Is an electric car profitable compared to a gasoline or diesel? The Peugeot 208 responds

In the MOTOR section of EL ESPAÑOL we are continually doing accounts on the arrival of the electric car to inform our readers and users about when it might be interesting to make the leap to electric.

So far we have learned what it costs to travel 100 kilometers with an electric, how long it takes to perform an ultra-fast recharge, how much autonomy an electric has in the city…

Today, therefore, what we will do is give a twist and analyze from what mileage it would be more profitable to buy an electric compared to a combustion car, either gasoline or diesel. And for this we will take as a reference the Peugeot e-208, the best-selling electric generalist car in its segment.

And we start with the prices (without discounts or subsidies):

now what we will do will be to add the subsidies of the Moves Plan, of aid to the electric. In this sense, there are two options. The first of these would be a subsidy of 5,000 euros if a vehicle is not delivered for scrapping.

And the second option would be delivering an old vehicle since the subsidy would reach up to 7,000 euros. We will opt for the grant of 5,000 euros since users who opt for electric do not usually come from such an old vehicle.

Therefore, the price difference with the Moves Plan included would be as follows:

And at this number the cost of the charging point should be added, which is usually 2,000 eurosalthough with the Moves Plan you can also get it much cheaper (let’s put an additional 800 euros):

Therefore, we have that the cheapest is still diesel, followed by gasoline, which is 2,020 euros more expensive, and electric, which is 7,050 euros more expensive.

Now the next thing is to see the cost per 100 kilometers of each of them. And for this we start with the average consumption of each version according to the WLTP standard. The gasoline and diesel version is shown in liters and the electric one in KWh.

Continuing with fuel and electricity prices, today’s average is 1.96 euros per liter of gasoline and 1.94 euros per liter of diesel in Spain; which would give us 10.5 euros every 100 kilometers for gasoline and 7.95 euros every 100 kilometers.

On the electric side, private charging will depend on the price contracted by each user. The range can go between 0.03 euros and 0.31 euros, approximately.

Therefore, if we multiply it by the consumption we would be talking about between 0.47 euros and 4.92 euros. We will take an average term that is about 17 cents per kWh, which means 3.18 euros per 100 km.

When is the electric amortized?

Once we have all this data, what we want is to check when the electric is amortized. and for it We will see the cost for different mileage scenarios (10,000, 20,000 kilometers…) Although it is not a totally exact exercise since prices vary, it can serve as an indication.

First we start counting the price of fuel and electricity up to about 200,000 kilometers… It would be the following:

This first table allows us to be clear that the more mileage is done to the electric, the more we will save. This is one of the keys.

And now what we do is add the price of the vehicle to the cost of fuel and electricity. So we have the following data:

conclusion

According to this last table, we see that in the first years of the car’s life, diesel is the most interesting, followed by the gasoline and electric versions. And so, in this order it will remain for many years.

However, there comes a time when accounts change. It is from 150,000 kilometers (which could be, more or less, about 10 years of life).

From that mileage the electric is more profitable than diesel and gasoline. There we have, therefore, the owner of this small study. With the electric bills come out. No doubts. But for the accounts to be really positive, you have to travel many thousands of kilometers…

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