The monthly cost of electric vehicles in the Netherlands is 1% higher than that of cars with an internal combustion engine. The difference is getting smaller. Depreciation is the biggest expense for electric vehicle owners.
This is according to leasing company LeasePlan's Car Cost Index for 2019. The study looked at 18 European countries. Only in Norway are electric vehicles now equal to traditional vehicles with an internal combustion engine in terms of monthly costs.
In other countries, electric driving is more expensive, although the price difference has shrunk in almost all countries surveyed. The Netherlands has the smallest price difference at 1%. LeasePlan expects the monthly charges of electric cars to also be competitive in Denmark and the UK in the near future.
Depreciation causes most costs
Zooming in on monthly costs shows that depreciation accounts for the most costs for owners of a traditional vehicle at 36%. Taxes (20%), fuel (18%), insurance (13%), maintenance (9%) and interest (5%) follow.
For owners of electric vehicles, depreciation is also the main cost item, but at 52%, it makes up a significantly larger part of the cost picture. However, this is offset by the lower cost of electricity compared to fossil fuels, as well as tax benefits and lower maintenance costs.
Diesel cars are most expensive in the Netherlands
The Car Cost Index also shows that of all the countries surveyed, the Netherlands is the most expensive country to drive a diesel car, with an average cost of 937 euros per month. The bpm - which can be as high as 35% for diesel cars - is mainly responsible for this. In Romania, the cost is the lowest at 407 euros per month.
The monthly cost of a petrol car is highest in Norway, at an average of 851 euros per month. This is significantly higher than the European average of €594 per month. Greece is the cheapest at 445 euros per month.
Relative to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), monthly car costs are highest in the Netherlands and Italy, while drivers in Greece and the UK pay the least.
'Also tipping point product costs near'
The tipping point is also near in terms of production costs, senior vice president at Volkswagen Group Reinhard Fischer said recently in an interview with Automotive News Europe at a seminar in US Michigan. Volkswagen is investing $50 billion worldwide in the production of electric vehicles, with which the company aims to reduce production costs to the level of cars with internal combustion engines. "We are convinced that the tipping point is near, and that tipping point will be price parity," Fischer said.
The first electric vehicle that Volkswagen plans to produce on a large scale is the ID3, which was announced in May. The launch edition of the ID3 will be offered in the Netherlands from 40,000 euros. This version offers a battery radius of 550 kilometres on a full battery. Other versions will become available later, with a choice of three different battery models ranging from 45kW to 75kW. The base model battery offers a battery radius of 330 kilometres.
Fischer acknowledges that there are still concerns about electric driving among consumers. "Concerns about range have now been replaced by concerns about charging," Fischer said. The top executive expects these concerns to eventually disappear. "A hundred years ago, fuel was sold by pharmacies. Today, we have 122,000 filling stations in the United States. It has transformed from a bottleneck into a commodity."
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Source: LeasePlan
Source: Automotive News Europe
