EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: Rising Power Prices in Europe Are Making EV Ownership More Expensive: In some cases, filling a tank with gas has become cheaper than charging an electric vehicle.
Rocketing electricity prices are increasing the cost of driving electric vehicles in Europe, in some cases making them more expensive to run than gas-powered models—a change that could threaten the continent’s electric transition.
Electricity prices have soared in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in some cases eliminating the cost advantage at the pump that EVs have enjoyed. In some cases, the cost difference between driving both types of cars 100 miles has become negligible. In others, EVs have become more expensive to fuel than equivalent gasoline-powered cars.
The price rises for power, which economists expect to last for years, remove a powerful incentive for consumers who were contemplating a switch to EVs, which used to be much cheaper to run than combustion engines.
Coming just as some governments are removing subsidies for EV buyers, this change could slow down EV sales, threaten the region’s greenhouse-gas emission targets, and make it hard for European car makers to recoup the high costs of their electric transition.
It’s as if the West is run by crooks and morons who ruin everything they touch and never consider the long term consequences of their actions. And that’s the most charitable explanation.
Related: Soaring energy costs could threaten future of electric cars, experts warn.