Peter McDonald
Why weighing up the options – and cost-savings – when it comes to running an EV is an important step to take
Where do you prefer your money to be? In your own/company’s bank account or to be given unnecessarily to somebody else? Even if your lottery numbers came up last week, I’m guessing that your answer is going to be the former, particularly so at the moment as both personal and corporate budgets are under more pressure than ever.
A recent YouGov survey found that a quarter of current EV owners cited lower running costs as their favourite thing about EV ownership.
For fleet managers looking to steer their fleets towards EVs, it almost goes without saying that those cost savings are a huge draw to making the switch.
But part of that switch to EVs needs to be provision for easily accessible charging to your drivers. While public charging undoubtedly gets easier with familiarity and the various universal charging card accounts available, fleet managers also need to consider home charging too.
A recent YouGov survey found that a quarter of current EV owners cited lower running costs as their favourite thing about EV ownership
Go hard or go home
Home charging is always going to be the cheapest way for any EV driver to charge their car – and the same goes for those driving for business too. Unlike home electricity, public chargers have VAT applied, so there’s an immediate saving there. Compare the latest electricity price cap at 34 pence per kWh to public charging rates which have been steadily rising recently.
At those kinds of levels, the savings soon counter out the cost of installing home chargers for employees. Plus, with automatic reimbursement via accurate mileage records and specialist software, the driver never needs to be out of pocket for their rising electricity bill either. And if they already have, or get, another EV in their household, they have use of a home charger for personal use as well.
If those drivers opt for an off-peak EV tariff from the likes of Octopus to maximise the savings when using their personal EV, then obviously those savings have a beneficial knock-on effect for the company as well.
As I stated in my previous column with Ohme customer EDSB, the savings in switching to EVs can be considerable across an entire fleet. With EDSB, those savings are £3,500 a month compared with its previous diesel fleet, so hardly small change.
Those are attractive numbers for any fleet, but the obvious sticking point is the lack of EV vans on the market for those wanting to switch their van fleets. While there’s an ever-increasing choice of electric cars on offer, the choice of electric vans has been somewhat limited.
Commercial success
While Nissan and the Stellantis brands of Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat have offered all-electric vans, the announcement and imminent arrival of the new Ford E-Transit and Volkswagen’s ID.Buzz Cargo could see electric become a more common sight bringing those same EV savings within reach of more fleets than ever. Now if anyone has got their DeLorean handy, can you just tell me next month’s Euromillions numbers…?
Peter McDonald is mobility director at Ohme. Prior to his current role, he spent two decades working for automotive manufacturers including Nissan, SEAT and the wider Volkswagen Group.
