It's been 4 years since I first took ownership of my 1st Tesla. Time fly's when you are having fun. In that time, I have done nearly 200,000 klms and just this month I managed to reduce my fuel (electricity) costs by a further 65%. Imagine if oil companies decided to discount fuel by 65% permanently! (ie: reduce it to about ~$0.70 per litre) This is what has now occurred in the energy market in Australia for EV drivers.

Up until this month my home EV charging cost $0.23 per kWh. A good rate that saw my 30,000 klms per year cost me about $1,000 per year. A bargain compared with over $4,000 I would spend if my car averaged 7 litres per 100klms.

The smart grid is now here, and I am taking full advantage of it. With the new $0.08 EV charging rate that seems to have become the standard I will now pay about $360 per year. What was about $18 per fill (full charge) to drive about 500klms is now about $6.00. A great outcome but wait there's more. Because my car is on a Novated Lease with Lease Lab. The ATO says I can claim the kilometres driven at a rate of $0.042 per kilometre. This means I can take $1,260 per year out of my lease tax free and pocket the $900 difference every year. On top of this if I had had paid tax on the $1,260 it would likely be more than $360. (I am not a financial advisor) so therefore I am effectively driving my car 30,000 klms every year for free or actually quite likely being paid to drive it. Thanks very much ATO, love your work.

The even better news with these new smart grid plans (I am on the Origin Energy EV plan power up plan as pictured above) is you don't need to invest in solar or a battery to benefit from them. There are several electricity providers offering similar plans with some even offering free charging times late at night when demand is super low or in the middle of the day when supply is super high due to solar. For me the Origin plan works great and took me just a couple of minutes to sign up for.

Taking away the scare mongering of EV depreciation. Something I wrote about here.
Removing upfront costs now that there are many EV's at very similar prices to internal combustion engine vehicles and with a great second-hand market now a reality how much you decide to spend on the vehicle is completely up to you.
Debunking the 'battery won't last' narrative here.
Adding on the cost savings for not having to get my car serviced. Both time and money on this one as I don't know anyone that enjoys the logistical hassle of getting your car serviced.
Busting the myth that I will chew through tyres faster (I have managed over 60,000 klms per set so far)

... and all I am left with is... saving even more money while driving a great car.

If you are thinking about owning an EV, get the team at Lease Lab to run the numbers for you. For me it worked out cheaper than cash. Yes, a negative interest rate thanks to the Australian government incentives (that won't last forever). My real numbers here. Special Note: You can get a Novated Lease on 2nd hand EV's as long as it was first registered from 1 July 2022. ATO details here.

If you don't like saving money, just keep on driving the car you have. For me with 3 kids and living regional, I can't afford not to drive an EV.

Forecast (after all this is a forecast site).

The smart grid is just getting started and the rate plans we are seeing now will continue to get better. The Origin Energy plan I am on is currently only available for Tesla vehicles and is in Beta but should roll out to other vehicles over time.

With the de regulation of the energy market and increased competition energy providers will need to offer compelling EV charging plans to remain competitive as the number of EV's on Australian roads continues to grow.

The shift is starting to impact the legacy fuel providers and as a result we will see traditional fuel suppliers enter the energy market as Ampol has done recently to position itself as an energy provider. Offering a discount on fuel if you sign up for their electricity plan this is a solid long-term plan to capture the next generation of propulsion.
Observation. $0.10 per litre off is nice but is only about a 5% discount. If they then discounted another 60% to you would still be paying 4 times the price to drive 100klms vs an EV. (What hope do they have... really)

Numbers:

I have used 15kWh (energy used) per 100klms driven to calculate the numbers above. My car is actually showing 13.5kWh as the life-time average. Adding on overhead for losses while charging (not all the energy ends up in the pack). Your numbers might be higher or lower but this rate 'feels' about right.

I drive a 2022 Tesla Model 3 Long Range with 19" wheels. Article here

Fuel pricing calculations are based on $2.00 per litre.

EV driving 100klms x 15kWh @ $0.08 per kWh = $1.20
ICE driving 100klms x 7 litres @ $2.00 per litre = $14.00
Over 11 times cheaper (not taking into account paying for it with pre-tax income which makes it even cheaper)

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