Electric cars VS petrol and diesel -- which is cheaper to run?

There's no doubt that we're experiencing a crisis when it comes to the cost of living. Increasing energy bills place homes under pressure and force customers to take a closer look at all sorts of alternatives, which are greener for the planet but also better for their finances: we're talking about green motoring. So how is sales of electric vehicles in the last two years? Research shows that EVs have doubled in 2021, staying strong on the market in the first quarter of this year, according to the International Energy Agency's Global Electric Vehicle Outlook report. The corona pandemic didn't stop supply chains across the world and consumers to consider a greener future and more and more people driving cars have thought of the possibility and the true need to do something in order to prevent climate change. And the best they can do it is to reduce carbon emissions and support sustainable motoring. For the regular driver, this means switching to a hybrid or fully electric car.

Only in 2021, over 6.5 million electric cars were sold in the whole world. Every week, about 130000 cars were bought in every corner. This trend continues to grow in 2022 as well. The countries where EVs are most popular are the US, countries in Europe and China. Here, the sales have tripled since 2018. According to the IEA, all these cars consumed an evaluated 30 terawatt-hours of electricity per year, which is the equivalent of all the electricity generated in Ireland. Additional primary markets such as India and Brazil did not have such successful sales, and the electric cars sold there were less than 1% of the total auto sales. However, there is room for improvement. Nationwide charging stations are yet a fairly new thing, but things are looking good for the future since UK's former prime minister has promised to conduct an “electric vehicle revolution”. This means that the country will move from using petrol and diesel to fully electric by 2030. This is a huge responsibility to cutting emissions and realize a net-zero economy.

In March 2022, Boris Johnson vowed to help businesses roll out 300,000 public electric vehicle charging points by the year 2030. This is equal to almost five times the number of fuel pumps on UK roads today. The total cost would be £500m. The former prime minister conveyed that green motoring means more than protecting the nature and environment. In addition, clean cars would help reduce the UK's dependence on other countries' energy supplies, which the UK imports, which is a thought that has been on many leaders' minds since the start of the war (Russia and Ukraine). That war has recreated a position in pushing up costs on petrol in the last months, which caused a bigger crisis to pause the fossil fuel reliance, particularly with a ready-made option on the market, which is absolutely ready to be used.

Motoring companies (the RAC and AA) largely accepted the Boris Johnson's plans to increase Britain’s charging infrastructure. However, they also doubt whether it would be good given the expected changes to electric vehicles en masse by 2030. It is true that UK's commitment to green cars is absolutely the right approach for the environment. On the other hand, currently, the cost of living crisis is pressing family finances: household energy bills are skyrocketing. But are electric cars even cheaper to run than conventional petrol or diesel cars? Well, it could be. The upfront costs of an electric or hybrid car can be higher, but over the course of the car's life, the costs are definitely cheaper.

Plus, the cost of driving an electric car is different from model to model, depending on the specifics. Which can only mean that everyone can choose the option that better fits their personal budget. What's more, electricity costs less than diesel or petrol. Plus, EVs need less care than an interior combustion motor. Many countries offer incentives to encourage consumers to buy an electric cars, so there are government grants in place. In the UK, you can actually get a discount of up to £1,500 from the cost of every electric vehicle, which is automatically comprised in the dealer’s cost, and their immunity from the London Congestion Charge. These are great advantages to consider if you often drive in the city. The immunity from street tax for fully electric cars because they produce no CO2 is also a special advantage, although such benevolence from the Treasury may not stay permanently, especially when the final objective is for all cars to have a minimal impact on nature - which would become the standard.

The care expenses of electric cars should be descending presented that their engines, batteries, and transmission have rarer moving components than traditional cars, being more affordable and more straightforward especially if you need to get something fixed. But maybe the main question stays whether the savings made by not needing to pay for fuel are significant, once the cost of charging is considered. Owning a home charging point installed normally costs around £1,000 but the government only covers £350 of that expense. Once you plug your green new car, it is important to assure that you are on an appropriate tax with your energy supplier and don't end up paying exorbitant amounts.