Electric Vehicle Energy Consumption

Electric Vehicle Energy Requirements

Going electric is inevitable. All the signs point to electric vehicles and it’s about time to start considering your new EV. The main manufacturers have several models and there are a few new surprises in the mix. Maybe you like one, or a few different vehicles, and you want to compare the annual running costs? Here’s the information you need.

Just like their internal combustion engine predecessors, electric vehicles are rated by their average energy consumption for city driving, country driving, mixed driving, and also have an overall average for hot/cold driving – based on the fact that winter driving conditions have noticeably higher energy consumption.

In the winter time, when you are running your heaters, wipers and lights – every Watthour counts. Therefore battery size is going to be crucial to match your new EV to your current driving habits.

We hope to cover several models in this, and later articles, with batteries ranging in size from ~ 27 kWhr to ~ 120 kWhr, and depending on the conditions, your driving, and the energy efficiency these variables will dictate your potential range.

The battery size is like a measure of both your engine size plus the fuel tank in your current diesel or petrol car. The larger the battery the more expensive your new EV is going to be.

A quick read of the available electric vehicles on the market produces offerings from Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Fiat, Renault, Dacia, Skoda, Mini, Kia, Hyundai, Subaru, Tesla and Volvo.

Here we select just a few of the more popular, more affordable electric vehicles – and using their average energy consumption – with the average pre-pandemic mileage in Ireland – we calculate how much they are going to cost to run per annum – and make a recommendation on how much solar PV you could install to cover the bulk of your future fuel costs.

Your New Electric Vehicle (EV)

We selected vehicles from Tesla, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Renault and Fiat with batteries ranging in size from around 29 kWhr to 77 kWhr. As Tesla have managed to develop one of the most efficient propulsion systems for electric vehicles, and have also kept the price competitive we can see how they may become the dominant name in EV markets in the future.

	Battery Size	Range	Average Efficiency
Tesla Model 3	57.5 kWhr	380 km	151 Wh/km
Hyundai Kona Electric (39) or (64)	64 kWhr	395 km	162 Wh/km
Volkswagen ID.3 Pro2	77 kWhr	450 km	171 Wh/km
Renault Zoe ZE50	52 kWhr	315 km	165 Wh/km
Fiat 500e Cabrio	37.3 kWhr	230 km	162 Wh/km
Mini Cooper SE	28.9 kWhr	185 km	156 Wh/km

Table 1 – Electric Vehicle Models and their Average Efficiency

How much does my EV cost to run?

Let’s assume you are an average driver, covering the average 18,000 km per year, and that your driving is measured and steady.

Your annual energy/fuel consumption, arising from your EV, measured in kilowatthours (like the rest of your electricity bill) will therefore be;

	x Annual Mileage	EV Energy Consumption (kWhrs)	Equivalent Solar Energy Production (kWp)
Tesla Model 3	151 x 18,000 km	2,718 kWhrs	3 kWp
Hyundai Kona Electric (64)	162 x 18,000 km	2,916 kWhrs	3 kWp
Volkswagen ID.3 Pro2	171 x 18,000 km	3,078 kWhrs	3 kWp
Renault Zoe ZE50	165 x 18,000 km	2,970 kWhrs	3 kWp
Fiat 500e Cabrio	162 x 18,000 km	2,916 kWhrs	3 kWp
Mini Cooper SE	156 x 18,000 km	2,808 kWhrs	3 kWp

Table 2 – Amount of Solar PV producing an equal amount of energy as your EV consumes in fuel

Average mileage in Ireland is 18,000 km

According to Cartell, the average pre-pandemic mileage in Ireland was 18,000 km. If you are driving the average, or below the average, then you will be pleased to discover that just 3 kWp of solar PV panels can produce enough electricity to power your annual mileage.

If you have different requirements please Contact Us, let us know which EV you choose and your annual mileage, and we can calculate the amount of Solar PV required to fuel your EV.

That could cover your transport costs for 30 years, or you can export the balance to the national grid and receive the feed-in tariffs being introduced later this year.