5.4L supercharged V8 vs EQC running costs

[philnewmerc]

On holiday (450 miles from home), cottage nearby has an EQC on charge and my cls55 is sat across the way looking mega cool but neolithic as usual (I love it but know it's days are numbered). Just out of curiosity thought I'd compare some costs:

Travelling at 85mph (as is the unofficial uk speed limit ) I estimate (from forum posts) the EQE consumption will be very lucky to get 1.5 m/kwh, but I will be generous. At 70 mph it'll be about 2.3 m/kwh (trip computer not true calculation - according to a Carwow test). The AMG gets about 22-23 mpg (real not trip computer) at 85 (real not speedo) and about 25-26 mpg at 70 mph. Long term mixed driving m/kwh seems to be around 2 ish mpkwh in cooler climates like the UK. My personal mixed mpg is around 22 mpg.

So:
Charging on the motorway is 75p/kwh, at a consumption rate of 2.3m/kwh at 70 mph that's 33 pence per mile for EQC. AMG cost (on motorway using 98 ron at exorbitant £1.80/L) is 751 pence per gallon, so at 25 mpg that's 30 pence per mile. I.e. slightly cheaper (cheaper still if i drove 2 miles off motorway to get cheap petrol).

But at 85 mph:
Charging on the motorway is 75p/kwh, at a consumption rate of 1.5 m/kwh at 85 mph that's 50 pence per mile for EQC. AMG cost (on motorway using 98 ron at £1.80/L) is 751 pence per gallon, so at 22 mpg that's 34 pence per mile. I.e. much cheaper.

Now overall daily use mpg vs m/kwh and charging at home:
From forum posts and tests, eg Auto Express, when driven pretty gently, as EV drivers tend to do, 2.4 m/kwh ave seems a generous assumption but I'll stick to it (2 seems closer). Note though that if I drove like an EV driver I'd get a pretty good 25 mpg (21-22 is my own swifter-driving average) i.e at normal fuel prices of 700p for a gallon that is 28p/mile. Off peak cheapest electricity deal for my address is 9.5 p/kwh (and 32 p in the day plus 57 p standing charge). EVs use about 15% more kwh than rated due to heat losses (and preheating) while charging. So to put 150 miles in the EQC in the early hours of the morning will need 150m/2.4m/kwh*9.5p/kwh*115%= 683 pence (£6.83). For the AMG it would need 150m* 28p/m = 4200 pence (£42). Massive difference but with such a small range this figure assumes non-exorbitant charging is required to get home!

Unfortunately I do not have easy access to charge overnight and I doubt the majority do either... On a plus point, I can use my heating and air con whenever I please . Obviously I have ignored road tax, depreciation, etc etc etc.

The real world range of the EQC seems to be about 150 miles, but that's assumes you can get it up to 100% and don't mind going down to close to 0%.

Conclusion:
EVs are perfect if you drive around your local area a lot, or town, don't go more than 75 miles (150 total) away from home, you drive slowly on motorways (EV forums are full of people chatting about slip streaming lorries ) , you have a convenient place to plug in at home overnight, don't go on holiday, don't charge outside of home, and probably most importantly, you are a top rate tax payer who essentially gets the car for 40% off list courtesy of the government via salary sacrifice or BIC.. on that front it just seemed like an excellent deal tbh, although the EV equivalent car does tend to cost 30 to 40% more than the ice model anyway? For a private buyer I am still not sure they make sense except as town cars where they make excellent sense.

 

[W1ghty]

On holiday (450 miles from home), cottage nearby has an EQC on charge and my cls55 is sat across the way looking mega cool but neolithic as usual (I love it but know it's days are numbered). Just out of curiosity thought I'd compare some costs:

Travelling at 85mph (as is the unofficial uk speed limit ) I estimate (from forum posts) the EQE consumption will be very lucky to get 1.5 m/kwh, but I will be generous. At 70 mph it'll be about 2.3 m/kwh (trip computer not true calculation - according to a Carwow test). The AMG gets about 22-23 mpg (real not trip computer) at 85 (real not speedo) and about 25-26 mpg at 70 mph. Long term mixed driving m/kwh seems to be around 2 ish mpkwh in cooler climates like the UK. My personal mixed mpg is around 22 mpg.

So:
Charging on the motorway is 75p/kwh, at a consumption rate of 2.3m/kwh at 70 mph that's 33 pence per mile for EQC. AMG cost (on motorway using 98 ron at exorbitant £1.80/L) is 751 pence per gallon, so at 25 mpg that's 30 pence per mile. I.e. slightly cheaper (cheaper still if i drove 2 miles off motorway to get cheap petrol).

But at 85 mph:
Charging on the motorway is 75p/kwh, at a consumption rate of 1.5 m/kwh at 85 mph that's 50 pence per mile for EQC. AMG cost (on motorway using 98 ron at £1.80/L) is 751 pence per gallon, so at 22 mpg that's 34 pence per mile. I.e. much cheaper.

Now overall daily use mpg vs m/kwh and charging at home:
From forum posts and tests, eg Auto Express, when driven pretty gently, as EV drivers tend to do, 2.4 m/kwh ave seems a generous assumption but I'll stick to it (2 seems closer). Note though that if I drove like an EV driver I'd get a pretty good 25 mpg (21-22 is my own swifter-driving average) i.e at normal fuel prices of 700p for a gallon that is 28p/mile. Off peak cheapest electricity deal for my address is 9.5 p/kwh (and 32 p in the day plus 57 p standing charge). EVs use about 15% more kwh than rated due to heat losses (and preheating) while charging. So to put 150 miles in the EQC in the early hours of the morning will need 150m/2.4m/kwh*9.5p/kwh*115%= 683 pence (£6.83). For the AMG it would need 150m* 28p/m = 4200 pence (£42). Massive difference but with such a small range this figure assumes non-exorbitant charging is required to get home!

Unfortunately I do not have easy access to charge overnight and I doubt the majority do either... On a plus point, I can use my heating and air con whenever I please . Obviously I have ignored road tax, depreciation, etc etc etc.

The real world range of the EQC seems to be about 150 miles, but that's assumes you can get it up to 100% and don't mind going down to close to 0%.

Conclusion:
EVs are perfect if you drive around your local area a lot, or town, don't go more than 75 miles (150 total) away from home, you drive slowly on motorways (EV forums are full of people chatting about slip streaming lorries ) , you have a convenient place to plug in at home overnight, don't go on holiday, don't charge outside of home, and probably most importantly, you are a top rate tax payer who essentially gets the car for 40% off list courtesy of the government via salary sacrifice or BIC.. on that front it just seemed like an excellent deal tbh, although the EV equivalent car does tend to cost 30 to 40% more than the ice model anyway? For a private buyer I am still not sure they make sense except as town cars where they make excellent sense.

Good write up buddy . I agree that an EV makes sense locally as a small shopping car . More so if they can break the link between electric and gas prices .
Still can’t help thinking that my £3k non dpf diesel that does 40mpg is worth keeping at the moment rather than buying anything electric

 

[Borys]

Great write up!!!
I agree electric make sense driving around
There is a funny video I watched. Blokes drives to Poland from UK in electric car…it takes him 36 hours vs 16 hours in diesel car (1000mile trip), Cost of the trip is nearly the same….huge hustle to charge on a way.
EV’s have s long way to go….in 50 years probably they will be forgotten and v8’s will roar the streets

 

[philnewmerc]

A few on my street have them PHEVs and EVs and they are all on some kind of tax break, not eco warriors. The tax implications are huge and drive the luxury EV sales. I think EVs are great but my job does not have the salary sacrifice/company car culture plus I perhaps unwisely far prefer to own what I drive and don't treat my car like a white good. I'd be very tempted if it did but on the other hand charging seems such a faff I think I'm too lazy to put up with it at the moment! I think in 20 years they'll have back pedalled on the ICE ban and have some ICE cars on renewable fuel or hydrogen, EVs for shorter jobs, hybrids for most things, and all basically judged on CO2 output and not an arbitrary "BEV is the future" because politicians eventually realise they are rubbish engineers. Best example is uk gov 20 years ago encouraging diesel cars (unpopular fuel at the time) to reduce co2 and then realise it was clogging up lungs instead. I cannot see there either being enough resources to make batteries for a 100% EV world or that the majority of households without off road charging will put up with very high charge costs

 

[clk320x]

To be fair, you’ve been ripped off for electricity and your car has shocking consumption per mile and range for a modern EV. I think it’s more a case of Mercedes EVs have far to go and aren’t a good choice for long range drivers… not having a charging network is a big downside….as you are at the mercy of motorway rip off chargers!

 

[Londonscottish]

To be fair your car has shocking consumption per mile.

What's shocking about it? It's a performance car.

 

[clk320x]

What's shocking about it? It's a performance car.

I’m talking about his EV - not the AMG.

 

[pioneercollector]

Hmmm i have been running a small fleet of Nissan ENV200 vans since 2015, and for the city routes and the outlying districts they are excellent, as soon as you feel the need to step out of the immediate area then the problems begin. I have just ordered two of the new 'Townstars' which is basically the new version of the eNV200 vans made in cahoots with Renault. I must say that the price now is a LOT more than the initial price i paid in 2015! And the range has only increased by around 70 miles on a full charge....
My own personal choice of vehicle is the MB SL500 and the Honda CR-V 2.2 diesel .... not going to change this status.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I’m talking about his EV - not the AMG.

I think the EV is a hypothetical scenario inspired by an EV armed down the road.

 

[Jobsworth]

Just back from a long weekend wedding anniversary in the Lake District. Just me and the bride, we took the SLK55AMG. Perfect car for the trip. Nice mix of relaxed touring (75%) and a bit of hooning (25%). Honestly, £ per grin you are going to struggle to beat this, and if you are talking electric it’s never going to cut it for me…

The sound of the exhaust reverberating from the canyon sides down the Honister pass… orgasmatron. Matron.

 

[Jobsworth]

 

[Red C220]

We have two city type EV's and have (breifly) had a couple of performance EV's.

When the leases are up next year we won't be replacing them with EV's again. We'll be getting a petrol runarounds.

You can massage running costs and figures and tax breaks all you like but the one huge elephant in the room you can't escape with EV's is their depreciation vs the closest ICE version. The disparity is so large that any saving in running costs is completely wiped (and some) by the sheer horror of the depreciation curve.

I can see the logic in owning one in Central London with the punitive taxation that has come in to force. Outside there, completely irrelevant.

 

[clk320x]

I think the EV is a hypothetical scenario inspired by an EV armed down the road.

Ahhh

 

[philnewmerc]

Interesting comments
Just to be clear: I have an 18 yo cls55. Some of my neighbours have posh EVs or PHEVs (rarely plugged in!).
And the EQC is a neighbour near where I'm staying on hols... Was just comparing some costs out of curiosity that's all.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Ahhh

“Armed“ should have been “parked”

 

[markjay]

EDIT

 

[noogieman]

Eclectic Vehicles eat tires fast.
I red an article about EV cars and total mileage cost is very steep buying and fitting new larger sized tires on EV cars.
Tires for EV cars wear out much faster than on petrol/diesel cars.

This is something automotive industry doesn't inform about the downside of tire costs.
Buying a Scalextric racetrack is much cheaper and keeing your old petrol car.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Interesting comments
Just to be clear: I have an 18 yo cls55. Some of my neighbours have posh EVs or PHEVs (rarely plugged in!).
And the EQC is a neighbour near where I'm staying on hols... Was just comparing some costs out of curiosity that's all.

Sorry, but you've (deliberately) missed the point of why those neighbours have new posh EVs. Or PHEV's that are seldom plugged in.

They've got them as income tax dodges. They're essentially a tax-free way of avoiding both income tax AND national insurance.

We can't just dismiss or ignore this. This is why both the EV's and the PHEV's collapse in value three or four years on. It's not because they're electric, it's because we've deliberately put in a tax regime to support their initial sale.

 

[noogieman]

EV's are mostly for fanatic tree huggers.
I wouldn't buy one, I can't hook it up and charge it there's no outlet where I live.
So it's still very problematic for most people to own an EV

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

On holiday (450 miles from home), cottage nearby has an EQC on charge and my cls55 is sat across the way looking mega cool but neolithic as usual (I love it but know it's days are numbered). Just out of curiosity thought I'd compare some costs:

So, re the elephant above.... Your neighbour's £67k EQC is probably company owned, and expensed.

It's is barely costing him anything, in financing, depreciation, road fund licence or fuel. The company is picking up the £10k a year bill for four years. (£7k payments, tax, insurance, maintenance)

He's proud of it. And his company is probably pleased that he's pleased with it, because a) it's a status symbol - for the company and for himself;
b) they'll be paying him less because he's got that cute motor as a part of his compensation plan

He's not a tree hugger. He can't afford an ICE engine on his company plan.