Electric vehicle leasing company, DriveElectric, say that buying an EV can be more affordable compared to a petrol car when the purchase price is spread across monthly leasing payments, and when fuel cost savings are taken into account.
They say that in order for the UK to meet its 2050 Net Zero target – which looks likely to involve a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035, or sooner – EVs need to be as affordable as possible if motorists are to make the switch to electric motoring.
As such, the company have identified five EVs on sale today that, when the savings are taken into account, could cost a buyer less than £200 per month. The cheapest model in their list is the Smart Forfour EQ in Passion Advanced trim and fitted with a 17kWh battery; with a monthly lease cost of £176.88 and an estimated fuel cost saving of £85, it results in a cost per month of £91.88.
Next up is the Skoda CITIGOe iV which costs just £146.55 per month once a saving on fuel of £85 is included. The Renault Zoe GT Line is a little pricier at £194.59 per month based on a monthly lease cost of £279.59 and a predicted fuel saving of £85. And for those after a larger, more practical EV DriveElectric say that a Volkswagen e-Golf or Peugeot e-2008 could cost £231.32 and £218.30 per month respectively.
The company have calculated the monthly lease costs based on a 4-year Personal Contract Hire, which includes VAT but with no initial rental. The fuel savings are based on covering 10,000 miles per year with an electricity cost of 14 pence per kilowatt. They also add that maintenance costs of EVs are lower than those for a petrol car, and that company car drivers’ benefit from a zero Benefit in Kind tax rate for 2020/21.
According to Mike Potter, Managing Director of DriveElectric,: “There’s much talk about EVs reaching price parity with petrol cars over the coming years, but zero emission electric cars can be more affordable than people think today. Fuel costs of EVs are around 20% of the fuel costs of petrol cars, and spreading the cost of the initial purchase price over monthly leasing payments means that EVs are now typically cheaper than petrol cars from a whole-life cost point of view. This could enable large numbers of motorists to make the switch to EVs to help improve local air quality and achieve Net Zero.
