The real cost of driving electric
Photo by Adrien Tutin on Unsplash
Many people are choosing to drive electric to go green and because it is more cost effective than a traditional internal combustion engine (ICE - aka gasoline/petrol) vehicle. One of the main fears that new EV drivers face now is that they don’t know how much it will cost to charge their vehicle with public chargers when they are out on a road trip. Some people are even starting to wonder if it might be cheaper to drive a petrol car again. This blog digs into the prices for DC fast charging (the chargers you’ll typically see on the highway designed to get you back on the road quickly) and see how they stack up against petrol for some of Europe’s most popular vehicles.
In brief:
EV drivers face 3 challenges - availability of infrastructure, ease of use, and understanding the price for charging
The price to charge an EV on to go can be difficult to understand but the requirement for an adhoc payment option in AFIR is vastly improving transparency
The competition between MSPs and adhoc charging is heating up and presents options for EV drivers
DC fast charging pricing
Pricing for DC fast charging has been a source of confusion and frustration for EV drivers. They typically need multiple cards and apps from different e-mobility service providers (MSPs) for different chargers and different countries. To address this confusion and make charging anywhere in Europe easier, the EU created the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) which came into force in April 2024. AFIR requires that drivers have a clear overview of the price and have the option to pay for a charging session without needing a contract, i.e. they can use a credit or bank card just like any normal store. This charging is known as adhoc charging. With AFIR for drivers using adhoc charging, charges can only be based on the kilowatt-hours (kWh) used and a per-minute occupancy fee to discourage hogging the station.
So, what’s the real cost of charging an EV, and how does it compare to fueling a petrol car? The short answer: driving an EV is cheaper!
The longer answer involves a bit more nuance due to various factors affecting the price of charging, which can be more volatile than petrol. On average, though, EVs still come out on top.
Price comparisons
To generate the pricing comparisons, I compared prices across 3 markets - the Netherlands, Germany and France and across 4 EVs and 6 ICE vehicles. For each country I gathered 2 fuel prices: for a typical petrol station and for a station found next to the highway. For charging an EV, price ranges for MSP charging (those tokens, cards, and apps you have heard of) and an average price for adhoc charging were found for each country. For MSP charging there are 3 data points - low, average, and max. Low is the cheapest MSP offer in any country, and max is the most expensive. Average MSP price represents the average price paid using a MSP. Finally I found the energy required (liters of petrol or kWh for an EV) required to travel 100 km. More detailed information can be found in the methodology section.
With the energy required and price for fuel/energy, I calculated the cost to drive 100 km for each of the 10 vehicles in the Netherlands, Germany, and France. For all 3 markets, EV driving was generally cheaper than the ICE alternatives. The surprise winner in the study is adhoc charging which was cheaper than the average MSP price in Germany and France.
It is true that popular MSPs, typically with a subscription, can have lower rates than adhoc charging. On a road trip outside of your normal coverage area though, EV drivers should exercise caution; maximum MSP prices exceed petrol costs in all 3 markets.
The Netherlands
In the Netherlands both adhoc pricing and the average MSP cost are lower than fuel costs for all of the petrol vehicles. The maximum MSP pricing does, however, cost more than petrol except for the Model 3 which still beats a few of the ICE vehicles. Adhoc pricing is higher than the average MSP price which indicates a competitive MSP market. For an EV driver to pay about the same costs as a petrol car to drive 100 km, the breakeven price is ~0.87 €/kWh.
Netherlands pricing data:
EV: MSP Min. 0.18 €/kWh, MSP Max. 0.95 €/kWh, Adhoc 0.606 €/kWh
ICE: E95 Avg. Petrol 2.030 €/l, E95 Highway Petrol 2.220 €/l
Germany
Germany presents an interesting case for the pricing comparison. The adhoc cost is lower than fuel costs for almost all of the petrol vehicles - the Toyota Yaris Cross is roughly equal to most of the EVs with only the Model 3 being cheaper. The average MSP price, however, in Germany is about the same as pricing for petrol or even more expensive than some of the fuel efficient ICE vehicles. This is due to cheaper off-highway petrol prices and extremely high MSP costs on the maximum end. For an EV driver to pay about the same costs as a petrol car to drive 100 km, the breakeven price is ~0.77 €/kWh.
Germany pricing data:
EV: MSP Min. 0.16 €/kWh, MSP Max. 1.45 €/kWh, Adhoc 0.59 €/kWh
ICE: E95 Avg. Petrol 1.820 €/l, E95 Highway Petrol 2.070 €/l
France
In France the situation is similar to the Netherlands with both adhoc pricing and the average MSP cost being lower than fuel costs for all of the petrol vehicles. The maximum MSP pricing again exceeds the cost for petrol on average. Adhoc pricing in France is cheaper than the average MSP price indicating strong competition on pricing. For an EV driver to pay about the same costs as a petrol car to drive 100 km, the breakeven price is ~0.78 €/kWh.
France pricing data:
EV: MSP Min. 0.13 €/kWh, MSP Max. 0.89 €/kWh, Adhoc 0.48 €/kWh
ICE: E95 Avg. Petrol 1.840 €/l, E95 Highway Petrol 2.084 €/l
Pricing Summary
Across all 3 markets, the cost to drive an EV for 100 km is typically lower than an ICE vehicle. Average MSP pricing and adhoc pricing are generally close although variations in MSP pricing can greatly affect the price paid for an individual charge. With the adhoc requirements set out in AFIR, MSPs need to work to increase transparency to their customers or they will lose market share to adhoc charging at least when drivers are on longer road trips.
Conclusion
Although there has been concern over the cost of driving an EV, electric vehicles still maintain a cost advantage over traditional ICE vehicles. Due to their greater energy efficiency, EVs have a lower total cost of ownership and don’t need to cost more than an ICE vehicle on a road trip. By avoiding high MSP fees and leveraging adhoc charging when advantageous, EV trips can be even more economical than petrol-powered journeys.
I’d love to hear from real drivers—let’s chat if you have different experiences or numbers to share!
Methodology
The first step in the DC pricing process was to identify target vehicles to compare. Using sales data for 2023 and 2024, the selected vehicles were the Tesla Model 3, Volkswagen ID.3 Pro, Tesla Model Y, MG MG4, Dacia Sandero, Volkswagen T-Roc, Renault Clio, Peugeot 208, Toyota Yaris Cross, and Skoda Octavia. An interesting side note is that the Tesla Model Y was the top selling vehicle in 2023 in Europe for both EVs and ICE vehicles.
To identify the consumption for each vehicle to travel 100 km, I used a combination of data from user reported consumption data (for EVs - https://ev-database.org/ & for ICE - https://www.fuelly.com/) and WLTP ratings. For EVs the vehicle consumption was measured in Wh/km. For ICE vehicles the vehicle consumption used l/100km. Using the vehicle consumption data, we can calculate the total energy required to travel 100 km. The user reported consumption data is useful to see real-world consumption which an average driver would expect to achieve in their ownership. For WLTP ratings both low energy demand and high energy demand situations were used for each vehicle. The real world consumption and WLTP ratings were then combined with more weighting applied to the observed real world consumption.
Next we need to establish the pricing for refueling and recharging. To gather the costs for gasoline (E95 as standard), government sources from each of the 3 countries were consulted. For each country I picked both the average fuel price on a highway and the average price of fuel in general i.e. a station that would be located off-highway. To calculate the pricing for EV charging, data from the Alternative Fuels Observatory provided the MSP minimum, MSP maximum, and average adhoc pricing for each country.
Formulas used to calculate total cost for 100 km journey
With the pricing and the consumption data for each vehicle, we can then calculate the total cost to drive 100 km and replace that energy. The cost is displayed in the graphs for each source of energy given the energy required. In reality the total cost to travel 100 km will vary but the methodology provides the ability to compare the costs for different sources and make estimations.
Learn more at evchargingconsulting.eu or by following us on LinkedIn.
