NZ EV Drivers Save $35,000 in fuel Over Lifetime of Car

Charging your EV can cost only $380 per year. Photo: Andrei Diomidov

As the Middle East crisis continues to push petrol prices up for New Zealanders, new data released from Evnex has revealed that the average electric vehicle driver saves $2,364 in fuel costs compared to a petrol car, every year.

New Zealand’s leading smart EV charger manufacturer says that saving adds up to $34,987.20 over the average age of a New Zealand vehicle, which is 14.8 years.

Evnex’s data is drawn from its network of 9,000 chargers throughout New Zealand.

It shows that charging an EV at home costs just $380 per year on average, compared to approximately $2,744 for petrol.*

Put another way, a full year of EV charging costs less than eight weeks of filling up at the pump.

Ed Harvey, CEO of Evnex, says EVs are cheaper to run than people think.

“Most people know EVs are cheaper to run, but very few realise quite how dramatic the gap is,” says Ed Harvey, CEO of Evnex.

“When you break it down, the average EV owner is spending $7.30 a week on charging – barely more than an almond latte. The idea that you can power your EV for a year for the same amount of money that a petrol driver spends in under two months is pretty staggering.”

The figures put EV running costs on par with common household appliances. At $380 per year, charging an electric vehicle costs roughly the same as running two extra fridges in the home.

Harvey says the data reflects real-world charging behaviour, not theoretical estimates.

“This isn’t modelled on lab conditions or manufacturer claims. It’s actual data from New Zealand homes, reflecting how people really charge their cars day to day,” says Harvey.

“With more than 80 percent of New Zealand’s electricity coming from renewable sources, this isn’t just a cost story – it’s an environmental one too. Every EV charged at home here is running on some of the cleanest grid energy in the world.”

New Zealand currently has more than 135,000 registered plug-in electric vehicles, making up around 2.8 percent of the total vehicle fleet.

* Note; the figure for petrol cost was calculated at a figure of $2.69 per litre so would be significantly higher today.