EV Tax: $360 Per Year on Average, Will you buy an EV?

isidore12 on 09/09/2025 - 19:46
Last edited 11/09/2025 - 18:24

The states and territories are preparing a tax of about 3 cents per kilometer for driving an EV.

The tax is to fund the road maintenance.

The average distance driven per year in Australia is about 12,000 kilometers.

The annual cost is $360.

Would you buy an EV if you had to pay that tax?

Few points come to mind:

  • Trucks cause significantly more road wear than cars

  • Car depreciation: what if your EV car is only worth $3600, will you pay 10% of its value every year?

  • Charging an EV at a public station costs more by kilometer than petrol

  • Liberal Party does not believe climate change, so why care about renewable energy?

Automotive Taxation Electric Vehicle

Comments

  • askbargain on 09/09/2025 - 19:50
    +33

    Might be worth sense checking your points with ChatGPT

    • gar519 on 10/09/2025 - 08:24
      +3

      Figures way out.
      • For 2025–26: Approximately 2.874¢ per kilometer for full EVs (equivalent to ~$300–$400 annually for average drivers traveling 12,000–15,000 km).

      • PHEVs: 2.379¢ per kilometer (80% rate).

      • Rates would be indexed to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) annually.

      • Bignudge on 10/09/2025 - 08:40
        +17

        That sounds okay I guess? I mean like with petrol you're already paying 51.6 cents per litre in fuel excise. Assuming someone travelling 15,000KM a year at 9L/100KM… that's 1350L or $696.60 in fuel excise.

        If you're using the off peak midnight electrcity, or even solar…. you're saving so much more money compared to an ICE vehicle.

        The only thing to consider is the depreciation of EVs. Like I see 2020 Tesla Model 3s going for like 30K 2nd handed now but I'm scared of sudden death with the battery. (Yes I know in theory the battery should last longer than the body of the car… but sudden death in electronics happens)

        • Stzaa83 on 10/09/2025 - 12:15
          +4

          Every car has components that can die suddenly.
          I had a 4 year old Audi which had a minor issue with a waste gate actuator arm. Needed the whole turbocharger unit replaced (single unit) at a cost of $7000. Managed to get it covered under ACL, but if the car was 7-10 years old or second hand, I'd be out of luck. If the engine or gearbox went it would be way worse.
          Batteries comparatively are very reliable, and they can also be replaced if needed.

          • Bignudge on 10/09/2025 - 12:28
            +1

            @Stzaa83: Yes but at this given moment, parts for EVs are expensive and possibly impossible to purchase if you're not the dealer themselves. And ontop of that, the average car tinkerer wouldn't even have the software to initialise the parts if they could get their hands on them.

            If my 2018 Subaru XV needed a new fuel pump, injectors, starter motor, head light assembly, horn, EGR valve, throttle body, or hell even a whole engine cause the old one blew itself apart….I can either buy it new online or go to the wreckers then change it out myself.

            Imagine you trying to source a battery, motor, or motor controller from Tesla and getting it to work lol. Good luck with that. Their response would be "Book it into the dealer" then charge the car's value for the battery replacement

            EDIT: The only "EV" that I'd really consider with respect to ease of repair would be a a Toyota Hybrid where you could actually replace the NIMH modules/cells in your own garage with the upgraded LION cells for more capacity and current output. (Or get a shop to put in a refurbished pack for ~$3000 then chug along for another 10+ years)

            • whyisave on 10/09/2025 - 21:32
              +1

              @Bignudge:

              parts for EVs are expensive

              These expensive parts (and body panels), are also a big reason why insurance for a Tesla EV is quite expensive, compared to an ICE car.

            • klaw81 on 10/09/2025 - 23:25
              +2

              @Bignudge:

              Imagine you trying to source a battery, motor, or motor controller from Tesla and getting it to work lol. Good luck with that.

              There's already a significant market for Tesla parts on the 2nd hand market, and replacing most of the driveline and other mechanical parts is relatively simple and quick.

              Tesla electric drivetrains are really commonly used in EV conversions because they're decent quality, powerful, commonly available and easy to work with.

              If you can work on a normal car engine, mechanical repairs to a Tesla are not a big deal. The battery is the only thing that's a bit more tricky and probably should be done by professionals.

              • Bignudge on 11/09/2025 - 08:19

                @klaw81: I totally understand in theory that the Tesla electric drivetrains should be much easier to work with because there are only so many variants of a 2020 Model 3 for example. Like an app being optimised for a 3 variants of the latest release iPhone compared to the hundreds of different Anrdoids out there.

                It's true that parts availability should get better slowly as more are written off and hit the wreckers, and as the law hopefully forces the Tesla dealers to sell parts to regular people.

                I've just heard bad things about how if you swap parts around they'll need to be "programmed" to work together…. and how Tesla can just completely disable features such as supercharging if they find out you've messed around.

                Fingers crossed it gets easier for everyone!

        • greater mimic on 11/09/2025 - 00:28
          +6

          "Assuming someone travelling 15,000KM a year at 9L/100KM…"

          It's crazy how much cheaper an EV is to run. I pay about 8c per kWh to charge my car, not including the energy from solar. If it runs at 20 kWh per 100km that costs me $1.60, which is the standard price of unleaded per litre these days.

          So yeah add on a few cents per km it makes sense considering how the fuel excise works. My question is though, why not scrap the current tax and apply the cents per km tax to all cars?

          • supersabroso on 11/09/2025 - 07:06
            -5

            @greater mimic: That's great that you get a cheap charging rate costing 21% of the going rate for electricity resulting in a saving of $1k/15,000km driven. However, a Tesla Model Y costs an additional $20k on top of a Haval H6 ultra hybrid which results in an additional $1k/year in mortgage interest as well as another $1k/year in insurance fees. All in all, people would be be losing $1/k year owning the EV compared to a hybrid car. That's before you factor in supercharger/normal electricity rates & the new EV tax. The only way they can be financially justified is through a novated lease with solar panels & batteries at home.

            • greater mimic on 11/09/2025 - 09:19
              +2

              @supersabroso: "The only way they can be financially justified is through a novated lease with solar panels & batteries at home"

              Well I have all those things… Plus the car is an Atto 3 which is actually a pretty affordable car for an EV

      • Dr Phil on 11/09/2025 - 16:22
        +2

        They plan to move ALL vehicles across to this new tax.

        • greater mimic on 12/09/2025 - 08:47

          Oh right I somehow missed that, that makes more sense

  • BoltThrower on 09/09/2025 - 19:57
    +42

    How can you be off by a factor of 10, twice?

    • 30year old Camry on 09/09/2025 - 20:06
      +65

      There are 20.0 types of people. Those who are good with decimal points and those who are bad with decimal points.
      /s

  • Murkymerv on 09/09/2025 - 20:04
    +26

    The government will screw you any way they can .

    • Mintee on 09/09/2025 - 20:10
      +14

      Our government, is really becoming something else….. Australia is not becoming a good place. Pathetic really.

      • LFO on 10/09/2025 - 11:06
        +3

        And we will continue voting for them.

        Do not forget.

      • iminabrons on 10/09/2025 - 12:38
        +7

        Compared to where else?

        • Murkymerv on 11/09/2025 - 09:35
          -3

          Living standards , Einstein ⁉️

          • ChickenK on 11/09/2025 - 15:32
            +4

            @Murkymerv: So where would you say has a better government and living standards?

            • Given on 13/09/2025 - 08:25

              @ChickenK: Government Pension Fund of Norway.

    • LFO on 10/09/2025 - 11:05

      And we will vote for them.

      Who is at fault???

      • iminabrons on 10/09/2025 - 12:46
        -2

        Let me explain;
        I think the evil Baddies are always a "They" not a "Them".
        "Them" is usually used for "Look at "Them" over there." (grumble,grumble).
        "Thems" can be considered to be like an adolescent "They". One day the "Thems" will become big enough to become a "They".
        "Thems" are always pissed off at the "Theys" until they too become a "They".
        Geddit!

        • LFO on 11/09/2025 - 11:14

          Them = ThemEnd

    • sauce2k on 10/09/2025 - 14:29
      +2

      Aus politicians are clowns

    • whyisave on 10/09/2025 - 21:33
      +1

      No matter who you vote for, the government always gets in.

    • OzzyOzbourne on 11/09/2025 - 12:24
      +1

      Yes, if cars ran on air, it would be taxed

  • freeb1e4me on 09/09/2025 - 20:04
    +10
    Feature Details
    Type of Tax Distance-based road user charge (RUC)
    Estimated Cost \~\$300–\$400/year per EV owner (depending on mileage)
    NSW Timeline Start in 2027 or at 30% EV new sales; 2.974 c/km for EVs, 2.379 c/km for PHEVs
    Rollout Approach Trial with trucks → expand to EVs and hybrids
    Support Condition Must not deter EV adoption; ideally begins after significant uptake
    Challenges Constitutional limits, inter-jurisdiction coordination
    Usage of Funds Must fund road infrastructure, ideally transparently
  • Euphemistic on 09/09/2025 - 20:10
    +34

    A road user charge is already in place. Its called a fuel excise. Distance levy is inevitable. However, it should be related to vehicle size, just like heavier vehicles using more fuel pay more.

    Even with a distance levy, it mught slow EV take up, but wont stop it. EVs are so good for most driving its not worth the hassle of buying fuel and servicing.

    Its getting a lot of traction in media becasue 1. Its a 'new tax' and that gets clicks. and 2. Being against it is in the interests of fossil fuel companies.

    • quick-dry on 10/09/2025 - 12:49
      +2

      we're pretty much living in a "distance levy world" with he number of toll roads we pretty much have to use to get anywhere in Sydney

    • Pinchy on 11/09/2025 - 15:40

      How are they going to implement this anyway?
      Self reporting kilometres?
      Annual checks by a government offical?
      Send photos on an app?

      • Euphemistic on 11/09/2025 - 19:28

        An interesting question. Tbh its probably gonna be a photo in an app, but seems a risky and wasteful way ripe for fraud to collect a few hundred.

        Current pink slip inspection process seems easier to incorporate, but then misses the first 5y of ownership. Maybe new cars get an averaged charge, then its measured the year after the first pink slip.

        • klaw81 on 11/09/2025 - 19:52

          Plus, the pink slip only happens in one or two states. Elsewhere, cars can go 20-30 years without a mandatory inspection.

      • Roney on 11/09/2025 - 23:14

        Would need a new Federal Minister of Road Usage with State Ministers, odometer inspectors, book-keepers, all reporting to the Treasurer for bean counting.

  • brendanm on 09/09/2025 - 20:23
    +23

    Bro doesn't understand the difference between dollars and cents.

    • freefall101 on 09/09/2025 - 21:30
      +3

      This post makes sense, cents and clears up the scents that OP is whiffing/extruding. Cheers.

      • ThithLord on 10/09/2025 - 09:45

        whiffing

        Probably huffing, not whiffing

    • OzzyOzbourne on 11/09/2025 - 12:25

      Makes cents

  • Shitforbrains on 09/09/2025 - 20:24
    +8

    3 cents per kilometre
    12,250 kilometres

    $0.03 x 12,250 = $367.50

    This would not really have much influence on my decision to buy an EV

    • stratbargain on 09/09/2025 - 20:45
      +5

      Yep 3 cents a KM a year would increase my "running cost" per 100KM from $0 to $3. Not the end of the world.

    • skillet on 10/09/2025 - 09:51
      +1

      Look at it from another angle. It's just slightly more than a dollar per day.

      • MrThing on 12/09/2025 - 18:51

        Or if you are a breakfast news show

        "its the cost of a cup of coffee hot water per day"

    • LFO on 10/09/2025 - 11:09
      -5

      This would not really have much influence on my decision to buy an EV

      Please whipcharge me more. Thank you.

    • Brent8759 on 12/09/2025 - 21:14

      Hardest thing for a government to do is bring a new tax in, once its in though, we know what will happen every year it will rise , why not double it? What are people going to do about it?, just like alcohol and cigarettes and tolls it just keep going up until they are collecting to the point its not even about road maintence just revenue

      • klaw81 on 13/09/2025 - 08:30

        Fuel excise hasn't been about road maintenance for over 30 years. What's your point?

        • LFO on 14/09/2025 - 19:39

          The additional fuel tax euphemistically labeled "fuel excise" was never ever about anything else that being yet another tax on fuel consumption.

        • Euphemistic on 15/09/2025 - 08:15

          While it technically doesnt go directly to roads, its a user charge on using roads that feeds back to general tax revenue - that pays for major roads. Local roads come out of rates, but often with additional funding from the feds.

          • klaw81 on 15/09/2025 - 09:56

            @Euphemistic: To be clear - I have no real issue with road user charges or fuel excise.

            Roads are expensive to build and maintain, and the people who use the roads should contribute towards those costs.

            My point was that it's always been about raising revenue (by definition) and the direct link between fuel excise revenue and road maintenance was removed way back in 1992.

  • DashCam AKA Rolts on 09/09/2025 - 20:29
    +10

    E.V.s kms get charged cents. Cheers.

    • pegaxs on 10/09/2025 - 07:57
      +5

      Road User Tax makes rants. Cheers!

  • plmko on 09/09/2025 - 20:36
    +14

    When making a post at least try not to make yourself look like a fool in the heading.

  • cashless on 09/09/2025 - 20:39
    +2

    Car depreciation: what if you EV car is only worth $6000, will you pay half of its value every year?

    I pay twice, maybe thrice the value of my shitbox ICE every year in fuel excise. I never complained on OzBargain about it coz I love motoring

  • JimmyF on 09/09/2025 - 21:38
    +6

    The tax is to fund the road maintenance.

    Oh no it isn't… just like the near 50% tax on Fuel isn't used for roads.

    Would you buy an EV if you had to pay that tax?

    Would you buy an ICE if you had to pay nearly 50% tax on the fuel you put in it?

    • Euphemistic on 09/09/2025 - 22:46
      +4

      Would you buy an ICE if you had to pay nearly 50% tax on the fuel you put in it?

      this is very important message. Many of the 'i dont like EVs' statements bring up points that virtually apply equally to ICE.

  • pegaxs on 09/09/2025 - 23:11
    +17

    Oh good, more anti-ev bullshit… has 12 hours passed already? Time to check the clocks.

    Anyway, 0.25 cents is NOT $3,000/year unless you do 1.2 million km per year.

    The road user tax is going to be about $0.029, or 2.9¢, but I do love it when people think that 0.25 dollars is the same as 0.25 cents.(ironically, neither of them are even close to 2.9¢)

    For an average ev, it is going to add about $360 per year to ownership, not that $3,000 bullshit you are espousing. So, how about you remove your foot from your mouth and fix your title and brain vomit rhetoric post, and post some links to actual government discussions and not made up shit you heard on SkyNews or some other pathetic Murdoch propaganda outlet.

    Trucks cause significantly more road wear than cars

    Yeah, and they pay A LOT more in registrations because of it, AND they use a shit load more fuel and therefore pay WAY more excise then you do in your shitter.

    Car depreciation: what if you EV car is only worth $6000, will you pay half of its value every year?

    Find me a $6,000 EV. And you are saying this like it doesn’t apply to ICE vehicles. Driving around in a $2k shitter and putting $3k worth of fuel in it a year.

    Charging an EV at a public station costs more by kilometer than petrol

    What? Where did you get that bullshit from? Last DC charger I used cost about $0.60/kWh. Or about the equivalent of paying about $1.20~ish per litre for fuel. Also, most people with EV’s predominantly charge at home for about $0.08/kWh or free from solar or electric retailer deals.

    Liberal Party does not believe climate change, so why care about renewable energy?

    ThE LiBeRaL pArTy… No one gives a flying (fropanity) about the party that isn’t in power that had their arses kicked completely in at the last federal election. At this point I’m just shocked you didn’t drop in one of those “wOkE LeFtiEz!” Monikers to really dog whistle out to the troops

    FFS.

    • LanceVance on 10/09/2025 - 09:08
      -6

      Jeepers, there's stupid posts and then clearly those who drastically overreact to them.

      • borrisz0r on 11/09/2025 - 06:20
        +2

        Not sure why this was negged, you're not wrong…

        Some people need take a breath before responding.

    • OzzyOzbourne on 11/09/2025 - 12:29

      How do you get electricity for $0.08/kWh? Cheapest I've seen is around $0.23

      • borrisz0r on 11/09/2025 - 13:17

        Powershop have an EV charging period as part of their plans. Essentially you get free power 12-2pm or overnight 12-4am. I think it's at $0.05.

        I used it for a while, shifted my hot water service and everything else I could into this period.

        They do sting you with higher charges at other times though, (e.g. shoulder) so you need to weigh it up

  • 3dprintdeals on 09/09/2025 - 23:32

    where is your poll

  • Fredfloresjr on 10/09/2025 - 06:08
    +9

    Nah. Won’t go back to Petrol. Never. 👎🏼

  • ForkSnorter on 10/09/2025 - 07:51
    +3

    Are you trying to create a scare campaign with your deliberate mistakes?

    1. The tax is for all vehicles, not just EVs.

    2. It would be around $300, not $3000.

  • ForkSnorter on 10/09/2025 - 07:57
    +7

    Instead of panicking about the lost fuel excise which they claim is essential to maintain the roads, governments should focus on providing more comprehensive, reliable, high-speed public transport that reduces the need for Australians to drive everywhere.

    Driving almost anywhere in an Australian capital city is hell nowadays. I moved out of Brisbane because the traffic was so bad. That was the main reason. Every time I go back, even for half a day, I hate it, and can't wait to get out. It's worse than Sydney and Melbourne in my opinion. The traffic congestion even affects the public transport because most of the buses have to travel on the roads.

    How can a less populated city have worse traffic than a more densely populated one? Well, that's just bad city planning. Bad decisions by road/transport departments. Lack of investment into comprehensive public transport solutions. Compare Tokyo traffic to Brisbane and you'll know what I'm talking about. Yet, Tokyo has 30 times the population density of Brisbane.

    Australian governments (both federal state) have been locked into a roads-first mindset for so long while population growth outpaces infrastructure, it's difficult to not call the politicians mentally challenged. They have poured billions and billions into endless M1 upgrades for decades and decades, yet there is still no high-speed rail on the Eastern side of Australia, where most people live. With the exception of inner city Sydney, Brisbane, or Melbourne, public transport is so sparse and inconvenient it may as well not exist.

    • fisherfriendman on 10/09/2025 - 09:37
      +2

      It's inevitable, because Australians in general, even those in metropolitan areas, generally prefer to live in houses with a yard rather than in apartments. I wish governments had the nous to create a Department of Urban Living to cater to Australians' needs for actually living in an urban space, including parks, transport, high-rise and density living, strata rules, and apartment living familiarisation.

    • ThithLord on 10/09/2025 - 09:48
      +1

      Maybe one more lane'll fix it?

  • stuffandthat on 10/09/2025 - 08:32
    +7

    I'll be saving $60 a week by not buying fuel. So in a year I'll be saving $3120. A $400 tax sounds reasonable to me - I'll still be in front.

    • whyisave on 10/09/2025 - 21:35
      -3

      I'll still be in front.

      …so far.

  • tanksinatra on 10/09/2025 - 08:35
    -3

    Ignoring the obvious calculation error in your figures.

    There is a legitimate problem with the RUC that it would disincentivise EV’s if it was only levied on electric vehicles and hybrids. After all, who wants to swap a fuel bill for a RUC bill? Given the $10-20k premium that an electric vehicle costs, no one is going to agree to pay that if it means more taxes.

    I suspect instead that the government is likely to levy the RUC on all vehicles, and use the existing fuel excise as a fossil-fuel ‘disincentive’. That way they can keep the EV transition going and make a bit more money on the side.

  • payless69 on 10/09/2025 - 08:58
    +1

    This is a LINEAR wank tax!!

    Socialists eventually find their only brain cell and amend it…

  • SlickMick on 10/09/2025 - 09:02

    Regarding road repairs, I think a far bigger levy on trucks would be the way to go. Yes, the price of everything would go up, but we could have great roads. Surely the trucking companies would appreciate better roads too??

    • gromit on 11/09/2025 - 07:32

      Trucks already have huge road levies/registration to account for their damage as well as paying excise on their large fuel consumption.

      • SlickMick on 11/09/2025 - 08:44

        It's clearly not enough

  • Far Cough on 10/09/2025 - 09:06
    -1

    Just buy a V8 and keep it forever

    • MS Paint on 10/09/2025 - 09:21
      -1

      Mild cammed 304 for the win. Sounds so good.

      • Far Cough on 10/09/2025 - 09:49
        -1

        I’d like one with power, maybe a S63B44B or similar.

    • Charity on 10/09/2025 - 10:27

      They are literally already taxed higher (rego price takes into account number of cylinders). It is also inevitable that that rego will become astronomically high to ensure the masses “stay inline”.

      They will only be a rich mans toy in the not too distant future. Sadly, Even most normies on here WANT that. Keep voting Liblab! Lol

      • Far Cough on 10/09/2025 - 10:35

        Is liblab some new party?

        • Charity on 10/09/2025 - 10:41

          No. Try to keep up. Grampa may have had the Liberals or Labor. But we have LibLab

      • Randolph Duke on 10/09/2025 - 12:13
        +1

        (rego price takes into account number of cylinders)

        Not all states do this.

  • Odin on 10/09/2025 - 09:07
    +7

    What a scam

    Cars basically cause zero damage to the roads. The idea that it's to offset road maintenance is pulling the wool over our eyes.

    • Charity on 10/09/2025 - 10:36
      +1

      Most aussies are sheep these days, so head in the sand and wool in the eyes is preferred lol

    • Randolph Duke on 10/09/2025 - 12:14
      +1

      So roads never need repair?

      • Odin on 10/09/2025 - 20:20

        roads only trafficked by cars almost never need repairs, it's heavy vehicles that cause damage

    • Dr Ginger on 10/09/2025 - 13:24

      But cars do benefit from using roads and they do degrade over time, not just from heavy vehicles.

      Isn't it fair that there is some level of contribution to their creation and maintenance?

      • Charmoffensive on 11/09/2025 - 12:33

        I contribute tax towards schools, but i will never have kids.

        It's as fair as that. which is to say, it's completely irrelevant.

    • joelmuzz on 12/09/2025 - 17:53

      They still use the roads which require building and maintaining over the years. Fuel excise contributes most of the road budget (regardless of it it all mixes I to general revenue), so is fair that EV contributes an equivalent per km rate.

      If every vehicle magically turned into an EV overnight then that would be a $15B hole in the budget which has to be made up from somewhere.

  • hawthornandrew on 10/09/2025 - 09:09

    Look at the practicality of it.
    Due to the fact that it is an excise it must be done by the Commonwealth, not the states. You will have to submit at regular intervals how your speedo reading. It will be an honour system. While the states can have police checking the readings when they do random breath tests and so on the commonwealth has no facility to check the honesty of your statements.

    Who is going to be honest about how much you have travelled in the past year?

    • drewbytes on 10/09/2025 - 09:56
      +1

      For states that have annual roadworthy inspections (e.g. NSW), I imagine it would be done at that time by the inspector. NSW already records kms at each roadworthy which you can view online to help prevent odometer tampering.

      • hawthornandrew on 10/09/2025 - 15:25

        Yes, that is the state that does that. The Commonwealth cannot do that unless they get more staff to police it.

        • joelmuzz on 12/09/2025 - 17:58

          The states will police it, since the feds distribute that tax back to them.
          Not that hard to require quarterly km reports, under penalty of fraud if a random check at an RBT or from dealership records (most EV have sophisticated computers with detailed logs) catches them out.

          The states already know a lot from their proliferation of OCR cameras on hwy patrol and roadside cameras. So a blatant lie will get caught out just by the camera point to point estimations.

  • Ryanek on 10/09/2025 - 09:10
    +7

    Charging an EV at a public station costs more by kilometer than petrol

    Doubt

    • Cluster on 10/09/2025 - 10:46
      +3

      Even if it did, how many people charge at public chargers? Everyone avoids doing so if at all possible. Cost to charge an EV at home, maybe 10c/kWh at most off peak. Basically free when the sun is shining. Cost at a public charger? Usually 30 to 60c/kWh.

      There's a public charger near my workplace at a busy shopping centre. Over two years I've seen the charger used just three times.

  • drewbytes on 10/09/2025 - 09:59
    +4

    Spending $360 on RUC to save ~ $2,000 on petrol - sounds good to me.

    • freeb1e4me on 11/09/2025 - 20:32
      -1

      Cost more to fast charge your ev than paying for petrol

      • blehgg on 12/09/2025 - 10:55
        +1

        Had mine for 2 years.. fast charged twice on road trips. Both times were free :)

        95% of charging at home during OVO free power hours / overnight. Trickle charged while on road trips.

        I don't miss the $100 fuel refills - still got 1 ICE (but so leaning towards replacing it)

        Depends on your usage I guess - same as charging your phone.

      • changyang1230 on 12/09/2025 - 11:43
        +2

        Depending on where you charge and how efficient your car is, it's not necessarily worse.

        My long range Tesla is not the most efficient (RWD versions seems to be much better), at highway speed it uses around 180Wh/km.

        In my state, the statewide charging network charges 0.60 per kWh.

        At 180Wh/km, that is 0.18 * 0.60 = $0.108 per km.

        At highway speed my previous car was around 7L/100km, and current petrol price is 1.60/L at the lowest. This makes 0.07 * 1.60 = $0.102 per km.

        Accounting for margins of error these two figures are functionally equal. Obviously people could compare different EV and different ICE for this calculation, but in my scenario and with the two cars of similar class, this is my finding.

        Naturally this is only the worst case scenario for EV during long distance road trips. In vast majority of situations, my home charging for EV is 0.08 per kWh using off peak grid energy, and almost free using solar.

  • smartazz104 on 10/09/2025 - 10:16
    +3

    Charging an EV at a public station costs more by kilometer than petrol

    Show your maths please.

    • tanksinatra on 10/09/2025 - 10:48
      -2

      I'm not the OP but some of the EV chargers around here are asking $0.83/kWh. As a really rough estimation you need about 60kWh to travel as far as 30L of petrol. So you can see that some public EV chargers might potentially be more expensive than petrol from the service station.

      Obviously petrol (and electricity) prices fluctuate a lot, and some cars are more efficient than others.
      At the end of the day the main financial benefit associated EV's comes from home off-peak charging.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join