Clear cost advantage of battery electric car vs combustion engine car with same emissions in 2030

By 2030, the total purchase, maintenance and operation costs of a battery electric vehicle will be significantly lower than those of a conventional car that emits the same amount of greenhouse gases, according to a study published by the Institute for Applied Ecology (Öko-Institut) and commissioned by the think tank Agora Verkehrswende. The emissions of conventional vehicles would be lowered by adding 100 percent renewable fuel (power-to-liquids, PtL) to diesel and petrol. The purchase, maintenance, and operation of an e-car would cost 5 to 23 percent less than even its cheapest conventional alternative, calculated on the basis of today’s regulatory and tax framework. This is mainly due to low maintenance and repair costs, as well as to low energy costs, which compensate for the high purchase price, says the study. The smaller the e-car’s range, the greater the cost advantage, write the researchers.

Find the study in German here.

For background, read the CLEW News Digest item Selective use of synthetic fuels essential to help decarbonise German transport, industry and heating – think tanks.

*Like the Clean Energy Wire, Agora Verkehrswende is a project funded by the Mercator Foundation and the European Climate Foundation.