Early EV Experiences.
Short recap of the first two months of owning an electric vehicle.
First Two Months
In the beginning of February 2025, we traded in our diesel 2011 Saab 9-3X after recurring electrical issuees (alternator, etc). After having not learned anything about the cause of recent car troubles, we chose a fully electric 2020 Volkswagen ID.3.
Based on the current Finnish vehicle taxation scheme, we should be saving around 34.11 € per month in taxes, on top of considerable yearly maintenance cost reduction. In a rough back-of-the-envelope calculation, I also estimated that we would be paying the equivalent of ~0.20 €/l in electricity when compared to the Saab’s running costs, with diesel currently costing around 1.70 €/l in Finland.
Our home charger (roughly 0.07 €/kWh) and most third party charging stations (generally from 0.21 to 0.36 €/kWh) provide receipts and data for charging, so I am planning to keep charging statistics to follow our savings after switching to a fully electric car. Counting fuel and taxation savings, we have so far saved about 136 €/month on average in the first two months.
EV Statistics
| Period | Distance (km) | Mileage (kWh / 100 km) | Costs (€) | Savings (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/02 | 1598 | 22.2 | 62.54 | 139.41 |
| 2025/03 | 1120 | 19.7 | 19.471 | 132.29 |
| averages | 1359 | 21.0 | 41.00 | 135.85 |
In the first half-a-month of owning the car, we were unable to charge at home, so the charging costs were up to five times as expensive with fast CCS chargers. In the second month we only charged at home, and mainly during the nights during the lowest tariff hours. ↩︎