Uber Green: Is it worth buying an EV for private hire?

The reality of running an electric private hire car

Standing in a car park waiting for a ping, you will notice how many drivers have switched to electric vehicles. Uber pushes the Green option hard, and passengers like it. But buying a battery electric car outright or taking on a hefty finance deal is a massive step. Whether it makes financial sense depends entirely on your weekly mileage, your access to cheap home charging, and how much debt you take on.

Petrol and diesel costs eat up a huge chunk of a private hire driver weekly take-home pay. Cutting those fuel bills down to electricity costs looks great on paper. Yet the higher purchase price of a reliable long-range EV can cancel out those savings if you do not plan the numbers carefully.

Fuel savings versus vehicle costs

If you drive long hours every week, you cover serious distance. Charging an EV overnight at home costs a fraction of filling a tank with petrol or diesel. If you rely entirely on public rapid chargers during the day, your running costs jump up significantly, though they usually still sit below fossil fuel prices.

The main hurdle is the capital outlay. A decent second-hand petrol or hybrid private hire car costs a lot less to buy than an electric model with enough battery range to survive a full shift without mid-day top-ups. You have to calculate whether the money saved on fuel each month genuinely covers the extra monthly finance or loan repayment.

Charging realities on the road

Home charging is the golden ticket for making an electric private hire car profitable. Plugging in overnight on an off-peak tariff keeps your per-mile energy cost right down. If you live in a flat or a terraced house with no driveway, public charging becomes your daily routine.

• Rapid chargers are fast, but commercial rates can sometimes match petrol costs per mile.
• Queuing for chargers during peak hours eats into your working time and costs you fares.
• Cold winter weather reduces your battery range, forcing you to charge more often.

Tax rules and allowances

When you do your Self Assessment, you can claim vehicle expenses using either the approved flat rate or actual running costs. Cars and vans use 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year, then 25p per mile after that. If you own an expensive EV outright, actual cost accounting with capital allowances might offer different tax treatment, so check how your specific purchase is structured.