Number crunchers
A report that aims to take the guesswork out of EV running cost assessments has been published by Mina. The company’s CEO, Ashley Tate, explains how real-world charging data has been crucial
Considering we’re several years into the transition to an electrified vehicle future – and only a handful of years away from the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles – it seems rather strange that it’s only now that fleets can accurately assess the costs associated with running EVs. Our inaugural Mina EV Report – the first of what will be a quarterly publication – debunks some of the myths surrounding the costs associated with EVs, it also, for the first time in the industry, offers fleet managers real-world data on which to base their procurement decisions. As well as all that, it what we think is a fascinating insight into the way drivers are using their EVs – and how they charge them.
The Mina report is based on the rich stream of data that lies behind it. The Summer report is based on more than 32,500 charging events undertaken by some of the UK’s biggest adopters of EVs – both cars and LCVs. Our technology monitors every single charge – and every piece of associated data from the moment a car or van is plugged in – so we know exactly what is going on in the real world, the second it happens.
As a result, fleets can build a picture of real-life costs, something that is increasingly important as the energy crisis unfolds. Fleet managers can also begin to understand behaviour and trends.
“The AER is completely unfit for purpose, because it just does not reflect the cost of real-life electric driving – and it never will, no matter the figure”
How drivers lose out
Our research shows that 94% of home charges and 100% of public charges result in business car and van drivers being out of pocket if they reclaim costs using the Government’s Advisory Electricity Rate (AER).
In some cases, employees were out of pocket by as much as 15p a mile if they charged in public – equivalent to £15 over a 100-mile journey, or £1,500 over 10,000.
The AER is completely unfit for purpose, because it just does not reflect the cost of real-life electric driving – and it never will, no matter the figure. There are just too many variables with electric, such as vehicle types, tariffs and charges – as our data shows.
Mina is able to overlay each charge session a driver consumes with our energy supplier tariff monitoring system, so that accurate costs are always paid direct to the driver's energy supplier.
Our report revealed some other interesting statistics. For example, the average pence per mile (ppm) cost for an EV van, if charged at home, is 10ppm; for cars, the figure drops to 7ppm. In public, those costs rise to 22ppm and 16ppm respectively.
Meanwhile, analysis of the data revealed the average cost of home charging over Summer 2022 was 26p per kilowatt hour (p per kWh) – more than 30% higher than the 12 months previously.
pence per mile
cost for an EV car if charged at home
pence per mile
cost for an EV car if public charged at a public charger
per kilowatt hour (p per kWh)
cost of home charging – more than 30% higher than the previous 12 months
According to the report, average cost of public charging is 56p per kWh – a rise of 19% over the previous year. While average time spent charging in public was calculated to be 47 minutes for LCVs and 45 minutes for cars.
Many will be surprised by that latter figure – just how little time drivers who can charge at home actually spend charging in public. With rising costs for public charging, business drivers are often just topping up with between 90 to 100 miles of range – a plug-in pitstop – to give them enough charge to make it to their destination.
This situation also hints at drivers’ growing confidence in EVs – they don’t feel the need to always have a battery at near-100% charge. Our analysis also shows that, while rising electricity prices are an issue, they should not be seen as a reason not to look into EVs.
On a pence-per-mile basis, EVs are still much cheaper to run than conventional petrol or diesel vehicles, and this will remain the case even if charging is done at the 34 pence per kWh Government Energy Price Guarantee.
Insights such as this will inform strategy in future, not just for businesses looking at costs and productivity, but for networks and authorities rolling out chargers and assessing demand.
We hope that our insights will continue to offer fleets information on the realities of using EVs as work vehicles.
