Switching from Grandeur to EV Saves 2 Million Won Annually...165 km on a 10-Minute Fast Charge

Annual Maintenance Costs Based on 13,800 km

Ioniq 5: 1.11 Million Won, Grandeur 2.5: 3.19 Million Won

If an electric vehicle is connected to an ultra-fast charging station on the highway for 10 minutes, it can travel an additional 165 kilometers, and the cost of this charge is found to be less than half of what it would cost to drive the same distance in a gasoline vehicle.

On September 9, Brite Energy Partners, which operates the Water electric vehicle fast charging network, announced the results of this comparison study, revealing that if the period is expanded to one year, the cost gap exceeds 2 million won.

Water calculated the annual maintenance costs, including fuel, automobile tax, and consumables replacement, for the Hyundai Ioniq 5 Long Range (a domestic electric vehicle), the Tesla Model Y Long Range (an imported electric vehicle), and the Sonata 2.0 and Grandeur 2.5 (similarly priced gasoline vehicles), based on the average annual driving distance per car in Korea, which is 13,800 kilometers.

Water Pyeongchang Rest Area Gangneung Direction Charging Station.

If the cars are charged at highway fast charging rates, the annual maintenance cost is 1.11 million won for the Ioniq 5 and 1.06 million won for the Model Y. Even using the highest public ultra-fast charging rates, the costs remain at 1.23 million won and 1.17 million won, respectively. In contrast, the Grandeur 2.5 costs 3.19 million won per year, meaning that both electric vehicles save between 1.96 million and 2.13 million won annually compared to the gasoline car.

Most notably, while the fuel costs for gasoline vehicles fluctuate weekly in line with international oil prices, charging fees for electric vehicles are calculated based on electricity rates and facility operating costs, not oil prices. Since the proportion of oil in Korea's power generation is just about 1%, changes in oil prices are not directly passed through to charging costs. If oil prices return to May levels, the annual expenses for the Grandeur 2.5 and Sonata 2.0 will increase by 170,000 won and 160,000 won respectively, but the maintenance costs for the two electric vehicles remain unchanged.

There is also a difference in consumables replacement costs. The Grandeur 2.5 requires nearly two engine oil changes per year, as well as automatic transmission fluid, air cleaner filter, and spark plug replacements as scheduled, totaling about 400,000 won annually. In contrast, for the Ioniq 5, only the brake pads need to be replaced, incurring just 40,000 won. This difference accumulates significantly over time: for the same driving conditions over five years using highway fast charging costs, the Ioniq 5 incurs a total of 5.54 million won, the Model Y 5.28 million won, while the Grandeur 2.5 incurs a total of 15.74 million won.

Dae-won Yoo, head of the electric vehicle charging business division at Brite Energy Partners, said, "Even after adding up fuel costs, taxes, and consumables, the cost advantage of electric vehicles is clear. Our data confirm that, even when charging exclusively at the highest-output ultra-fast chargers, the cost gap with internal combustion engine vehicles remains very large."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.