AN SUV that’s more economical on fuel than a hybrid Toyota Prius? Sounds wrong doesn’t it. But that really is the case.
The SUV in question is the Hyundai Kona – the new electric version of the SUV – and it tops the leagues for fuel costs over 10,000 miles. The Kona costs just £89; the Prius £460.
If that’s surprising to you, then it was also the case to a bunch of business car managers at at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) annual conference and exhibition.
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The leasing company Fleet Evolution – and member of the Leasing Broker Federation – used a deck of adapted playing cards displaying the fuel costs of different models as a visual aid.
The playing cards displayed different electric, hybrid, petrol and diesel models. Based on the ‘Higher Lower’ card game, delegates were invited to estimate if one model had a higher or lower fuel cost over 10,000 miles than the model on the next card.
Many struggled to identify whether hybrids were more or less fuel economical than conventional petrol or diesel models, or whether any were more efficient than EVs.
“It was a bit of an eye-opener for us,” said Andrew Leech, Managing Director, Fleet Evolution, who said around 100 delegates had taken the ‘Higher, Lower’ test.
“Although we had chosen a quite lighthearted way of making the point, the message was a very serious one about the fuel costs of the different categories of cars. And it seems, based on our results, that we still have a long way to go in the EV education progress.”
Leech said that many quite senior decision-makers expressed real shock that an all-electric Tesla Model S cost just £222 to cover 10,000 miles, compared to £2,357 for a Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe E300 AMG over the same distance (see table).
“And there seemed to be genuine surprise amongst delegates that a Hyundai Kona EV cost just £89 for 10,000 miles, while the cost of a petrol Kona model was 18 times higher at £1,650 over the same 10,000 mile cycle,” he said.
The Fleet Evolution deck of fuel cost cards looked at nine different models in each category – EV, hybrid, petrol and diesel – with the most economical of all in terms of fuel cost being the new electric Hyundai Kona.
“We believe this will be a real game-changer,” said Andrew Leech. “Costing just £89 over 10,000 miles, it can cover 250 miles on a single charge, which makes range anxiety a thing of the past.
“That means an employee with an average commute would only need to recharge it once a week, which could be done from the office car-park. And we provide free workplace chargers for anyone ordering three electric cars from us,” he added.
Electric vehicles – cost per 10,000 miles @ 4p per KW
Make | Model | Fuel cost per 10,000 miles |
Hyundai Kona | SUV 150kW Premium 64kWh 5dr Auto | £89 |
Kia Niro | EV Crossover | £92 |
Smart ForFour | Hatchback 60kW EQ Prime Prem Plus 17kWh 5dr Auto [22kWCh | £100 |
Nissan Leaf | Hatchback 110kW Visia 40kWh 5dr Auto | £100 |
Kia Soul | Hatchback 81kW EV 27kWh 5dr Auto | £120 |
Renault Zoe | Hatchback 65kW i Signature Nav Q90 40kWh 5dr Auto | £128 |
BMW i3 | Hatchback 135kW S 33kWh 5dr Auto | £165 |
Jaguar I-Pace | SUV 294kW EV400 SE 90kWh 5dr Auto | £180 |
Tesla Model S | Hatchback 449kW 100kWh Dual Motor 5dr Auto | £222 |
Plug-in hybrids: cost per 10,000 miles – 7,000 electric 3,000 petrol /diesel miles
Make | Model | Fuel cost per 10,000 miles |
Toyota Prius | Hatchback 1.8 VVTi Plug-in Business Edition Plus 5dr CVT 50mpg | £460 |
Volkswagen Golf | Hatchback 1.4 TSI GTE 5dr DSG 50mpg | £520 |
MINI Countryman | SUV 1.5 Cooper S E All4 PHEV 5dr Auto | £524 |
Audi A3 | Sportback 1.4 TFSI e-tron 5dr S Tronic 45mpg | £561 |
Kia Niro | SUV 1.6 GDi PHEV 3 5dr DCT 35mpg | £635 |
Volvo XC60 | SUV 2.0 T8 [390] Hybrid Inscription 5dr AWD Geartronic 35mpg | £671 |
BMW 5 Series | Saloon 530e SE 4dr Auto 35mpg | £691 |
Mitsubishi Outlander | SUV 2.4 PHEV 4h 5dr Auto – 35mpg | £695 |
Audi Q7 | SUV 3.0 TDI 258 Quattro e-tron 5dr Tip Auto 40mpg | £716 |
Petrol models – fuel cost per 10,000 miles @£1.32 per gallon
Make | Model | Fuel cost per 10,000 miles |
Ford Focus | Hatchback 1.0 EcoBoost 100 Zetec 5dr | £1320 |
DS 3 | Hatchback 1.2 PureTech 82 Connected Chic 3dr | £1343 |
Honda Civic | Hatchback1.0 VTEC Turbo 126 EX 5dr | £1404 |
Audi A3 | Sportback1.5 TFSI S Line 5dr | £1534 |
Hyundai Kona | SUV 1.0T GDi Blue Drive Premium SE 5dr | £1650 |
BMW 5 Series | Saloon 520i SE 4dr Auto | £1705 |
Infiniti Q30 | SUV 1.6T Luxe 5dr | £2062 |
Audi A7 | Sportback 55 TFSI Quattro S Line 5dr S Tronic | £2200 |
Mercedes-Benz E-Class | Coupe E300 AMG Line 2dr 9G-Tronic | £2357 |
Diesel models – fuel cost per 10,000 miles @£1.38 per gallon
Make | Model | Fuel cost per 10,000 miles |
SEAT Leon | Hatchback 1.6 TDI SE [EZ] 5dr DSG | £1232 |
Citroen C4 Cactus | Hatchback 1.5 BlueHDi Feel 5dr | £1232 |
MINI Countryman | SUV 2.0 Cooper S D ALL4 5dr Auto | £1301 |
MINI Countryman | SUV 2.0 Cooper D 5dr [Chili Pack] | £1408 |
Volkswagen Golf | Hatchback 2.0 TDI 184 GTD 3dr DSG | £1427 |
Nissan Juke | SUV 1.5 dCi Acenta 5dr | £1437 |
Kia Sportage | SUV 1.6 CRDi ISG 1 5dr | £1533 |
Audi Q7 | SUV 3.0 TDI 218 Quattro S Line 5dr Tip Auto | £1815 |
Range Rover Evoque | SUV 2.0 eD4 HSE Dynamic 5dr 2WD | £1864 |