Public charging remains essential for many electric fleets, but new cost comparisons demonstrate why relying on rapid chargers too heavily can weaken the EV business case.
Current modelling from Thrive puts the cost of running an electric van at around 9.2p per mile using home charging and 10p per mile from a depot.
Using public rapid chargers increases that figure to around 23p per mile, compared with an estimated 21.1p per mile for diesel. The figures use current energy, public charging and diesel-price data and assume representative electric-van consumption.
That does not mean electric vans are inherently more expensive.
It shows that where they charge matters enormously.
Lower public tariffs can still improve the calculation. InstaVolt, for example, currently offers 55p/kWh between 8pm and 7am through its app or RFID card, including at its newly opened 16-bay ultra-rapid site at Serpentine Green in Peterborough.
Fleet managers should therefore track the proportion of energy each vehicle takes from home, depot, workplace and public chargers.
Two identical electric vans can have completely different whole-life costs simply because their charging patterns differ.
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