Comparing the Cost per Mile of Electric Vehicles and Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles in Ghana

Reducing ambient air pollution could potentially prevent 1790 deaths a year in Accra alone. Vehicular emissions are a major source of air pollution, especially (PM)2.5, and a transition to battery electric vehicles (BEVs) is considered a solution to this. This paper estimates the cost per mile of electric vehicles compared with internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) based on the retail price, fuel/energy, depreciation, maintenance, insurance, taxes, and charging infrastructure in Ghana for 10 years. The 10-year costs per mile of the BEV are less than those of the ICEV by 9.4%–24%. The advantage is only after the seventh year, while before this the BEVs were more expensive to own. Total import tax contributes up to 20% of the BEV cost per mile. It costs 83% less to charge a BEV for a mile compared to fueling an ICEV. A significant rise in electricity tariffs is very likely to negatively affect the transition to e-mobility. We found the electricity tariff to be the most sensitive to the cost per mile of the BEV because, for every US$1 price increase in the cost per kWh, the cost per mile of the BEV increased by US$ 0.315. The results also showed that a transition to e-mobility could reduce CO2 emissions from transportation by 72%, NO x emissions by 79%, volatile organic compounds by 99%, and particulate matter by 56%. Future policy should target the removal of import tax on BEVs and their parts, especially high-voltage batteries.