Electric car: calculate consumption - how it works

Electric cars are considered to be particularly environmentally friendly, but the wallet only pays off if you drive 30, 000 km a year. So you can calculate the consumption of your electric car.

Electric car - calculate consumption

The consumption of an electric vehicle is strongly dependent on the current ambient temperature, the nature of the road and your driving style. It is therefore very difficult to calculate the actual power consumption over 100 kilometers.

• The consumption of electric cars is given as watt-hours per kilometer (Wh / km). The work done is quantified with the unit "watt hour". So watt hour is the amount of power that can be done for an hour. Since this value can be influenced by many conditions, even the digital range display in the vehicle is not always exact.

Electric car - how to calculate your travel costs

The purchase of an electric vehicle only pays off from an approximate mileage of 30, 000 kilometers a year. Here you can see the actual costs that arise when using your electric companion.

Charge the electric vehicle at the household socket

We use an example for this: A kilowatt hour costs 0.30 euros and our vehicle requires 30 kW / h over 250 kilometers. To apply this amount of kilowatt hours, a household socket needs about 13 hours, with a so-called wall box this time can be reduced by three to four hours.

• If we multiply the price of a kilowatt hour by the required number and divide the total by the range, we get a price of 3.6 cents per kilometer, i.e. 3.60 euros per 100 kilometers. 30 cents * 30 kW / h = 900 cents 900 cents / 250 km = 3.6 cents per kilometer If we multiply the kilometer price by 100 km, we get a result of 3.60 euros per 100 km.

Prices at public charging stations

The composition of the price differs from provider to provider. Only a few charge per kW / h, although the price does not differ much from the household socket. Most charging stations calculate the current over the charging time. Here, a minute costs an average of two cents, an hour accordingly 1.20 euros.

Let's take the example from above, this electric car takes 5 hours to reach 30 kW / h for 250 km.

• Now let's calculate as follows: Time required (5 hours) * 1.20 euros we get a result of 6 euros for the entire tank load. That makes a price of 2.40 euros per 100 km.

Charging an electric car - our conclusion

So you have to calculate individually whether an electric car pays off for you. Of course, it also plays an important role wherever you have opportunities to charge anywhere.

• If you rely on fast charging at home, you should get a so-called wall box. Whether the purchase price pays off in the long term also depends on the mileage.
• Only charge your vehicle overnight, since you drive to work every morning, charging from the normal household socket may also be sufficient.
• Those who are often on the road, whether for business or pleasure, will mainly use a public charging station. More and more employers are also offering the charging stations in their company car park.

You can find more detailed information on charging electric cars at home in our next article.