A few days ago I read the article and especially the comments related to electric cars, charging stations and profitability.
I’m writing now from my own experience after a little more than a year as an EV owner (I’m the one with the Smart).
First idea: if you don’t have a yard or your own charging station in the parking lot of the block, better no EV.
From the purchase until half a year ago, the data of the problem has changed for me. From a daily commute of 15+17 km I went to 65+67, i.e. over the 130 km provided by Smart. Where I get there is a free charging station, or 12 charging stations 500m away. Until now 70% of the cases the free one was free.
Profitability
I’m going to put the worst case scenario at this point. At the pay station, the price is based on 3 criteria: A fee to enter the system, a time fee (how long the car is tied up (30 min takt)) and KWH. For 65 km (full departure from home) I paid between 3 and 3.5 €. On average €5 per 100 km. If I had a similar gasoline car with a consumption of 6%, it would currently cost me somewhere around 11€ (gasoline in Germany is somewhere between 1.9 and 2.1€).
So I save 6€ on average per 100 km (without taking into account that at home it’s a bit cheaper (~4.2€/100km)).
In the app, the car shows me an average consumption of 13.8 KWh. I don’t stick my hand in the fire. It consumes the least in summer, and the most in winter due to heating.
This year I will make approx. 20,000 km and a saving of €1,200. Given that the lease is €150/month with 0 down payment, it comes out cheaper compared to a Sandero.
I don’t have a clear conclusion. If I lived in a big city or needed to travel medium distances every day and lived in a house or block with its own garage/parking space with the possibility of installing a charging station, I would always choose an EV.