Consumer BEV Running Costs Rating Misses Price Tags

Paul Myles

TU-Editor

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23rd November 2021

A consumer BEV rating standard has been created in the UK claiming to give accurate comparisons between the increasing number of non-ICE powered vehicles in the market.

However, the ranking standard, dubbed E-Rating by its creators EV lobby group Electrifying.com, is limited to just the running efficiency of the different vehicles and does not take into account the variety of price tags involved in the cars assessed. As an example of this, it compares a Tesla Y with a Volvo XC40 Recharge claiming the Tesla owner would save $236 every 10,000 miles running the vehicle.

However, on European forecourt prices, an entry-level Volvo XC40 Recharge weighs in at $54,881 versus the Tesla Y that starts from $67,645. So, to recoup the $12,764 difference the Tesla owner would have to keep the vehicle for more than 540,000 miles at a time when most BEV manufacturers only offer a 70% battery pack performance guarantee after 8-years or 99,000 miles. Even BEV zealots would admit keeping the vehicle for five-times longer is unlikely to be a good idea.

When approached by TU-Automotive, a press spokesman for the lobby group said in an email: “There’s no perfect measure of efficiency but we felt than when you factor in the price, that becomes the dominant factor. Electrifying.com wanted to hone in on efficiency. Thanks for pointing out the price of the Volvo too, I believe the XC40 Recharge First Edition is 59,990 which is the version E.com has driven.”

Nonetheless, in solely operating costs terms, the ranking standard found both the Tesla Model 3 Long Range and the BMW i4 topped the tables scoring A++. Down at the other end of the scale, the

Mercedes EQV people carrier is the only vehicle to obtain a lowly E rating. Thus the A++ vehicle owners could expect to save $691 every 10,000 miles compared to the E rated Mercedes EQV owner.

— Paul Myles is a seasoned automotive journalist based in Europe. Follow him on Twitter @Paulmyles_