Toronto Hydro predicts the annual savings from driving an electric vehicle over a gas one at between $1,000 and $2,500 per year.
Calculating fuel cost savings for an EV is not always easy. Toronto Hydro predicts the annual savings from driving an electric vehicle over a gas one at between $1,000 and $2,500 per year. But perhaps the best way to estimate savings is to go to the federal government’s fuel consumption ratings site (fcr-ccc.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca) where you can search and compare the annual cost for fuelling vehicles from as far back as 1995. It also allows you to personalize the results by inputting how many kilometres you drive, the percentage of city driving, fuel prices and electricity prices.
I tried this by comparing our older Pontiac Vibe hatchback with our Ford C-Max Energi’s annual fuel use, and then threw in the all-electric Hyundai Ioniq 5 AWD crossover I was test driving at the time. The site defaults gas to $1 per litre and 20,000 kilometres for its annual fuel cost, which resulted in estimates for the Vibe at $1,740 per year, versus the Ford plug-in hybrid at $995 and the larger Hyundai pure EV at $639.
Don’t take the default results too seriously as it underestimates the cost of gas, and overestimates the cost of charging, which most EV owners do during off-peak hours. The Vibe came out to $2,610 per year versus $383 for the Hyundai electric crossover to travel the same 20,000 kilometres, for a savings of $2,227.
It didn’t provide an estimate for our C-Max Energi. Given gas costs about 50 per more than the default setting, and higher winter consumption of both fuels, I’d estimate at least $1,900 for combined gas and electricity use.
Saving more than $2,000 a year is significant, and that extra money in your pocket every month is likely still an underestimation since even brand-new vehicles have a tough time achieving their official consumption numbers at the pump.
TAG: Michael Bettencourt bought his first EV in late 2011 and has followed the Canadian EV scene ever since. Follow him on Twitter @MCBet10court
Keyword: Calculating your EV savings