ROME – Owning a car is expensive, there are costs for food (energy / fuel), insurance, maintenance, taxes and you have to deal with the pressure of depreciation. In the end, the bill is high, even if the costs can vary up to double according to the European country in which you live. The luckiest are the Greek motorists who pay an average of 743 euros a month to keep their car, while the most harassed are the Swiss who have to come up with 1,138 euros, followed by the Portuguese with 1,127 euros.
Summer 2022: rent a car or buy one for less than 20 thousand euros? This is the dilemma
by Graziella Marino
And in Italy how much does the car we drive cost us per month? According to LeasePlan’s annual Car Cost Index study, the average outlay for a vehicle in 2021 was € 946. Among the five main European car markets, only Great Britain spends the most (969 euros), while driving is cheaper in Spain (944 euros), France (887 euros) and Germany (838 euros). The difference, says the Leaseplan study which analyzes the total cost of ownership (TCO) and operating costs of a vehicle in 22 European countries, is above all the car segment and the engine (petrol, diesel, electric), but an important role it is also played by the country’s depreciation and taxes. In the 2021 edition, costs are weighted over the first four years of ownership and assume a mileage of 30,000 km per year. Analyzing the average cost based on engines, it emerges that Poland is the cheapest country to drive a petrol vehicle, while Greece is the cheapest place to drive a diesel.
Assoutenti: “Enough, lower fuel prices. They are too high”
by Maurilio Rigo
With regard to electric vehicles, the higher they are, the cheaper they are. According to the LeasePlan Cost Index in 17 of the 22 countries, the premium mid-size vehicle segment (D2) is the best option in terms of total cost of ownership compared to vehicles with petrol or diesel engines. Electricity is also cheaper than petrol and diesel in 16 out of 22 countries in the D1 segment of medium standard vehicles. While in the compact vehicle segment (C1 and SUV-C1) electric vehicles represent the cheapest choice only in 14 out of 22 countries and in the subcompact (B1) segment in 8 out of 22 countries. In Italy in 2021 the total cost of electric vehicle ownership was found to be cheaper than diesel and gasoline in each segment analyzed, but in different proportions. The cost advantage is higher in the D2 medium premium segment electric vehicles, where it amounts to € 899, against € 1,032 for diesel engines and € 1,106 for petrol engines. This is followed by the C1 segment of compact vehicles, with a TCO of 670 euros for electric, compared to 763 for diesel and 791 for petrol and the D1 segment of medium standards, with an average cost of 814 euros against 871 for diesel. and the 950 of petrol.
Methane escalation, prices eight times higher than last year
At the moment, the lowest profit margin of electric vehicles is that of the B1 subcompact segment, with a cost of ownership that amounts to 584 euros, compared to 630 for diesel and 634 for petrol. In general, compared to the results of the Car Cost Index of 2019, electric has become a bit cheaper in all countries, while the costs of driving thermal engines have risen. According to LeasePlan, electric vehicles have lower costs related to fuel / energy and road taxes, which reduces the overall total cost of ownership (TCO). Also amortizing the cost of depreciation, which for electric vehicles affects the TCO for 57%, against 49% for diesel and 45% for petrol.