Despite rising energy prices, driving an e-car still the cheapest option

This was the conclusion from the Swedish automotive industry organization

Earlier today, BIL Sweden, an industry organization representing the car’s manufacturers and importers, released the results of a study that showed that driving an electric car is much cheaper than one running on fossil fuels.

The study covered the whole of the Nordic country and it concluded that no matter where one lives on its territory, in the sparsely populated rural North or in an urban density area, the choice should be clear regarding the cost-effectiveness of e-vehicles. And all of this regardless of the jump in energy prices, which have affected oil, gas and electricity in Europe this winter.

E-cars are not only meant for the cities

The analysis is based on where one lives in the country, the type of housing with different access to charging, and compares the operating cost of an electric car in relation to a petrol or diesel car. The examples are based on an electric car household in a house with its own charging box in northern and southern Sweden and an e-car-owning household living in an apartment and having access only to public charging stations.

“Our calculations show that electric cars have a lower fuel cost per mile, in relation to petrol and diesel cars, even after taking into account that both electricity, petrol and diesel prices have increased recently,” says Mattias Bergman, CEO of BIL Sweden. 

He continues: “The biggest difference was between the petrol car and an electric car with home charging in northern Sweden, with just over SEK 10 (nearly 1 euro) per mile cheaper for the electric car, which corresponds to a saving of SEK 10,000 on a mileage of 1100 km in 2021. The difference decreases to SEK 5 per mile for electric car households that only have access to public charging, which gives a saving of SEK 6,000.”   

The cost of charging the electric car also varies depending on how one lives. It is four kronor cheaper per mile for the villa household in northern Sweden that charges at home and three kronor cheaper per mile for the villa household in southern Sweden compared to households that only have access to public charging. 

“It is often heard in the debate that the electric car is only something for people around our larger cities. But if you have access to home charging in northern Sweden, you have the lowest driving cost. But even if you only have access to public charging, it is still cheaper to drive an electric car compared to a petrol or diesel car,” concludes Mattias Bergman.