Weekend breaks are a great way to explore the UK, whether that’s relaxing on the beach in Brighton or wandering along the cobbled streets of York.
There is one decision which travellers need to make, however, to make sure they get the most out of their weekend; how to get to the destination.
At Select Car Leasing we wanted to find out the best mode of transport, between trains, electric cars or petrol cars.
We analysed two key factors in deciding whether to get behind the wheel of a vehicle or to book a ticket for public transport; cost and journey times.
To find the cost of a typical rail ticket, we simply tried to book via the website Trainline. To replicate what most holidaymakers might do, we attempted to book tickets around a month in advance of setting off.
To get a good idea of the difference between a traditionally-fuelled car and an electric vehicle (EV), we looked at fuel efficiency figures for two typical family hatchbacks from the same manufacturer - a petrol-powered Hyundai Kona, and a Hyundai Kona Electric.
We opted to use the most affordable Kona Electric (below) with a 39kWh battery and a maximum range between charges of 189 miles. And we worked out charging times and costs based on a rapid 50kW charger - one of the most common sorts you’ll find when refuelling at service stations. Some of the shorter journeys wouldn’t require an EV charging stop at all.
(You can lease a Hyundai Kona with Select from just £239 per month*).
And we then analysed 15 different routes, of varying distances, between UK cities that are popular for Brits looking for a long weekend away.
So, when you factor-in various elements like refuelling, EV charging times and costs, would you reach for the car keys, or would you head to the nearest railway station instead?
Cost of Trains vs. Petrol Cars vs. Electric Cars
In the midst of a cost of living crisis, every penny counts. And so the cost of making a journey can have a big impact on your household budget.
After all, most travellers would prefer to spend their cash once they’ve reached their destination, rather than shelling-out just to complete the journey.
We found that for every route, travelling by train was the most expensive. That might not come as a surprise to most regular rail users, with ticket prices capped at a still-expensive rise of 5.9% as of March 2023.
On average journeys in a traditional petrol car are £22 less expensive and journeys in an electric car are £27 less expensive - based on the fuel efficiency figures for our Hyundai Kona and Hyundai Kona Electric.
The journey with the greatest saving is between Bristol and Edinburgh - with the journey in a petrol car costing around £53 and in an electric car costing £58. That’s significantly less than the train journey, which costs more than double at around £127.
The journey with the largest percentage saved is between London and Norwich.
A train ticket for this journey costs around £31. In a petrol car this journey is around £17 - whopping 59% cheaper.
And in our electric car, this journey costs around £8 - 120% less than the train.
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Journey Duration
Another important factor to consider when travelling is how long it’s going to take to get to your destination.
For this we looked at the need to stop and recharge our electric car on longer journeys.
We found that, on average, travelling by petrol car was 22% slower than the train, and electric cars were 36% slower. This equates to an extra 48 minutes, on average, in a petrol car, and around 80 minutes, on average, in the EV.
The journey with the biggest difference between driving and taking the train is, again, London to Edinburgh.
This 405-mile journey is the longest of our sample. A petrol car takes an extra 2 hours 50 minutes compared with a train.
And an electric car might take an extra 4 hours and 20 minutes - as you might need to stop around three times - for a pit-stop of around 40 minutes each, in order to maximise the car’s 189-mile range maximum.
There are some journeys, however, which are faster by car when compared to a train - notably Manchester to Bath, Somerset, is 42 minutes faster in a petrol car, and 8 minutes faster in an electric car, than by going by rail.
That’s also when factoring-in one 34 minute charging stop in an EV.
Driving a petrol car is also 21 minutes faster than the train when travelling from London to St. Ives, Cornwall, and 15 minutes faster when travelling from Edinburgh to Bristol.
Conclusions
One of the most important take-home messages from our research is that our electric vehicle is by far the most cost-effective to run in comparison to a petrol car or taking the train - even when you factor-in the expense of charging at a public service station while on the go.
Buying a rail ticket is, by and large, the quickest way to get to your destination in most cases. After all, a train never needs to get stuck in traffic on the M6.
But our stats show that for some journeys, to harder-to-reach destinations, it might still be faster to hop in the car - whether it’s fuelled by petrol or electricity.
Methodology
To compare the journey length and times for each mode of transport we used a variety of sources to get the cost and length of journey for each. We compared the length of the journey and the price of the journey against trains as this was generally the quickest but most expensive option.
The car chosen for both electric and petrol is a Hyundai Kona as it’s a medium-size family car which comes in both a petrol and electric option.
For the electric car we used the 39kWh version of the Hyundai Kona Electric which has a range of around 189 miles between charges.
To get the journey price for an electric car we used the average cost per mile when charging at home (6.59p) until the first stop of the journey according to EV Navigation. The costs for charging at home can vary widely, depending on your home energy tariff. For example, the ‘Charge Anytime’ electric vehicle plan from OVO can reduce the cost of EV charging to just 3p per mile.
We then used the average cost per mile when using a public rapid charger (17.9p) for the remainder of the journey.
Sources
Train Journey Length and Price -Trainline
Petrol Car Journey Length -Google Maps
Petrol Price Estimate - Fleet News
Electric Car Journey Length - EV Navigation
Electric Car Cost Estimate - ZapMap
The most widely-available, public DC rapid chargers provide power at 50 kW.
*Prices include VAT. Credit is Subject to Status, Ts and Cs and Arrangement Fees apply. Excess mileage may apply. Stock levels and prices correct as of 14/09/23.
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