Electric Vehicle vs Internal Combustion Vehicle – ROI STUDY [CALCULATIONS]

New electric vehicles depreciate pretty quickly. In the US, a Nissan Leaf with a range of 160-20 kilometers costs an average of 2014 percent of the price of a new one. How about in Poland? We decided to make a comparison: Nissan Leaf (2014) vs Opel Astra (2014) vs Opel Astra (XNUMX) gasoline + LPG are typical representatives of the C segment. Here is what we came up with.

Electric car or internal combustion car - which is more profitable?

Choosing an electric car: Nissan Leaf

In the C segment in Poland, there is a relatively small selection of electric vehicles in 2014. Theoretically, we could choose between Ford Focus Electric, Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive and Nissan Leaf. In fact, however, in this class we have almost no choice - What remains is the Nissan Leaf, which is too ugly for many drivers.... But let's give him a chance.

The cheapest Nissan Leaf (2013) we found cost PLN 42,2 thousand gross, but its non-original wheels put us off. Selling wheels is one of the first things to do at scrap yards for cars labeled "total loss" by the insurer.

In fact, for a price from 60 70 to 2013 2014 zlotys, you can buy models from 65 to XNUMX years, but common sense tells you not to go below XNUMX XNUMX zlotys. Therefore, we assumed that we would use comparisons 2014 Nissan Leaf with 24 kWh batteries for 65 PLN... Such cars usually have a mileage of 40-60 thousand kilometers.

> Reader www.elektrowoz.pl: Our electromobility is hopeless [OPINION]

Choosing an internal combustion vehicle: Opel Astra J

The Volkswagen Golf, Opel Astra and Ford Focus are similar in size to the Nissan Leaf. We chose the Opel Astra because OtoMoto also includes LPG-equipped models from the factory - this will be useful for comparisons.

Opel Astra since 2014 are usually post-leasing cars with significant mileage: from 90 to 170 thousand kilometers. Compared to LEAFs, which come almost exclusively from outside Poland, these are most often cars from Polish car dealerships.

The cheapest models cost around PLN 27, but common sense dictates that it is better not even to take care of them. Typical, The average price of an Opel Astra with a 1.4-liter petrol engine is around PLN 39. The gas-powered version is slightly more expensive, around PLN 44.

> Nissan Leaf (2018): PRICE in Poland from PLN 139 to PLN 000 [OFFICIAL]

Nissan Leaf (2014) for Opel Astra (2014) for Opel Astra (2014) LPG

So the competition is like this:

• Nissan Leaf (2014) with 24 kWh battery, CHAdeMO port and approximately 50 km mileage – PRICE: PLN 65.
• Opel Astra (2014), petrol, 1.4L engine with mileage around 100 km – PRICE: 39 PLN.
• Opel Astra (2014), petrol + gas, 1.4L engine with a mileage of about 100 km – PRICE: PLN 44.

We took energy consumption from official EPA data and averaged vehicle fuel consumption based on information from the AutoCentrum portal. We also assumed that combustion vehicles require a timing change first and an investment in brakes every three years (pads / discs).

In addition, the cost of “replacing” the oil in the LPG model has been increased by the cost of inspecting the LPG system, replacing the evaporator, and possibly replacing plugs and coils, which is much more common in gas-powered vehicles.

We assumed that the owner of the electric car uses the night tariff so as not to burden the wallet with charging. We increased the price of LPG by about 8 percent to include the gasoline needed to start a car and travel the first kilometers.

Duel 1: Normal runs = 1 kilometers per month

According to the Central Statistical Office of Poland (GUS), owners of vehicles with an internal combustion engine drive an average of about 12 kilometers per year, that is, about 1 kilometer per month. In such a situation, even after five years of operation, combustion vehicles will be cheaper than an electric vehicle. Provided, of course, that none of the engine components have failed so far:

It is also worth emphasizing that we have not included tires in the running costs as we expect the purchase price to be the same for all models.

Duel # 2: slightly more mileage = 1 km per month.

1 km per month or 200 14 km per month is more than the average for the Pole, but owners of LPG vehicles are more or less able to manage their cars. They are cheaper, so they go more willingly. What happens with such a comparison?

It turns out that LPG is the cheapest in the long run, overtaking a gasoline car in about 3,5 years. Meanwhile, after 5 years of driving, a petrol car becomes more expensive than an electric version - and will never be cheaper.

It is worth noting that after these five years of driving, we have an electrician with a mileage of about 120 170 kilometers and an internal combustion vehicle with a mileage of about 1 kilometers. The graph also shows that these 200 kilometers per month are close to the limit, above which the electric car suddenly becomes the most profitable. So let's try to take one more step.

Duel No. 3: 1 km per month and sale of cars in 000 years.

We found that maybe car owners will get bored with their cars and want to sell them after three years of use. We were very surprised when it turned out that cars of 3 and 6 years old do not differ significantly in price. The difference was usually about 1/3 of the cost of the more expensive car.

So what happens when a car is sold three years later?

You can clearly see that the blue bar is dropping slightly below the orange and red lines. This means that when we resell the car, we get back most of the money invested in the car, and we get the most out of the Nissan Leaf.

Here is the cost of the car obtained from the table:

• Total property value Nissan Lifa (2014) for 3 years, including sales: 27 009 zł
• Total property value Opel Astra J (2014) for 3 years, including sales: PLN 28
• Total property value Opla Astra J (2014) for 3 years, including sales: PLN 29

Wnioski

For a long-term purchase of an electric vehicle to be profitable, it is necessary:

• drive at least 1 km per month,
• travel a lot around the city.

The more routes within the city, the higher the profitability of the purchase. The profitability of buying an electric car also increases when we drive in cooler climates (Iceland, Norway) because energy costs rise more slowly than fuel consumption. However, it doesn't really matter if we charge at home or look for free chargers in the city.

Applications for car sellers after 3 years

If we plan to buy a car for three years, do not invest in a car on gas. It won't pay off in time, and the selling price won't compensate us for the higher starting price.

The electric car must be taken very seriously. It may turn out that after three years of operation we will sell it much more expensive than gasoline analogues, which will allow us to significantly reduce the total cost of car ownership:

> EVs are already CHEAPER than combustion cars [STUDY]

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