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Return home7.3. Heavy commercial vehicles
In this section we look at heavy commercial vehicles.
HCVs are large investments, and tend to be specialised and customised. Purchase costs can therefore vary significantly. In this section we have used two examples to illustrate a larger and smaller HCV. These examples are for illustration only, and do not constitute financial advice. All prices exclude VAT.
The list below shows the data inputs that we have used across all vehicles. Some figures have been assumed, and most will vary throughout the lifetime of the vehicle ownership. We have also not included any changes to future pricing within our analysis.
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- Annual mileage – 10,000 miles per year
- Purchase TCO length – 8 years
- Depreciation fixed final – 15% of initial purchase
- Maintenance ICE – 2.5% of initial purchase – Estimated
- Maintenance BEV – 1.5% of initial purchase – Estimated
- Vehicle energy efficiency – Average for vehicle (mpg or kWh/mile) – Estimated
- Diesel price – 1.22 £/L
- HVO price – 1.42 £/L
- Electricity price – 0.24 £/kWh
- Electricity – off-peak – 0.07 £/kWh
- UK grid carbon intensity – 124 gCO2/kWh
- Shadow carbon price – 260 £/tonne
Total cost of ownership examples
The following tables present the TCO analysis for a larger and smaller HCV. We have also included HVO, and off-peak electricity for pricing.
Large (18-24t) HCVs TCO comparison
| Fuel type | Diesel | HVO | Electric - average | Electric - off peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual mileage (miles) | 10,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| Purchase term | 8 years | 8 years | 8 years | 8 years |
| Purchase price (£) | 150,000 | 150,000 | 270,000 | 270,000 |
| SMR cost (£) | 3,750 | 3,750 | 2,700 | 2,700 |
| Annual running costs | ||||
| Energy efficiency (mpg or kWh/mile) | 3.00 | 3.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| Energy/fuel (kWh or L) | 15,167 | 15,167 | 40,000 | 40,000 |
| Energy/fuel price (£/L or £/kWh) | 1.22 | 1.42 | 0.24 | 0.07 |
| Energy/fuel cost (£) | 18,503 | 21,537 | 9,600 | 2,800 |
| Annual emissions | ||||
| CO2e (t/year) | 20 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| CO2e cost (£/year) | 5,200 | 1,560 | 1,290 | 1,290 |
| Totals | ||||
| Purchase TCO (£) | 301,777 | 326,043 | 349,500 | 295,100 |
| Purchase TCO per mile (£/mile) | 3.77 | 4.08 | 4.37 | 3.69 |
Small (7.5-12t) HCVs TCO comparison
| Fuel type | Diesel | HVO | Electric - average | Electric - off peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual mileage (miles) | 10,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| Purchase term | 8 years | 8 years | 8 years | 8 years |
| Purchase price (£) | 90,000 | 90,000 | 150,000 | 150,000 |
| SMR cost (£) | 2,250 | 2,250 | 1,500 | 1,500 |
| Annual running costs | ||||
| Energy efficiency (mpg or kWh/mile) | 8.00 | 8.00 | 1.85 | 1.50 |
| Energy/fuel (kWh or L) | 5,688 | 5,688 | 15,000 | 15,000 |
| Energy/fuel price (£/L or £/kWh) | 1.22 | 1.42 | 0.24 | 0.07 |
| Energy/fuel cost (£) | 6,939 | 8,076 | 3,600 | 1,050 |
| Annual emissions | ||||
| CO2e (t/year) | 9 | 3 | 1.85 | 1.85 |
| CO2e cost (£/year) | 3 | 1.85 | 484 | 484 |
| Totals | ||||
| Purchase TCO (£) | 147,760 | 156,860 | 180,300 | 159,900 |
| Purchase TCO per mile (£/mile) | 1.85 | 1.96 | 2.25 | 2.00 |
Breakeven mileage
As with cars and vans, the TCO of HCVs varies with annual mileage driven. The higher the annual mileage, the more cost-effective BEVs are. These graphs also show that with such high purchase costs, the running costs of BEVs (especially using off-peak electricity) are a small proportion of the BEV TCO.
