At the end of the year, the current maximum subsidy of more than 9,000 euros for an electric car and 6,000 euros for a plug-in hybrid will expire. In the future, PHEVs will probably no longer receive any subsidies and there will also be significant discounts for electric cars from January 1, 2023. The question remains whether an electric car is still financially worthwhile at all, or for whom the cost advantage could be gone. Because one thing seems clear, while the tense cost situation at the gas stations is likely to remain at the high level or only increase slightly, things look very different on the electricity market. Many of the large and small providers have already increased their prices several times this year and further increases seem to be firmly planned – probably before the winter.
While hardly anyone in politics says a word about the prices at the charging stations, the three-month petrol price brake (approx. 35 cents per liter of petrol and almost 17 cents per liter of diesel) was a hot topic for almost the entire summer. But in contrast to some neighboring countries, this substantial discount per liter has passed by the start of September. Ultimately, the proclaimed emergency brake on petrol prices hardly changed anything, because the petrol price amplitudes at the pump seemed to depend on completely different influences than the reduced tax burden for three months. Fuel prices for a liter of Super E-95 are currently between 1.95 and 2.25 euros. It looks much more difficult for drivers of a diesel vehicle, because here a liter of diesel fuel sometimes costs well over 2.30 euros. The compression-ignition fans can rest easy with the greater efficiency of their vehicle alone, even if the visit to the pump gets heart and head racing.
For a long time, the stately prices at the petrol and diesel pumps were an issue without much entertainment value for drivers of electric cars and, to a limited extent, also for drivers of plug-in hybrids. That changed over the summer, because the electricity providers have long since increased the prices for a kilowatt hour not only for private households and companies, but also at the charging stations, in particular due to the Ukraine war. In this context, the free reloading at some supermarkets for a long time is mostly over. Aldi and Kaufland are not the only ones who have successfully advertised that you can have your own electric vehicle powered up again free of charge while shopping.
In the meantime, the charging cards from the major providers EnBW, Ionity or Fastned in particular are becoming more and more expensive. Here you sometimes have to pay up to 0.89 cents for a kilowatt hour on the fast charger. The story of cheap refueling with an electric car is also a thing of the past, because electricity in the garage at home is becoming more and more expensive if there is no photovoltaic system on the roof that feeds the car or electric scooter. Anyone who signs a new contract pays up to 0.70 cents or more for a kilowatt hour of electricity. And even in existing contracts, the 25 cents of yore have long since been forgotten and have often doubled over the past year. The question remains, how will this affect motorists? Especially from January 1, 2023 there will be significantly less government support and the most recent price increases already mean additional costs of 500 to 1,000 euros or more for the driver of an electric car, depending on the annual mileage.
In a large comparison of filling stations and charging stations, we show which car users are currently saving money with their electric car or paying more. We assumed an average price of 40 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity; for the liter Super E-95 from 2.10 euros.
Fiat 500 Hybrid (51 kW / 70 PS): 5.3 Liter / 100 km – 111.30 Euro / 1,000 km Fiat 500e (87 kW / 118 PS): 14.4 kWh / 100 km – 57.60 Euro / 1,000 km Mini Cooper S (131 kW / 178 PS): 5.8 Liter / 100 km – 121.80 Euro / 1,000 km Mini Cooper SE (135 kW / 184 PS): 15.3 kWh / 100 km – 61.20 Euro / 1,000 km Opel Mokka 1.2 (96 kW / 130 PS): 5.5 Liter / 100 km – 115.50 Euro / 1,000 km Opel Mokka-e (96 kW / 130 PS): 15.8 kWh / 100 km – 62 .30 Euro / 1,000 km VW Golf 2.0 TSI (140 kW / 190 PS): 5.8 Liter / 100 km – 121.80 Euro / 1,000 km VW ID 3 Pro (150 kW / 204 PS): 15.2 kWh / 100 km – 60.80 Euro / 1,000 km Audi Q5 45 TFSI (195 kW / 265 PS): 8.3 Liter / 100 km – 174.30 Euro / 1,000 km Audi Q4 45 E-tron (195 kW / 265 PS) : 17.1 kWh / 100 km – 68.40 Euro / 1,000 km Mercedes E 300 (190 kW / 258 PS): 7.1 Liter / 100 km – 149.10 Euro / 1,000 km Mercedes EQE 300 (180 kW / 245 PS): 16.5 kWh / 100 km – 66 Euro / 1 .000 km
The whole thing looks different, however, if the electricity price continues to rise in the coming weeks or the user of the electric car recharges in particular at public charging stations or with a significantly higher electricity price of, for example, 0.70 euros, which is no longer an isolated case at fast charging stations. If you also refuel a liter of E-10 petrol with your combustion engine for only 1.90 euros, for example, you also noticeably reduce the costs. Then the calculation looks like this:
Fiat 500 Hybrid (51 kW / 70 PS): 5.3 Liter / 100 km – 100.70 Euro / 1,000 km Fiat 500e (87 kW / 118 PS): 14.4 kWh / 100 km – 100.80 Euro / 1,000 km Mini Cooper S (131 kW / 178 PS): 5.8 Liter / 100 km – 110.20 Euro / 1,000 km Mini Cooper SE (135 kW / 184 PS): 15.3 kWh / 100 km – 107.10 Euro / 1,000 km Opel Mokka 1.2 (96 kW / 130 PS): 5.5 Liter / 100 km – 104.50 Euro / 1,000 km Opel Mokka-e (96 kW / 130 PS): 15.8 kWh / 100 km – 110 .60 Euro / 1.000 km VW Golf 2.0 TSI (140 kW / 190 PS): 5.8 Liter / 100 km – 110.20 Euro / 1.000 km VW ID 3 Pro (150 kW / 204 PS): 15.2 kWh / 100 km – 106.40 Euro / 1,000 km Audi Q5 45 TFSI (195 kW / 265 PS): 8.3 Liter / 100 km – 157.70 Euro / 1,000 km Audi Q4 45 E-tron (195 kW / 265 PS) : 17.1 kWh / 100 km – 119.70 Euro / 1,000 km Mercedes E 300 (190 kW / 258 PS): 7.1 Liter / 100 km – 134.90 Euro / 1,000 km Mercedes EQE 300 (180 kW / 245 PS): 16.5 kWh / 100 km – 115.50 E hours / 1,000 km
The costs mentioned here are pure fuel / electricity costs. This does not include the increased purchase prices of electric cars or their significantly lower maintenance costs.
