How Much Does It Cost To Charge An EV?
- numocity
- September 28, 2023
In 2020, EV owners spent almost 60% less on fuel consumption as compared to conventional car owners. The EV sales for that globally reached around three-million threshold. A major reason for this was EV resulting in significant long-term savings compared to vehicles with internal combustion engines (ICE). It is estimated that in the near future prices of fuel are bound to increase being non-renewable energy. To establish sustainability in the automobile industry, electric vehicles are seen to be more efficient and less costly to operate. With different types of EV and chargers, let’s take a look at the factors, procedure and cost it takes to charge an EV.
TYPES OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES
There are four types of electric vehicles available:
- Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) – With no gas engine, Battery Electric Vehicles are all-electric cars that are fully powered by electricity. Considered the most efficient type of electric vehicle, BEV does not have any kind of Internal Combustion engine (ICE) causing zero emission. The majority of BEVs support fast charging using Level 2 charging at a charging station or can be charged at home.
- Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) – This electric vehicle runs both on ICE and the battery. The conventional internal combustion engine fuels the car traditionally and is also used to charge the empty battery of the EV through ‘regenerative braking’. This reduces fuel consumption and manual charging or plugging the cars into power outlets is no longer required.
- Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) – Just like HEV these vehicles use both ICE and battery to run the electric vehicle. Considered a more efficient choice than HEV, the PHEV lets the driver charge a vehicle’s battery with electricity rather than gas or fuel. This acts as an advantage as the vehicle can be driven in electric-only mode, or can run on ICE entirely if all battery charge is used up.
- Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) – FCEVs are Zero-Emission Vehicles powered by hydrogen gas that employ fuel cell technology to run the vehicle. The stored energy depends on the amount of hydrogen and the size of the fuel tank. The fuel’s chemical energy is converted to generate the electricity required to run an electric vehicle.
To Read More check out – Types of Electric Cars
Types of EV charger
- The slowest among all the EV Chargers, Level charger 1 is used to charge EVs through the charger within the car. Level 1 chargers are designed to be used in the garage where you can plug one end into any standard 120V outlet and the other end into the car. It takes almost 24 hours to fully charge your vehicle, the battery can last up to approximately 200 km.
- With the cost ranging from $1 to $5 an hour, the Level 2 charger can charge up to 28 miles per hour. It can easily be found anywhere in public and is considered to be the most efficient and economical among the three options.
- Direct Current Fast Charging (DCFC), popularly known as level 3 is much more developed than levels 1 and 2. Efficient enough to charge an empty battery in a minimum time span of 30 minutes, and costs between $10 to $30. Level 3 charges your car with direct current at a rate of 75 – 1,200 miles per hour. Unfortunately, not all cars support this charging model.
Charge an EV vs Gas Fuel Cost
In the recent past, with global events like Ukraine being invaded by Russia, the world has seen gas prices getting higher and more volatile. On an average gas prices have increased by almost $5 per gallon. Statistics reveal that Level 2 charging can cost roughly $10-45 to fully charge your vehicle’s battery.
In developing countries like India Domestic Electricity LT, Tariff Slabs vary from Rs 6-10 per unit. If charged at a charging station mathematically EV of 30.2 kWh capacity, will cost Rs 1- 2 per km including maintenance (wear and tear parts). On the other hand, petrol cars in India will cost an average of Rs 9-14 per km including maintenance on the car.
With these statistics, electric cars are now four to six times cheaper to drive. It is speculated that in near future, the average cost to charge an electric vehicle globally will range between $200 to $400. Whereas gas-fueled vehicles will cost between $1000 to $2000. With fewer parts than ICE-powered vehicles, EVs have lower maintenance costs that go up to 36% in 36 months as compared to similar gasoline-based vehicles.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO CHARGE AN EV CAR AT A CHARGING STATION?
The cost to charge an EV Car at a Charging Station can be determined by various factors. Some of them are the type of EV Charger, which car model you have, the company providing the charging services, demand at the charging port, etc. For example – On the average cost to charge your vehicle is between $0.40-$0.60 per kWh through Level 3 chargers. In the case of level 2 chargers, the cost decreases to approx $0.20 and $0.25 per kWh.
It is advisable to opt for a level 1 or 2 charger than a level 3 charger at any station due to economic efficiency
A level 1 charger is always cheaper than a level 2 charger. Level 2 approximately takes 1-2 hours to fully charge. On the other hand average charging time of Level 1, EV is 11-20 hours to fully charge. Level 3 chargers take about 15 minutes to charge your vehicle with 7kWh making it fit for commercial places.
A major advantage to charge an EV Car at a Charging Station is the reduction in time from around 8-9 hours to a maximum of 60 minutes. With the recent use of rapid chargers, the time charging time has been reduced to 30-40 minutes.
Cost to Charge an EV Car at Home
EV charging setup at home suffers a major disadvantage due to a lack of understanding among consumers regarding how to install the smart charging infrastructure.
Level 1: These chargers are the cheapest way to charge your electric car at home. Unfortunately, it takes approximately 8 to over 40 hours (depending on your car’s battery size). This makes it an apt option for overnight charging.
Level 2: Charging at home will take between 5 to 12 hours to fully charge using a 240-volt Level 2 charger. It is the most premium choice when setting up an EV charging infrastructure at home.
Level 3: Considered to be the most efficient and expensive home recharging system taking about 15 minutes to charge a 7kWh EV.
To gain an estimated average Charging Cost ($) of an electric vehicle one can simply multiply Electric Vehicle Battery Size (kWh) x Electricity Rate ($ per kWh).
Electric Scooter Charging Cost
In 2021, the estimated annual cost of operation for an EV two-wheeler is Rs 3.4 for every kilometre in India. An average electric scooter charger consumes about 3 kWh of electricity to charge the e-scooter fully. According to a report by CNBC TV, “The Ola electric scooter takes 3 kWh to charge. And it works out to three units to fully charge an average scooter.” The cost to charge an electric scooter majorly depends upon the electricity tariff in your area. On average Electric Scooter Charging cost in India is around ₹20 to ₹30. On average, an electric scooter charging cost in the United States is around 23 cents. Thus the annual price of charging high capacity electric scooters is approximately $7.10.
How Much Will Electric Vehicle Charging Cost You In India
In the future, the estimated market growth of EVs in India is around $150 billion by 2030. The charging cost in India ranges from Rs 6-10 per unit according to the India Domestic Electricity LT, Tariff Slabs. For example, depending on the electricity rate in your city The MG Motor ZS EV costs between 0.80 per km to 1.5 per km. In Mumbai according to BMC, the electricity rate is Rs 15 per unit. In Delhi, the low-tension charging of e-vehicles is around Rs 4.5 per unit. In the case of high-tension EVs, the price changes to Rs 5 per unit. The domestic rate per unit varies from Rs 3 to 8 per unit. The average charging cost of an EV that takes up to 20 and 30 units to be fully charged is approximately Rs.150-400 depending on where you reside. This includes the service charges cost at the public charging station. The cost will be higher at Rs 200-600 if you do it at home.
