Electric vehicles have come a long way in the last ten years. With longer ranges, lower prices, and faster charging, even long-haul company car drivers can switch to battery power – but it’s not as cheap as it once was. Inflated by higher energy prices, the cost of charging an electric car has surged since the end of 2021, and the IRS’s approved mileage rates for company car drivers don’t always cover those costs. However, a few small changes in behavior can make a big difference.
There’s a lot to love about EVs’ straight-line pace, but they’re much more sensitive to driving style than gasoline or diesel cars. Shifting into Eco mode can help soften throttle responses and support more energy-efficient driving. And a gentler right foot while braking is also helpful. Although EVs have a traditional friction braking system, they tend to only use them when they need to stop quickly. The rest of the time, they’re using magnetic resistance within the motor to slow down, and this regenerative braking (or regen) produces electricity that’s fed back into the battery.
By looking further ahead and backing off a bit earlier for junctions, you’ll be doing more braking using regen and wring a few extra miles out of every charge. If you’re lucky enough to have somewhere to plug in at home, it’s almost always the most convenient and cheapest place to charge. For example, the Tesla Model Y – one of the US’s best-selling EV – officially travels 4.6 miles per kilowatt-hour of electricity in Premium Long Range trim. That’s less than 6 cents per mile if you’re on a capped home energy tariff, or around half the cost of the slowest public chargers.
View Price on AmazonWholesale electricity costs change constantly, as they’re set by the most expensive source of that energy. Utility companies pay more during the day, when demand is greater and there’s a larger share coming from fossil-fueled power plants, and less at night, when cheaper renewables are doing most of the work. Some of them also offer tariffs that pass those cheaper costs onto customers. An EV-focused tariff (as offered by E.ON and Octopus) slashes energy costs by around two thirds during off-peak hours, which are typically between midnight and 6am.
That’s less than 2 cents per mile for the Tesla Model Y Long Range, or equivalent to 455 miles per gallon in a gasoline car. Most EVs and all new home chargers will let you preset charging times to match cheaper energy rates. It has never been easier to access a public charger. Most new AC and all DC rapid chargers are required by law to offer contactless payments without having to sign up as a member. That’s a positive step, but it’s often the most expensive way to use them.
Several charging networks have paid-for membership schemes with reduced rates. Ionity, for example, offers a 43% discount for $10.50 per month. Tesla also offers discounted Supercharging for drivers in other EVs, for a $9.99 monthly fee. That’s worth considering if you’re a high-mileage user. Don’t want to confine your discounts to a single charging network? Roaming services, such as Bonnet and Octopus Electroverse, offer cut-price electrons (and other perks) across multiple brands, all from a single membership.
Source: autocar.co.uk
