Cost of Running Electric Vehicle in India VS Fuel Vehicle

What is the cost of running an electric vehicle in India?

In this article, we will derive how the running cost of an Electric Vehicle is very low (by about 80-85%) as compared to a fuel car.

By Arjun D Pawar 30 April 202033547 views

Cost of running an electric vehicle in India is comparatively low to a traditional (petrol/ diesel) vehicle owing to a number of factors. The fuel cost is quite high and also the distance covered by an EV per charge is quite higher.

Price of Fuel is increasing day by day in India even though Crude Oil is at its historic low worldwide. No matter the price of crude oil in the world, in India, the average rate of fuel will remain at Rs. 90/ Ltr & Rs. 100/ Ltr for Diesel & Petrol respectively.

Cost of Running an Electric Vehicle in India: Scenario 1

We will take 2 simple scenarios and calculate the cost of running an EV, Petrol Car & Diesel Car.

Scenario 1: Calculation for 1 month
Assumptions:
a. Daily travel is 50 km
b. Cost of Petrol: Rs. 100/ Ltr
c. Cost of Diesel: Rs. 90/ Ltr
d. Cost of Electricity: Rs. 6 / Unit (Home charging)

Description	Electric Vehicle	Petrol Vehicle	Diesel Vehicle
Range or Mileage	120 (km/ charge)	16 (km/ ltr)	18 (km/ ltr)
Total Electricity Consumption for a single charge (varies for every vehicle)	15 units
Electricity Usage (total electricity 15 units / range 120)	0.125 unit / km
Cost of Electricity per km	0.75 Rs / km
Cost of Running an EV per day (0.75*50)	37.5 Rs
Daily Fuel Consumption (Distance [50kms] / Mileage)		3.125 Ltrs	2.77 Ltrs
Cost of Running per day ( Daily fuel consumption x Fuel Price)		312.5 Rs	249.3 Rs
Hence, the 1-month cost of running a Vehicle	1,125/- Rs	9,375/- Rs	7,479/- Rs

Example of Cost of Running an Electric Vehicle in India

Conclusion: Cost of Running an EV (per month) is 85-90% cheaper as compared to a Fuel Vehicle

Also Read: How to setup Electric Charging station in India

Cost of Running an EV Car in India: Scenario 2

Scenario 2: Calculation for 5 years
Assumptions:
a. 5 years Distance Travel is 60,000 km
b. Cost of Petrol: Rs. 100/ Ltr
c. Cost of Diesel: Rs. 90/ Ltr
d. Cost of Electricity: Rs. 7 / Unit (Home charging)

Description	Electric Vehicle	Petrol Vehicle	Diesel Vehicle
Cost of Vehicle	9,50,000/-	8,00,000/-	9,00,000/-
Range or Mileage	120 (km/ charge)	16 (km/ ltr)	18 (km/ ltr)
Maintenance cost for 5 years	15,000/-	40,000/-	50,000/-
Cost of Battery maintenance	35,000/-	0	0
Units of Power consumed	7,500 Units
Cost of Electricity in Rs.	52,500/-
Fuel Consumption		3,750 Ltrs	3,330 Ltrs
Cost of Fuel in Rs.		3,75,000/-	2,99,700/-
Hence Total Expense on Vehicle in 5 years	10,52,500/- Rs	18,75,000/- Rs	14,98,500/- Rs

Conclusion: Cost of Running an EV (for 5 years including vehicle cost) is 25-30% cheaper as compared to a Fuel Vehicle.

*Above calculations are based on assumptions.

Also Read: Government initiatives for the Electric Vehicle Industry

Points of concern for Electric Vehicle owners today in India: Following are the points of concern for an EV owner in India.

Time taken for a Single Charge: Normally a regular Electric Vehicles takes around 5-8 Hrs to get fully charged. On the other side, traditional vehicles can be refuelled within 2-3 minutes.
Availability of Charging Stations: In India, there are almost negligible charging stations available on highways and in cities, which makes it difficult to sustain an EV in long-distance runs.

Conclusion & Future: We have seen from the above calculations that Electric Vehicles are way cheaper than the traditional vehicles and not only do they SAVE MONEY; they are saving our PLANET EARTH as well.

EVs are contributing towards a cleaner and greener environment by helping reduce AIR pollution as well as NOISE pollution.

Calculate running cost of your vehicle and compare with EV running cost here at: https://evduniya.com/calculator

source

10 Comments

The calculations are right but the cost of vehicle is not considered as the current price. Because they are almost the double the price of internal combustion engine.

Arjun Pawar says:

21 September, 2020 at 9:42 pm

Dear Sir,
We have considered the cost of Electric Vehicle in scenario 2, major decision factor for Indian conditions is the monthly maintenance.

Reply

I think electric vehicles are more beneficial because there have lots of advantages. Thanks for sharing this post

Arjun Pawar says:

15 October, 2020 at 9:24 am

Welcome!

Reply

EV’s are future of India. Concern is their charging and pricing. However govt should make it mandatory by making law for oil pumps to insure of installing EV charging set ups. At the same time EV maker automobile companies must do R & D to get install solar paneled EV’s tops, so that most of the time EV’s don’t need a charging outlet.

Nihar Sarkar says:

4 May, 2021 at 12:27 pm

……But the price of EV car is almost double of fuel car in India!!!!

Reply
1. Arjun Pawar says:
  
  4 May, 2021 at 4:42 pm
  
  1. Price of EVs are expected to drop drastically in next 2-3 years
  2. Even though EVs are costly, they are still 10% cheaper than ICE overall, please check second scenario in the article.
  
  Reply

Sir,
In future if laws are not properly defined the EV charging station can charge people with what ever they want on hourly or single full charge basis. And concern of environmentalists is that dead batteries after their life is over are very hazardous for environmental as they are non degradable.