Cost of travel to work - which car to use?

So Lou is saying it now costs her around £12.50 to work and back.

80 mile round trip if using the M1 and 72 mile round trip if using the A1. She uses whichever google maps says is fastest/no roads closed etc.

So based on £1.59/L for unleaded on her car a and £1.72/L diesel for my car that does 65MPG when she drives it which is the cheapest car to use for Lou to get to work and back?

Reply to
ARW
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Yours because she will drive it and you will refill it so it wont cost her anything.

Reply to
mm0fmf

65 MPG is about 14.3 miles per litre, so she would use 5.6 or 5.0 litres in your car at a cost of £9.63 or £8.60 depending on which route she takes.

Assuming that the £12.50 is just for fuel, and not including any overheads, your car is cheaper.

Reply to
Roger Mills

An EV (if she can charge at home). ;-)

(An 80 mile trip currently costs me £1.14 on cheap rate electricity at night).

Tim

Reply to
Tim+

and you don't include the cost of buying something he doesn't already have..

Reply to
Colin Bignell

Pity about the cost of buying one.

Reply to
Jock

And when your battery is f***ed my Skoda and her Peugeot have many miles left..

Reply to
ARW

Well I think most people would work that out for themselves. I make no apologies for highlighting just how cheap the fuel cost of an EV can be though. Useful info for anyone with a car change potentially in the pipeline.

Tim

Reply to
Tim+

Except that it had nothing to do with the question. That was which of the two existing vehicles would be cheaper to use.

Reply to
Colin Bignell

I think you're within range of a few solutions.

Tesla Model 3 Long Range \ EPA range: 353 miles \ Fast-charging: Up to 200 miles in 15 minutes \___ Adjusting for cold weather Price: $51,190 / devaluation, this would work. Charge at home.

"Model 3 Long Range tops out at 145 mph."

The range is not 353 miles, at 145 mph :-)

It's not the top range, it's not the top price.

And by charging the vehicle at home, it helps the battery surpass the warranty guarantee. Home charging is ideal for lifecycle cost.

Tesla is playing with both Lithium Cobalt and Lithium Iron Phosphate *in the same car*. The Chinese delivered models, are all Iron Phosphate. Some of the American made ones are also arriving with Iron Phosphate in them. And there's no notation on the vehicle indicating which tech they got. You would think the physical size of the battery pack, would be different for those two.

Since it's an LR, maybe it will remain LiCo for a while.

The Mini Electric is 145 miles range. And still has a high enough speed, to drive on a highway. You'd want a more understanding employer though (outlet in parking spot would be nice for gradual top-up). The Tesla choice, you could do all the charging at home, and still not be getting back with zero on the readout.

Your hypothetical trip is tailor made for a BEV. Since you own two cars, you could keep one fossil fuel car to avoid "charging on the road" on long trips.

ICE cars are meant to be driven. There's no advantage in this case, to leaving the ICE parked and only driving it one a year, as the maintenance cost goes up if you do that (dead 12V battery, rusty rotors). One person could drive the BEV to work. One person could drive a diesel to work. And keep the fluids in the car well mixed and the rotors clean.

And you do want to read the anecdotal discussion threads, regarding getting repairs done, getting issues resolved, weird charging behavior, and so on, before you make a purchase.

Paul

Reply to
Paul

So no chance of that paying for itself any decade soon, by which time the battery is f***ed.

But still wouldn't pay for itself before the battery is f***ed.

Nothing hypothetical about it.

Trivially avoidable with a charger.

Trivially avoidable with a garage.

He parks the work van at home.

But then would have to pay for the fuel, stupid.

Makes more sense to not even consider an EV at all.

Reply to
Jock

Which is why I added a smiley as it wasn?t a serious suggestion for Adam.

Tim

Reply to
Tim+

From a previous thread the range is not 353 miles at 70 mph and if used with a heater or AC probably more like half the quoted range.

It will be in UK the when the various taxes are applied to the purchase price (20% VAT). Plus, the Government have realised that they are losing out on fuel duty.

Reply to
alan_m

As she only travels to work and back twice a week (occasionally three times) it will be cheaper to keep her existing 7 year old car for now:-)

It has stupid low mileage on it as before it was 4 miles to work four or five days a week.

Reply to
ARW

I recently started to look at my fuel cost to see which routes were best for my commute. The round trip is about 35 miles and there are several routes I can take, the preferred being on roads with a 40mph limit and often encounter ponies/ donkeys/cattle . Using data from the trip computer, I average 51mpg with petrol at £1.64/litre costing £0.14 per mile. If I drive like I shouldn't, that changes quite a bit.

Does Lou drive your car more carefully and hers like it's stolen?

Reply to
Richard

You have met her then?

She has done that twice.

Reply to
ARW

No. She does about same speed in both.

Her car is a 1L Peugeot 107 that has no power or acceleration on a motorway/dual carriageway and when you get to 70MPH you get the urge to get out and give it a shove.

Mine is not fast (1.6Tdi Octavia) but it gets up to 90MPH in a reasonable time so you can pass the 67MPH middle lane hoggers easily.

Reply to
ARW

After skimming the thread to date I think you can probably justify whichever answer you want ;)

There looks to be a clear saving from her using your car if we look only at the fuel costs. But there are lots of other costs. E.g. (in no particular order):

wear & tear: e.g. which car's tyres are more expensive to replace?

depreciation - higher mileage reduces value so usually bigger for more valuable car

insurance - significant increase in your mileage/decrease in hers [point to watch on hers given it's a new job?; /possibly/ even issue about who is main driver?]

servicing

Reply to
Robin

No.

None of which will change which is best for her to use.

There isn't anything in it now that we now what both cars are.

But the way those 2 do cars, unlikely to change which is the best car for her to drive.

Again, unlikely to change which is the best car for her to drive.

They don't have to be told.

Again, unlikely to change which is the best car for her to drive.

Reply to
Jock

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