Green Services Direct

With a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars due to come into effect from 2030 followed by a further ban on the sale of new hybrids being introduced from 2035, new car buyers will have a choice of buying either a battery-electric or hydrogen fuelled vehicle. These bans will not stop the buying or selling of used petrol, diesel or hybrid cars after these dates. With the lack of both affordable technology and refuelling infrastructure in place, hydrogen fuelled vehicles will not be a viable option for some time, if ever.

These moves are aimed at cutting down the carbon emissions from the continued use of fossil fuels such as petrol and diesel. There are also greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere during the building of cars, be they fossil fuel powered or electric and there is no difference between them at that stage. The same cannot be said of the batteries used to power an electric vehicle. These batteries are manufactured using lithium, one of the rarest metals in the world, which like all metals, needs to be mined. Mining lithium releases greenhouse gases as does the process to refine it and manufacture the battery. This means that the manufacture of a battery electric vehicle with a battery of at least 60kWh in capacity, which will give a range of around 300 miles between charges, will release in the region of 9 tonnes of CO2 more than the manufacture of a conventional fossil fuelled vehicle.

However the manufacture of a vehicle is only the start of its life cycle and it is the overall journey from manufacture to scrappage that needs to be considered when looking at the green credentials of an electric vehicle

When a petrol or diesel fuelled vehicle is replaced by a new electric one which is being recharged using electric vehicle charge points around the country, either public or home based, this will add an additional load on the national grid. This extra demand on the national grid will in all probability be served at this stage, by power stations burning fossil fuels. UK electricity generated by renewable sources is still only around 45% of our normal demand, with any surge or increase in demand being met by conventional power stations. This means that while electric vehicles do not produce any tail pipe exhaust emissions, recharging their batteries does indirectly cause further CO2 emissions from conventional fossil fuelled power stations. Until such times as we are able to generate the majority of our electricity from renewable sources, the CO2 emissions caused by recharging electric vehicle batteries will be comparable to those previously caused by petrol or diesel vehicle use. This situation can be averted in the short term, by the vehicle owner installing solar panels and storage batteries at home and recharging their vehicle from this arrangement, but raises another question, that of cost.

 Comparing new car prices, a Tesla Model 3 is priced around £48,500, whereas a petrol engined Mini Hatchback can cost around £22,500, as opposed to an equivalent Mini Electric which carries a price tag of roughly £31,000. A petrol driven Peugeot 208 can be bought for under £20,000, while the electric version can cost over £30,000. These price differences are due to the relatively low numbers of electric vehicles being produced at present and the cost of the battery technology being imbedded into the vehicles.

As with CO2 emissions, we need to judge the cost of owning and running an electric vehicle on its life cycle cost not just its purchase price. With the present volatility in the energy market it is difficult to predict fuel costs accurately, but at today’s prices, fuelling a medium sized diesel car to drive for the average annual mileage in the UK would cost around £1,200. To charge the same vehicle for the same mileage, home charging would cost around £900, assuming the recent government announced recent two-year energy price guarantee of £2,500 continues.

The cost of charging at home under the new price cap of 34p per kWh (Kilowatt Hour) equates to 12.5p per mile. Charging using public charging points can vary in cost from 55p per kWh or 20.2p per mile, to 65p per kWh which equates to 23.9p per mile. An equivalent mid-sized diesel SUV running cost could be around 20p per mile, with a petrol driven vehicle being around 21p per mile. On that basis to achieve a cost saving on day to day running, you would need to be charging mostly from home.

There are other savings to take into consideration when contemplating an electric vehicle. There is no road tax attached to an electric vehicle, at present, showing an annual saving of £165 in most instances, a saving which may be further topped up by not being required to pay inner city congestion charges. Insurance premiums for electric vehicles appear to be lower than for the equivalent petrol or diesel vehicle and servicing costs should be lower as there are fewer moving parts to be maintained and no engine oil or oil filters to be changed.

As things stand at the moment, there appears limited incentive to invest in an electric vehicle (a self-charging Hybrid maybe an option in the short term). Petrol and diesel prices are at an all-time high but appear to be falling back slightly. Electricity prices are also at an all-time high but look as if they may either stay at their present level or increase at the end of the present two year price cap. This makes it very difficult to justify paying a premium of around 40% to buy an electric vehicle at present. As more of our generated electricity comes from renewable sources, and the level of CO2 emitted falls, the argument for electric vehicles may become more compelling, both financially and from an emissions point of view.

Until you decide to invest in an electric vehicle, it might be worth noting that the lifetime emissions of a petrol car versus a diesel are close to identical. Petrol engines produce lower emissions for every gallon of fuel burned, but this is offset by the fact that diesels are more efficient and burn less fuel than a petrol over the same distance.

It also makes sense to consider what fuel suits your driving. If you have a high motorway mileage, a modern diesel could actually produce fewer emissions than comparable petrol. If most of your driving is in town, then a petrol model's cleaner exhaust emissions make it the better option.