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The Economics Of Electric Vehicles: Is Going Electric Right For You?

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As retirement approaches, do you find yourself reflecting on potential lifestyle changes that align more comfortably with your financial goals and environmental values? Perhaps you’ve thought about the potential economics of electric vehicles, for example. Could it be a golden opportunity to not only embrace innovative technology but also navigate your golden years in economic and environmental style! Is transitioning to an EV a wise choice? Why…or why not?

Cost Savings: A Long-Term Perspective?

Whilst EVs currently come with a higher initial price tag than their internal combustion engine (ICE) counterparts, the operating and maintenance costs of EVs tend to be lower. If you can look past that initial upfront cost, there are some savvy long-term financial advantages in owning one.

Incidentally, a large chunk of the costs (and weight) of an EV are tied up in the battery, which typically has around a 10-year life span. EV manufacturers are looking at ways to reduce the cost of them, which should also bring vehicle prices down.

Further to this:

  • EVs have lower operating costs overall because their motors are more efficient at converting energy into power than ICEVs. They therefore don’t require as much energy to cover the same distances, which converts into cost savings for owners.
  • They have fewer moving parts, which means less maintenance and repairs. They don’t use engine oil, spark plugs, or traditional transmission mechanisms.
  • The cost of electricity to power an EV using renewable power sources is lower than the cost of petrol or diesel. It’s even cheaper if you can do it at home using your own solar power.
  • There will (hopefully) be increasing rebates available. Some overseas electricity utilities for example offer rebates for customers who have home charging stations installed.
  • State governments and/or the federal government may introduce attractive tax incentives for EV owners, and/or eventually introduce (more) levies and taxes on the use of ICEVs, especially as EVs become more common.
  • There is currently a more generous luxury car tax (LCT) threshold for energy efficient vehicles like EVs. The current LCT for ICEVs kicks in at $76,950 (2023) whilst that for fuel-efficient vehicles is $89,332.

Are Electric Vehicles For Everyone?

Even with their cost-saving and environmental benefits, it has to be said that currently, in Australia at least, EVs are not yet for everyone. There are various reasons for this, and most of them centre on current EV technology vs. our infrastructure.

Range Anxiety:

Although EV manufacturers are bringing out better batteries with longer ranges, and most standard models now aim for a range of 400 – 500km between charges, there is still concern about their suitability for our country driving conditions. Australia isn’t exactly a small place. We have some very long and very remote roads so running out of power in the middle of nowhere hours from a charging station is not a comforting thought.

This raises another justifiable point – the lack of charging stations in remote areas. Whilst the network of charging stations across the country is expanding – most country towns have at least one now – there’s still a way to go before many of us will be comfortable setting off on a long road trip in a dedicated EV.

Portable Charging Stations:

Portable battery operated charging stations for emergency road-side charging are around but a) they’re expensive and b) there don’t seem to be too many of them available in Australia yet. You can however buy mobile recharging gear (also expensive) that plugs into alternative power sources, like a diesel-operated generator. In which case, perhaps a hybrid vehicle is a wiser choice, for the moment at least.

Recharging Time:

Currently you can zip into your local servo with your ICEV, fill up in a couple of minutes, grab a coffee to go, and continue your journey. Recharging lithium batteries is a whole different story. They prefer trickle-charging and will last longer that way. In fact, continually rapid charging your EV battery will considerably shorten its lifespan. Ergo, many EVs are slow to recharge and some older or ‘budget’ models can take hours depending on the type of EV charger being used.

Recharging at home for example using a standard 2.3kW power outlet would take around 15 minutes to put 3kms of charge into the battery. A standard charger (up to 22kW) can supply 30kms worth of charge in 15 minutes, whilst a fast one (up to 50kw) will do 60kms in that same 15 minutes. An ultra-fast charger on the other hand (up to 350kW) will do 400kms in 15 minutes. Even so, that’s still 4 or 5 times slower than filling an ICEV with 400kms worth of fuel. Furthermore, how fast the EV actually charges depends on the make and model.

Temperature Extremes:

Lithium batteries also don’t like extreme temperatures. When it’s icy cold, the battery needs to be heated. When it’s extremely hot, the battery has to be kept cool. This requires power so, unless you have the car hooked up to a power source, it uses the battery to perform these tasks.

Possible scenario… You leave the office on a hot summer afternoon and it’s still 30o+ in the shade at 5pm. You had to stop on the way to work that morning to put enough charge in your EV (because you forgot to recharge it overnight) to get to work and home again. That meant you were running late and your usual shady parking spot was taken. So – you had to park in a shadeless, bituminised open-air spot instead. Now you find the car has been using its own power to keep its battery cool and you don’t have enough charge to get home…

Scare mongering? A bit perhaps but… it does highlight some of the key concerns Australians have about EVs currently. Concerns that will have to be addressed before many of us will be easily persuaded to replace our fossil fuel guzzling ICEVs. Better the devil you know…

Exploring The Ideal Users, And Uses, Of Electric Vehicles

With all these in mind, what types of drivers can stand to benefit from EVs? What types of driving conditions do EVs suit and where do the financial advantages of EVs lie for these drivers? Let’s start with…

City Drivers

Unlike ICEVs that use more fuel, and lose more energy, in city driving, EVs thrive in these conditions. It’s what they’re designed for. That makes them a good option for regular city commuters and city drivers who do a lot of short trips each day (i.e. delivery drivers):

  • EVs use an energy regenerative braking system. Where an ICEV loses heat and energy every time you use the brakes, EVs capture and return around a quarter of that braking energy back into the car’s system, helping to recharge the battery (and reducing recharging costs and time). This makes them ideal for stop/start driving conditions in built up areas and peak hour traffic.
  • City drivers are also more likely to have regular driving patterns and consistent mileage. They roughly know how many kilometres a day they’re probably going to drive, barring emergencies and can plan their usage and recharging around this schedule.
  • The vast majority of EV charging stations are located in and around metropolitan areas. For most city drivers, that means they’re going to be within easy driving distance of one most of the time.

Factor in no tailpipe emissions, less maintenance requirements and lower running costs, and the economics of electric vehicles makes a lot of sense for these drivers.

People Who Don’t Drive Very Much

Retirement often means slowing down and – finally – enjoying a slower pace of life. Without the daily commute to work, we travel less and this drop in daily mileage likewise aligns well with the efficiency, and economics, of electric vehicles.

  • Driving less reduces energy consumption and extends the driving range of an EV. As they are more energy efficient than ICEVs overall, driving an EV less will amount to more energy savings than driving an ICEV less.
  • The more often an EV battery pack is charged and discharged, the faster it degrades. By driving less, you use the battery less frequently, which extends its life. Just be sure to do your research on how to best maintain the battery when you’re not using it a lot.
  • Drivers who don’t drive all that much should find they rarely have to spend much money on services and repairs. Just look after that battery properly…
  • EVs don’t produce any tailpipe emissions so, as well as reducing greenhouse gases, they may also in future attract rate and fee reductions. RAC WA for example already offers a 25% discount on comprehensive car insurance for EVs.

Final Thoughts About The Economics Of Electric Vehicles

If you’re going to take up travelling around Australia when you retire, and were planning on doing it in an EV, you might want to consider a hybrid instead. At least for the moment. However, EV technology is advancing at a rapid rate so it’s entirely possible that by the time you’re ready to take off on your driving adventure, EVs will have bigger ranges and there will be more places to recharge them once you leave the city behind.

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Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

1.1 Count Limited and its related bodies corporate (collectively ‘Count’, ‘we’, ‘us’, ‘our’) respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your privacy. We understand the importance you attach to information that identifies you (your ‘personal information’) and we want to help you protect it.

1.2 We are bound by, and committed to supporting, applicable privacy legislation including the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). This Privacy Policy (‘Policy’) explains how we collect, hold, use, and disclose your personal information that we may obtain when you submit information to us in person, by mail or email, or by visiting our website.


2. How do we collect and hold personal information about you?

2.1 We collect personal information from you in a variety of methods. Examples of how we collect personal information include: 

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2.2 Because our products and services are often offered by intermediaries such as financial planners, solicitors, or accountants, we may collect personal information about you from these third parties.

2.3 You can deal with us anonymously or by pseudonym unless it is impractical for us to deal with you where you have not identified yourself or have used a pseudonym. We require certain personal information to provide you with services and information. If you do not provide us with certain personal information, we may not be able to provide you with access to those services or respond to your request for information.

2.4 We will only collect personal information from you where it is reasonably necessary for us to provide our services to you or to perform our functions or activities.

2.5 We will only collect sensitive information from you with your consent, except in permitted general situations which include:

  • The collection of the information is required or authorised by or under an Australian law or a court/tribunal order;
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  • Permitted health situations.

2.6 We may hold your information electronically or physically and have in place appropriate data and physical security measures and protocols to protect that information from loss or from disclosure not contemplated by this Policy.


3. What type of personal information do we collect?

3.1 The type of personal information we may collect from you includes (but is not limited to):

  • Names, address, email, phone numbers, and job titles;
  • Information in identification documents such as your passport or driver’s licence;
  • Tax file numbers (TFNs) and other identification numbers such as Medicare number;
  • Date of birth and gender;
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  • Sensitive information (with your consent), such as health information or membership details of professional or trade associations or political parties;
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4. How do we use your personal information?

4.1 We will use the information you supply for the purpose of providing you with the service(s) agreed under our engagement and related services, such as accounting or business advisory services, or to meet obligations we may have at law, including in relation to health and safety.

4.2 We may also use the information we collect for our internal business and management processes (for example, accounting or auditing purposes), monitoring and improving our website, keeping you informed about our services and company news, and for any other purposes that would be reasonably expected by you and to allow us to comply with our obligations under the law.

4.3 We may also use personal information we have collected from you for the purpose of marketing our services. If you do not want to receive marketing material from us, you can unsubscribe by contacting us as detailed below:

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5. How do we disclose your personal information?

5.1 Your personal information will only be disclosed:

  • To our employees, contractors, consultants, dealers, agents, or advisors as required to provide our services to you or for related purposes;
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5.2 We may use, store, process, or back-up your personal information on servers that are located overseas (including through third-party service providers). The privacy laws in other countries might not be the same as in Australia. However, where we provide your personal information to third parties overseas, we will take such steps as are reasonable to ensure that your information is handled and stored in accordance with Australian privacy laws and this Policy. Currently, we use outsourced service providers in the Philippines, India, and Serbia.


6. Access to your personal information

6.1 You can request us to provide you with access to personal information we hold about you by sending us an email: privacy@count.au (no spam please) or writing to us at Level 1, 45 Clarence Street, Sydney NSW 2000.

6.2 We may allow an inspection of your personal information in person, or provide copies or a summary of relevant documents, depending on what is the most appropriate in the circumstances. Any charge we make for providing access will be reasonable and will not apply to lodging a request for access. Your request to access your personal information will be dealt with in a reasonable time.

6.3 Note that we need not provide access to personal information if a request is frivolous, or where to provide access would pose a threat to health or public safety, unreasonable interference with another person’s privacy, or be a breach of the law. If we refuse access, we will provide you with reasons for doing so.


7. Accuracy and correction

7.1 To enable us to keep our records properly, please notify us if you believe that any information we hold about you is inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date and we will take reasonable steps, in the circumstances, to ensure that it is corrected. You can notify us by sending us an email: privacy@count.au (no spam please) or writing to us at Level 1, 45 Clarence Street, Sydney NSW 2000.


8. Our security procedures

8.1 We take your privacy and the privacy of our associated entities and their clients very seriously. We will take reasonable steps in the circumstances to protect any personal information you provide to us from misuse, interference, or loss and unauthorised access, modification, and disclosure.

8.2 We will also deidentify and destroy the personal information we hold about you once our legal obligations cease. Our security procedures are reviewed from time to time and we update them when relevant.

8.3 Please be aware that the transmission of data over the internet is never guaranteed to be completely secure. It is possible that third parties not under our control may be able to access or intercept transmissions or private communications without our permission or knowledge. We take all reasonable steps, in the circumstances, to protect your personal information. However, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us. Such transmissions are done at your own risk.


9. Data breach notification

9.1 We are required to give notice to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and affected individuals of an “eligible data breach”. This means that if we hold personal information about you, and there is unauthorised access to or disclosure of your personal information, and if you, as the “affected individual” would be likely to suffer serious harm from this access or disclosure, we must notify both you and the OAIC.

9.2 “Serious harm” could include identity theft, threats to physical safety, economic and financial harm, harm to reputation, embarrassment, discrimination, or harassment. The test is whether a “reasonable person” would expect you to suffer serious harm.

9.3 If you are likely to suffer serious harm from a data breach, we will notify you of:

  • The nature of the eligible data breach (i.e., how the information was accessed or disclosed);
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  • The steps that we have taken to control or reduce the harm, and those that we plan to take;
  • Any assistance we can offer you, such as arranging for credit monitoring;
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  • Whether the breach has also been notified to the OAIC;
  • How you can contact us for information or to complain; and
  • How to make a complaint with the OAIC.

9.4 We will notify you using the same method that we usually use to communicate with you. If it is not practicable for us to notify you personally, we will publish the notification on our website.

9.5 There are some circumstances in which we do not have to notify you of a data breach. These include:

  • Where we have taken remedial action before any serious harm has been caused by the breach;
  • If you have been notified of the breach by another entity;
  • If notification would be inconsistent with Commonwealth secrecy laws; or
  • Where the OAIC declares that notification does not have to be given.

9.6 Depending on the nature of the breach and the harm, we may voluntarily inform other third parties such as the police or other regulators or professional bodies.


10. Identifiers

10.1 We will not adopt as our own any government identifiers you may provide to us such as TFNs and will not store these identifiers on any information.


11. Links to other sites

11.1 We may provide links to other sites for you to access. You should be aware that these other sites are not subject to this Policy or our privacy standards and procedures. You will need to contact them directly to ascertain their privacy standards.


12. Cookies

12.1 Our website may deposit “cookies” on a visitor’s computer. Cookies are pieces of information that a website transfers to an individual’s hard drive for record-keeping purposes. Cookies are only sent back to the website that deposited them when a visitor returns to that site.

12.2 Cookies make it easier for you by saving your preferences while you are at our site. We never save personal identifiable information in cookies. Most web browsers are initially set up to accept cookies. You can, however, reset your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent.


13. Changes to our Privacy Policy

13.1 From time to time, we may vary this Policy for any reason. We will publish any changes on this website.

13.2 By continuing to use our website and continuing to provide us with your information, you confirm your acceptance of these changes.


14. Complaints resolution

14.1 We are committed to providing a fair and responsible system for the handling of complaints from parties whose personal information we hold. If you have any concerns regarding the way we have handled your privacy, please send us an email at privacy@count.au or write to us at Level 1, 45 Clarence Street, Sydney NSW 2000. We will address any concerns you have through our complaints handling process and we will inform you of the outcome of your complaint within a reasonable timeframe.

14.2 If after receiving our response, you still consider that your privacy complaint has not been resolved, you may refer your concerns to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au.