EV running costs 50% lower than ICE equivalents

Service, maintenance and repair (SMR) costs of battery electric vehicles are around 50% lower than those of equivalent vehicles with internal combustion engines, according to the latest research.

Published in Fleet Europe, new figures based on real life results from leasing company Arval, which manages more than 200,000 electric vehicles on behalf of customers around the world, reveal that SMR costs are considerably lower than petrol or diesel models.

With fewer moving parts in an electric drivetrain, maintenance is not only much easier but also avoids completely some of the parts that need replacing in a combustion engine, such as oil, filters, spark plugs and even a fan belt for higher mileage vehicles.

That means that maintenance intervals are longer and services take less time to perform, so running costs are lower – going someway to offsetting the higher front-end prices that are typically charged for electric cars.

Figures published by Audi, for example, show that its new Q4 e-tron has two-year, unlimited mileage service intervals, compared to its petrol and diesel models which require an oil service every year or 15,000km, followed by a full service every two years or 30,000km.

A typical fleet driver covering 30,000km per year would need to take the Q4 to the dealership only once every two years, compared to four times for an ICE model.

There are also significant EV cost savings in brake pads, with regenerative braking, which uses energy from braking to recharge batteries, extending the life of brakes well beyond the point when an ICE vehicle would need replacements.

Moreover, whereas the workshop costs for ICE vehicles tends to rise sharply beyond a certain age and mileage, electric vehicles are proving consistently reliable, leading to linear SMR costs.

This gives fleet operators the option to keep electric vehicles for longer than standard three- or four-year contracts, especially with battery packs typically under warranty for at least eight years.

Thibault Alleyn, who heads Fleet Logistics’ consultancy arm, said: “The holding period should be reviewed with care, given the speed of battery developments and the impact this may start to have on older generation battery EVs in the near future.

“Such a policy would need to be weighed against the benefits of adopting newer, longer range EVs, and the dilution of the benefit if drivers have to keep their company cars for longer.”

The Arval research also revealed that in certain areas of SMR expenditure, such as labour rates,, EVs were actually higher than ICE equivalents.

Andrian Cainarean, Head of Energy Transition at Arval, said: “Not all technicians in repair networks are qualified to deliver the servicing tasks for high voltage vehicles, so garages are having to provide additional training for staff, which has an implication on hourly labour rates.”

EV tyre costs are another element that require careful management. As a rule of thumb, EV tyres are more expensive because they require a heavier load index to deal with the greater weight of the vehicles due to heavy batteries, plus extra engineering for low rolling resistance to optimise range and minimise road noise.

Tyre wear is also higher for EVs, due to their extra mass and instant torque, although any comparison with an ICE car should be with a model that offers similar performance. Comparing a Tesla Model 3 to a Volkswagen Passat, for example, is misleading because the Tesla has the acceleration of a sports car.

Research by tyre firm Continental has found that on a like-for-like basis, two-wheel drive EVs reduce tyre mileage by a quarter, but tyres on four-wheel drive EVs last only 10% longer. As always, the biggest factor on tyre wear is not the vehicle but the driver; harsh acceleration and braking wears out tyres more quickly, regardless of the powertrain.

Arval’s experience is that for similar cars, such as the Volkswagen Golf and ID.3, tyre usage is very similar, but the price of the replacement tyres for the EV is slightly more expensive, which may have an additional cost implication.

Thibault Alleyn added: “As with ICE cars, in-life costs are severely defined by driving habits. While tyre wear has the potential to be lower, with gradual accelerations, it can be downright detrimental if drivers constantly use the full torque of the EV at stoplights.

“EV running cost are currently still in an early phase in which the first trends are becoming apparent, due to the fact that fleets are scaling up EVs across many countries and climates – and they are being driven both by eco-conscious, early adopters and company car drivers with differentiated driving styles.

“However, what is certain, and this gets proven by daily TCO comparisons created by Fleet Logistics consultants, is that on a like-for-like basis EVs are the way to go in almost all cases,” he said.