Confirm that both candidates can serve the essential journey
Identify the offered propulsion, battery and installed charging configuration from candidate-specific records. The PHEV versus EV guide remains the wider suitability decision; this worksheet concerns recurring expenditure after essential use has been shown practical. Keep passenger load, destination and required journeys consistent. A low estimated EV energy bill cannot compensate for an essential unsupported route, and the PHEV’s fuel-backed capability does not prove every charging arrangement works. Separate current access from a hoped-for future installation. Only compare costs once both identified candidates have a credible ordinary and adverse journey plan within their applicable instructions.
Describe a representative charging week
List parking windows at home, work and public locations, noting who controls continued access and which sessions may be missed. Use the home AC plan when a property arrangement is part of the purchase. For an EV, record how essential travel is maintained if the preferred session is unavailable; do not borrow a PHEV fuel fallback. For a PHEV, keep low-charging travel visible instead of assuming every daily kilometre is electric. A map of nearby stations is not a compatibility or availability certificate. Retain actual installed acceptance and legitimate access conditions beside the expected weekly use so an attractive tariff cannot conceal an impractical routine.
Measure expenditure where the owner pays
Use purchased electricity, applicable session or parking fees and the same time period for each comparison. Battery energy alone is not a paid charging bill. Record tariff source and date, distinguishing recurring fees from a one-time installation amount. For the PHEV, retain petrol expenditure for relevant operating use instead of assigning a universal electric-driving share. The battery and charging guide keeps current system evidence separate from operating assumptions. Where actual observations are unavailable, label the planning inputs and replace them later with supported measurements. Do not compare unrelated brochure cycles as if they were owner consumption collected on the same route with the same load and climate.
Keep setup and care outside the traction-energy total
Installation, approved equipment, permissions and applicable supply work belong in a separate setup boundary. Use the landed-cost worksheet so the same expenditure is not counted twice. Retain appropriate engine and fuel care for a PHEV through the low-use engine-care guide. Confirm receiving support for both proposed configurations and keep any incremental recurring fees identifiable. Electricity savings do not eliminate all maintenance or make a complicated support gap financially irrelevant. A cheaper traction-energy estimate should remain labelled as one component of value, not be rewritten as guaranteed lower total ownership expenditure or a promise about the reliability of the selected vehicle.
Test an unavailable-charging and price-change case
Run a less favourable week using credible reduced access, changed tariffs or a different public charging mix. State the operational consequence for an EV and the applicable fuel-backed expenditure assumption for a PHEV. Do not force either result to remain favourable by keeping an ideal electric share after access has changed. Extend the calculation with the three-year ownership worksheet when the prepared purchase gap also matters. Change one input at a time so the decisive assumption stays visible. An adverse case is a planning tool, not evidence that a charger will fail or that one propulsion must always cost more in every country.
Choose the supported routine, not the smallest isolated number
Retain candidate identity, charging plan, tariff evidence, fuel input where applicable and the comparison date. State which assumption would reverse the preference and which providers support the actual configuration. Carry the accepted equipment and setup exclusions into the purchase schedule. Refresh the calculation after a changed home, destination, VIN or journey pattern. A credible energy-cost decision can favour either propulsion or remain unresolved; it should not depend on a universal kilometre-saving claim. Keep essential use, cash expenditure, time spent charging and wider ownership uncertainty separate so the owner can understand what the smaller estimated bill does and does not establish.
DECISION CONDITIONS
Compare the accepted purchase routes
- Comparable energy
- Both actual configurations serve the task and use consistent paid-energy boundaries.
- Access-sensitive
- A changed charging week materially changes the expenditure or practicality.
- Incomplete comparison
- Confirm essential access or replace unsupported consumption inputs before committing.
BUYER FILE
Evidence to retain
- Confirm exact propulsion and installed charging.
- Use the same routes, load and period.
- Count purchased electricity and applicable fees.
- Keep PHEV petrol and setup costs separate.
- Test missed sessions and changed tariffs.
QUESTIONS
Close the relevant uncertainty
Can brochure range alone establish energy savings?
No. Route use, paid energy, charging access and applicable operating conditions are necessary.
Should EV and PHEV use the same charging-failure fallback?
No. Their operating options differ; retain a credible plan specific to each identified configuration.