Actual cost to charge a MG5

chabsey · 26-01-2023 2:49pm #1

I'm trying to do very rough calculations on how much I might save if I switched to an EV - specifically an MG5 (currently driving a diesel which I bought just as the 'always cheaper than petrol' prices flipped in Ireland, good timing by me). I just want an idea of the cost to charge the car assuming I'm not using night rates and using a home wall charger (takes about 9 hrs I've read to charge from zero). Obviously rates depends on supplier but a rough idea would suffice for a full charge.

I tried researching online and the best I can find is a 'cost per 100km' which strikes me as odd because surely getting to 100km on X amount of charge depends on factors like weather, heat etc. i.e. if it's freezing outside I might only get 250km from a full charge which costs me say 10 euro....but if it's roasting outside I might get 350km from that same charge also costing me 10 euro. I have a feeling I'm totally misunderstanding that though, so maybe someone can enlighten me.

RM Ernest · 26-01-2023 4:04pm

The mg5 has a 57kwh usable battery.

Efficiency wise it may do between 14kwh/100km up to say 25kwh/100km depending on the time of year and your speed etc.

Find out your current electricity price per kwh if you can charge at home. Multiply that by 57kwh and that is the full cost to fill the battery.

How much you will get distance wise then depends on your efficiency.

Miscreant · 26-01-2023 4:09pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120160978#Comment_120160978

Remember to add about 10% to the cost figure due to charger efficiency losses. Charging is not a direct 1 to 1 ratio between electricity use and what the car actually receives.

crisco10 · 26-01-2023 4:11pm

I would also ask why you woudn't use a night rate of some sort, if you go to the bother of installing home charger its not much more work to access the cheaper night rates?

For comparison, on my current plan (which you can't get anymore, but for comparison purposes), to charge the MG5 by day would cost about €17.50, but by night would be €5.70.

zg3409 · 26-01-2023 5:17pm

Say night rate is 20c/kWh

Efficient EVs use around 20kWh per 100km (average if Irish summer & winter)

So if your daily commute was 100km round trip it would cost about 4 euro to refill back up each night

From empty it's 10 euro.

That's roughly right but I expect MG5 is a little less efficient and it depends if you commute is motorway or low speed.

In the past my sums said 80% fuel savings, maybe 60% these days with higher night rates. It's expected electricity prices will go down, peak gas prices were last August .

Fuel consumption on petrol or diesel is also worse in winter.

You also need to factor in depreciation which if you are doing low mileage then it will probably be highest cost. Depreciation is typically highest cost of ownership particularly if you buy brand new, but EVs have been going up in price recently then dropped due to tesla new price drop and new prices may go up in July when grants reduce. Beware if you get delivery if car after July price may be higher. You can estimate 20% depreciation year one, 10% all subsequent years but EVs are bucking that typical trend.

chabsey · 27-01-2023 10:27am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120161018#Comment_120161018

Thanks, I would definitely get a night rate plan if I bought an EV, I just wanted to get an idea of the general costs of charging one fully and this and the other replies provide that, thank you. Currently I get roughly between 800 - 1000km per fill of the diesel which costs roughly 80 euro to fill now that prices have dropped a little. I like to calculate things taking into account the worst case scenario (so, no matter what I don't get a nasty surprise) and if my rough calculations are correct I would need to fully charge the car about 2.5 / 3 times to get the equivalent kms as a full tank of diesel (winter distances and figuring 275km per charge). I know charging during the day would make zero economical sense but I am a little surprised that if I was paying 17.50 a charge I'd be paying over 50 euro to cover roughly the same distance. Before everyone jumps on my extremely rough and edge case calculations - I was just idling pondering this purchase without any real thought. In my mind before, doing this I had thought an EV would be massively cheaper to run. Yes it is a lot cheaper, and even with my calculations being on the extreme end (ignoring night rates etc.) it is still way cheaper but in my naiveté I thought it would even cheaper for some reason. Recent electricity price hikes haven't helped I imagine.

Thanks to all for the info though, food for thought.

yellowmellow2241 · 17-02-2023 12:30pm

Is .67c per kwh too much? Saw that in a Go charge location.

yermanthere · 17-02-2023 1:04pm

At the moment, a day rate meter and fast chargers are a very similar cost of around 46 cent (0.46 euro) per kwh including VAT. So really for 12000 km there is not much of a difference with a diesel. And maybe 300 euro to be saved compared with petrol.

If you had a night meter that saving nearly doubles. so 300/year saved against diesel, and 600/year against petrol. Also road tax is less.

So at the moment there really isn't much saving, especially if you don't change the meter. But...

Electricity units will probably go down a bit. Petrol/Diesel probably wont, and actually will go up over next 12 months? Just my thoughts.

More mileage = more saving ( even if its less than it used to be).

So there are still savings to be made, which is rare enough in this world. But dont forget the cost of a home charger, maybe 1000 to 1200 euro. Take away e600 for the grant.

And if e5000 grant for new electrics gets halved or removed it gets tighter still. So maybe best way to look at it is that its the same as an ICE car and you could pocket 300-1000 a year, depending on small mileage - big mileage.

MarkN · 18-02-2023 12:20pm

ESB is 64c not 46.

Actual cost to charge a MG5

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