- Overview: comparison of electricity, petrol and diesel at a glance
- E-advantage: less service and maintenance, lower energy costs, tax benefit
Rüsselsheim. When it comes to low running costs, it is hard to overlook the new Opel Corsa-e battery electric vehicle. A comparison at opel.de shows that the electric version of the sixth generation bestseller can save serious money in comparison to its siblings with conventional powertrains. Considering the costs for service and maintenance, as well as current tax benefits and the cost of energy or fuel, the Corsa-e in Germany is around one third cheaper to run than petrol or diesel variants. This is in addition to the numerous incentives currently on offer that Corsa-e owners can benefit from when they buy the car. In Germany, for example, buyers can claim the “Umweltbonus” (environmental bonus), which is slated to increase from €4,000 to €6,000.
The savings potential of electric vehicles is heavily influenced by the prices for energy and fuel, which vary considerably throughout Europe. But although German energy prices are relatively high compared with those in other countries, the running costs for the Corsa-e in Germany are currently still around 30 per cent lower than for combustion engine versions.
An online running costs comparison explains why. The calculation is based on an annual distance of 10,000 kilometres in the first four years. The 100kW (136hp) Corsa-e (energy consumption: 17kWh/100km, 0 g/km CO2, 330km range WLTP) is compared to the 75kW (102hp) Corsa 1.5 Diesel (fuel consumption with six-speed manual gearbox NEDC1: 3.8-3.7 l/100km urban, 3.1-2.9 l/100km extra-urban, 3.4-3.2 l/100km, 88-85 g/km CO2 combined; WLTP2: 4.5-4.0 l/100km, 117-105 g/km CO2 combined) and the Corsa 1.2 with 74kW (100hp) petrol engine (fuel consumption with eight-speed automatic transmission NEDC1: 5.2-5.1 l/100km urban, 4.0-3.9 l/100km extra-urban, 4.5-4.3 l/100km, 102-99 g/km CO2 combined; fuel consumption WLTP2: 6.2-5.8 l/100km, 140-130 g/km CO2 combined.
Advantage Corsa-e: less than €65 per month instead of €111.57 for petrol Corsa3
In Germany for example, the average cost of service and maintenance for the petrol Corsa is €30.40 per month. Adding fuel costs of €74.00 and car tax of €7.17 brings the monthly total to €111.57. The Corsa-e is cheaper in each area. Thanks to the service-friendly design of electric machines, service and maintenance in Germany costs only €22.88. Energy costs €42 while tax is zero. Average monthly costs for the electric Corsa therefore amount to only €64.88. Costs for the diesel Corsa currently total €92.40 (€30.40 for service and maintenance, €48.00 for fuel and €14.00 for tax). The Corsa-e is cheaper here as well4.
In a next step, Opel will offer a dynamic cost calculator as part of the car configurator. This will enable detailed comparisons of all available engine versions.
Environmental bonus for the Corsa-e to increase from €4,000 to €6,000
The Corsa-e will be delivered to customers in spring 2020 and is listed as an eligible electric vehicle by the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA). This allows buyers to take advantage of the environmental bonus. Half of this bonus is granted by the automobile manufacturers and half by a federal subsidy, which is expected to increase from currently €4,000 to €6,000 after approval by the European Commission. This will make the new Opel Corsa-e even more attractive.
[1] Fuel consumption and CO2-emission data have been determined according to WLTP test procedure methodology, and the relevant values are translated back into NEDC to allow the comparability with other vehicles, according to regulations R (EC) No. 715/2007, R (EU) No. 2017/1153 and R (EU) No. 2017/1151.
[2] Fuel consumption and CO2-emission data have been determined according to WLTP test procedure methodology (R (EC) No. 715/2007, R (EU) No. 2017/1151).
[3] Status: 26.11.2019
[4] Energy costs E10: €1.43/Liter, diesel: €1.28/Liter, electricity: €0.30/kWh.
Contact
Martin Golka
Group Manager International Product Communications
Tel.: +49 6142/7-55 215
Mobile: +49 151 17 47 39 54
martin.golka@opel.com
Colin Yong
Manager International Product Communications
Tel.: +49 6142/7-69 576
Mobile: +49 151 17 47 3965
colin.yong@opel.com