The crisis in the Middle East has widened the gap between electric cars and combustion engines, increasing the advantages of the former in terms of refueling costs to the point that today, for the same number of kilometers travelled, an electric car costs up to 53% less than a diesel one.
This was stated by Federcarrozzieri, the association of Italian body shops, which carried out an ad hoc study on the topic. Considering the average consumption of electric cars and the energy prices on the market, today you spend an average of 5.6 euros to travel 100 km with an e-car if it is recharged at home via the home network.
If, however, the charging takes place at a public charging station, the “consumption” tariffs are significantly higher, they vary based on the charging speed and the time at which the charging stations are used, but by taking advantage of the subscriptions and packages of the operators the cost per kWh drops significantly, bringing the expense between 6.8 and 10.4 euros per 100 km.
The differences in annual distances become even more marked: on average in Italy a car travels around 10,200 km in a year – explains Federcarrozzieri – This means that the costs of charging an electric car, at current rates, stand at 571 euros per year if the domestic network is used, which rise to between 693 and 1,060 euros per year if charging stations are used with subscriptions and packages.
At the current average fuel prices, and considering the km that can be covered on a liter of petrol and diesel, the annual cost of refueling at the pump is around 1,183 euros for a petrol car, and reaches 1,208 for a diesel car. This means that today an electric car allows savings of up to 52.7% on refueling compared to a diesel vehicle, with a lower cost of 637 euros per year” – calculates Federcarrozzieri.
«The crisis in the Middle East has made electric cars more competitive, but the still excessive list prices prevent a huge portion of Italians from being able to access this market. In light of the current critical situation, we believe that the government must study new incentives in favor of electric cars and broaden the range of beneficiaries, thus allowing enormous savings for the community”, concludes president Davide Galli.