One of the really big advantages of electric cars over vehicles with conventional internal combustion engines is cheaper tariffs when “filling up”, as well as cheaper services. But now, electricity tariffs will increase drastically across Switzerland next year. As a result, driving an electric car in 2023 will cost around CHF 160 more than this year.
According to TCS calculations, Ms. and Mr. Schweizer currently pay an average of 560 francs per year for electricity to drive an electric car. This is eight percent of operating costs. In the next year these costs are likely to rise to 720 francs due to high electricity tariffs and therefore account for about ten percent of operating costs.
Internal combustion engines will also be more expensive to fill in 2023
But compared to a conventional VW Golf with a petrol engine, electric car drivers will continue to have a clear advantage next year, despite the increased electricity tariffs. Because in 2022, the annual average fuel cost of a gasoline Golf with similar mileage will be over 2,000 francs. This shows that even if the price of gasoline remains stable next year or even falls to the level of the previous year, the benefits for electric car drivers will continue to be significantly higher.
Considering the current price of gasoline is about 1.80 francs (diesel: 2.10 francs), the electricity price would have to rise above 66 or 69 centimeters per kilowatt-hour to equalize the difference. All prices are for home charging. Charging is more expensive at public charging stations, especially fast chargers. However, as this is more of an exception, electricity will continue to be cheaper than gasoline next year, even with partial external charging.
In addition, this calculation only considers fuel and electricity costs and a vehicle’s depreciation, maintenance, insurance, etc. It should be noted that it does not take into account all costs. However, if you want to know exactly and make your own comparisons of combustion and electric cars, you can do this with the TCS cost calculator at www.tcs.ch/kostenrechner. You can find electricity tariffs on the ElCom website (www.elcom.admin.ch), and gasoline prices on TCS (www.tcs.ch).