Turning point
For many people, an electric car is now even more financially attractive than a fuel car, provided you can afford the purchase. That could soon be over, warns accounting and consultancy organization KPMG.
Rising costs could make electric cars more unattractive than fuel cars, KPMG concludes. Although electric cars are usually considerably more expensive to purchase than cars with a combustion engine, the operating costs are now often even lower. This is due to the current discount on road tax, lower maintenance costs and lower charging costs. If the purchase price does not fall more significantly, energy prices start to rise again and road tax on electric cars is increased, this could make a fuel car cheaper again.
Not only may the various financial benefits soon no longer outweigh the higher purchase price, Dutch people are increasingly looking critically at the purchase price of the car. Two-thirds of Dutch consumers (66 percent) see price as the most important barrier to purchasing an electric car, the research shows. Two years ago that was still 54 percent.
There is probably not much you can do about that purchase price, but there are other ways to keep electric driving cost-effective. For example, KPMG believes that it should become easier to charge cars with self-generated energy from solar panels. Moreover, you can also choose to charge the car more often during ‘off-peak periods’ with lower rates or opt for cheaper charging stations. Perhaps the most important step to keep electric driving attractive will have to come from The Hague, by adjusting the planned motor vehicle tax.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl