Featured Image Credit: 7News Sydney
Topics: News, Technology, Electric Cars, Cars
Niamh Shackleton
A gas and electric car have gone head-to-head in a road test, and the results may surprise some people.
It's predicted that as of next year, electric vehicles will make up 20 percent of all new car sales, with this hiking to 40 percent by 2030.
How do EVs measure up to their gas-powered counterparts though?
A new experiment conducted by car experts in Australia aimed to find out just that.
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For the study, CarExpert.com.au had two of its professionals drive two different cars: a petrol BMW 7 series and it's electric counterpart, the i7, which is said to have a 'really long driving range' of 318 miles.
These cars were driven from Melbourne to Sydney so that the experts could test how they both fared on the 900km journey.
The two vehicles took off fully charged and fully fuelled - with both having the same two stops scheduled as part of their journey.
The BMW 7 series and the i7 also drove at the same speed in the head-to-head road test.
When they reached their destination, the amount of money spent to get each day to Sydney was tallied up and many were left surprised to discover the petrol car was actually cheaper to run.
The 7 series cost $118 (AUD) to get from point A to B, while the i7 cost $131.92.
The i7 was also slower and had to spent over two hours needing to be plugged in and charged up.
It didn't help that some charging points that they visited were apparently out of order.
In light of their findings, the car experts said that electric cars like the i7 will be 'more cost effective' if you're driving in and around a city, but urged people to 'keep in mind' the set backs they might face if they frequently take longer journeys.
Charging a Tesla Model Y Long Range from 20 percent to full charge from your home only costs on average $15.50, according to 7News.
However, it'll cost you an eye-watering $42.00 to charge it from a public fast charging station.
In the wake of their findings, the experts say there's still 'work to be done' on electric vehicles.
If you are looking for an EV for long distance driving, according to Motors, the best model you can get at the moment is Mercedes EQS 450+, which has an impressive range of 453 miles.
If you had your heart set on a BMW however, it seems that the iX is a better EV model for distance driving.
The car has a range of 380 miles - 62 miles more than the i7.