in the US, United Kingdom and Japan where EV subsidies are provided.

Lower cost is a main reason driving the rapid rise in EV sales, researchers say.

Some of that’s due to government support in various countries, but EVs are forecast to become the cheapest option without subsidies in a few years.

The researchers studied total car ownership costs over four years, including the purchase price and depreciation, fuel, insurance, taxation and maintenance. They learned pure electric cars came out cheapest in all the markets they examined – the UK, Japan, Texas and California, The Guardian reports.

Pure electric cars have much lower fuel and maintenance costs. In the UK, the annual cost was about 10% lower than for petrol or diesel cars in 2015, the latest year analysed.
Hybrid cars which cannot be plugged in and attract lower subsidies are usually slightly more expensive than petrol or diesel cars.

Plug-in hybrids were found to be significantly more expensive – buyers effectively paying for two engines in one car, the researchers say. The exception is Japan, where plug-in hybrids receive higher subsidies.

“We were surprised and encouraged because, as we scale up production, [pure] electric vehicles are going to be becoming cheaper and we expect battery costs are going to fall,” James Tate says. Tate did the research published in Applied Energy with Kate Palmer and colleagues at the University of Leeds.

Pure electric cars receiving a sales subsidy in the UK, Japan and US are likely to see that reduce or end.

Tate reckons an EV like the Nissan Leaf will become as cheap to own and run without subsidy by 2025.
Renault expects a similar scenario in a few years.

The EV push has been powered by air pollution concerns. Diesel vehicle sales in the UK have dropped by 30% in the last year while EV sales have risen by 37%.
EV sales should therefore outstrip diesel around May 2019, Matt Finch of the UK’s Energy and Climate Intelligence says.

Governments could start taxing EVs to recoup the large sums lost from falling fuel duty, RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding says.