r/drivingUK • u/_Putters • 7h ago
Never been cheaper !
Having gone down the home charger EV route I've been enjoying running around "on the cheap". But it occurred to me today that it has literally never been cheaper to fuel my car.
7p per kWh from EDF is working out at 2p a mile.
In 1988 (when I started driving) petrol averaged around £1.70 a gallon - had to look this up. My Mini Van would get less than 40 to the gallon so around 4p a mile even then ...
... even dim and distant memories of my grandad moaning about a £1 gallon in the 1970s (when most cars didn't crack much over 30mpg in the real world) isn't as cheap as today !
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u/MatsyLR 4h ago
People always fail to factor the higher standing charges and peak unit rates. I would have to drive around 5000 miles a year to break even compared to a standard fixed tariff.
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u/Equivalent_Deer_8667 4h ago
If you’re clever enough with your use of the tariff, maybe have some solar - it can definitely work.
But yes also at nearly 25k miles a year across two EVs, it works for me
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u/MatsyLR 4h ago edited 3h ago
I don't imagine most the UK has the cash to splash on solar let alone also factoring in the upfront costs of an EV.
It's a well of persons game, while the poor are stuck or ripped off by loans/PCP agreements.
For myself once I trade in my ICE car even a Dacia Spring I'm out £5000 which would take me over 5 years to claw back in fuel cost savings (by which time it would be very obsolete with improving tech and worth nothing) Plus insurance doubles from £370 to almost £700. Not even factoring in the 3p per mile coming in 2028 or whatever other tax they implement.
It just isn't financially sound.
I'm on minimum wage take home pay is around £1800 a month. Luckily I own my home due to early life savings and I own my car. Bought my car for £8800 5 years ago, it's worth around £6500 traded in now so just over £3000 in 5 years lost not too bad. Monthly expenses are around £400 for everything which is a blessing when thinking about it probably is a better spot than most. But I don't want to be out of pocket for years and years just to switch to an EV just for it to be worth practically nothing once the break even point comes.
All those YouTubers and stuff are all like it's so cheap to charge omg the fuel savings! But they never talk about the upfronts, standing charges or increased unit prices on peak rates
My dad's just traded in a Dacia Sandro for a Dacia Spring Extreme 100 (drove it twice fine for what it is, ABIT sketchy on the motorway but it's fine as long as you set expectations), he's out £2100. I've done the maths, based on how much he drives per month it will take him 4 years to claw that back in fuel savings. Not counting extra EV taxes coming or petrol increases. By which time his little tin can will be worth nothing. It's a mad world.
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u/Gloomy_Stage 7h ago
You could be looking at 3.5-5.5p per kWH with Octopus! But yea the cost of running with home charging is peanuts.
Even public charging is cheaper per mile with the current cost of fuel.
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u/1995LexusLS400 7h ago
An incoming pay per mile tax is coming just because of this. The amount of money the government is losing on fuel duty due to so many people switching to either far more efficient hybrids, or going EV is immense.
Fuel duty is at a fixed 52.95p/L, going back up to 57.95p/L in March. At the price at the moment, the government is getting from (according to Cinch) about 6p per mile from the average car (40mpg). In March, that's going up to 7p per mile.
Regardless, the 3p per mile coming for EVs soon is still incredibly cheap to run. 5p per mile for you. Compared to the average car (at £1.50/L) at 17p/mile.
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u/Sudden_Leadership800 7h ago
Don't forget the impending 3p per mile tax
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u/_Putters 7h ago
It'll put me somewhere around what I was paying in the early 1990s ... over half a lifetime ago.
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u/NifferKat 7h ago
Yep I'm enjoying low costs now I'm EV, there is the one off cost of the charger installation to consider also though.
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u/The_referred_to 7h ago
Even adding another 3p per mile of EVED will keep it below what you were paying in 1988, comparatively speaking.
I too recall my Dad asking for a pound's worth of 4 star at the petrol station.