Featured Image Credit: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images / Lorenzo Di Cola/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Topics: Australia, Cars, Environment, Money, Electric Cars
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Australia, Cars, Environment, Money, Electric Cars
An electric car owner has revealed how much money his vehicle saves him on his 430-mile weekly commute.
Despite a gas and electric car going head-to-head in a road test and the results proving surprising, an electric car owner has since spoken out about how much money they're saving as a result of taking up the more eco-friendly option.
Emergency services worker Nanda Nalluri lives in Mornington Peninsula in the south-east of Melbourne, Australia and switched to an electric vehicle a year ago in a bid to lower the amount of money he spends on transport, as well as doing his bit for the environment.
Advert
He tells ABC News he mostly uses his car to commute to and from work and has racked up a total of around 22,990 miles so far.
A round trip for a shift totals around 62 miles he explains and 'sometimes' that even rises to 124 miles.
"Over a week, I can easily do 430 miles," he adds.
But has his commute actually become cheaper since his switch to an electric vehicle?
Well, Nalluri waited to purchase his electric vehicle until the cost of the cars came down a bit which helped with the initial purchase.
And since then, comparing the cost of running his old petrol car with his new electric vehicle, he's worked out he's saving 'thousands and thousands'.
He explains he had a sedan which would get '6.5-7 liters per 100 kilometers' and 'for 100 kilometers it was $10-15' for the petrol car.
In contrast, he now spends 'about $1.20' to make sure his electric vehicle is charged 'for 100 kilometers' which is 'like a 10-times saving effectively'.
He reveals: "I'm basically saving, between petrol and servicing, $5,500 to $6,000 a year.
"[...] I can do my entire work commute for like five to 10 bucks a week… It's ridiculously cheap."
Amid a cost of living crisis with soaring energy prices, how can a weekly commute be that cheap? I hear you ask.
Nalluri explains the special deal he's on with his electricity plan means when there's lots of solar power in the grid by midday and so power is offered for free around this time, and in the early hours of the morning, energy is offered at a much cheaper rate too.
However, the emergency services worker has solar panels on his roof which means he can top up his car in his driveway and so has 'never had to use a supercharger' or look for a power source outside of his house.
He resolves this is 'a point of pride' and well, given it saves him thousands, how about it petrol heads?