India has world's third cheapest EV charging, study shows

We all know by now that EVs are far more economical to run than combustion-engined vehicles, but here’s a more interesting fact – India ranks as the third most affordable country in the world to charge an EV. Based on research by Australia-based aggregator Compare the Market, Argentina, Malaysia and India were the three most affordable countries in the world to charge an EV, while Denmark, Italy and Germany were among the most expensive.

The research compared the cost of charging for the latest-gen Hyundai Kona EV in 50 different countries around the world, and ranked them based on the cost of electricity used per 100km of driving. It also calculated how much one would save in fuel costs by driving an EV instead of an ICE vehicle.

India ranks third in the world in EV running costs

The research showed that it costs Rs 231 to fully charge the Kona EV in India; Argentina ranked first at Rs 113, while Malaysia was second at Rs 157. The countries that followed us with affordable EV charging rates were the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, China and Turkey.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the spectrum, Denmark and Italy were the most expensive countries, where it costs Rs 1,823 to fully charge the Hyundai Kona EV. These countries were followed by Germany, Belgium, Lithuania and Austria (tied at fourth), and The Netherlands as the most expensive countries to charge an EV in.

The study observed that among all the nations looked at, Europe tended to be a more expensive region to charge an electric vehicle, while Asia was generally cheaper.

EV charging costs compared with petrol running costs

The research notes that in India, it costs Rs 76 worth of electricity per 100km of driving in an EV, compared to Rs 647 worth of petrol in an equivalent car. This means one can save 88.26 percent of the cost of their potential fuel bill by driving an EV over a petrol vehicle in India. Moreover, the percentage in savings was the second-best result of all the nations that were looked at.

The research also noted that Norway and Iceland were the two countries that boast the biggest net savings when charging a battery compared to filling a petrol tank owing to the highest difference between electricity and petrol prices. One can save more than Rs 8,318 per refill/recharge in both nations. Conversely, Italy was the nation where one saves the least, proportional to the fuel bill, when compared per kilometre.

On average, across all nations studied, EVs cost Rs 267 to charge for every 100km driven, while a petrol equivalent would cost Rs 763 for the same. Therefore, charging an EV is only about one-third the cost of refuelling an equivalent petrol vehicle. The study shows that, depending on the country and difference between petrol and electricity prices, the savings in running costs differ widely, with EV drivers saving anywhere from 27.63 percent to 92.59 percent of their fuel bill per kilometre (compared to an equivalent petrol vehicle).

Methodology of the research

The car used to compare the running costs was a latest-gen Hyundai Kona. It’s available in both petrol and electric variants – the latter of which has even been on sale in India in its previous-gen guise – and was chosen in similar spec for an even base of comparison. The electric version came with a 39.2kWh battery with 136hp of output (same as the India-spec model), while the petrol version used a 148hp, 2.0-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine with a 50-litre fuel tank.

Do note that running costs were calculated as per claimed fuel efficiency and range figures, and actual costs and differences could vary, depending on real-world conditions. Moreover, electricity and petrol price data were sourced from GlobalPetrolPrices.com, using the most recent publicly available statistics for both metrics (September 2022).