Each car costs the general public 5,000 euros per year

Robert Klatt

The real costs of driving are significantly higher than assumed.On average, the general public per car bears costs of 5.000 euros per year.If drivers had to pay all costs themselves, even an Opel Corsa would only be affordable for high earners.

Kalmar (Sweden).A study by the University of Mannheim recently showed that car owners in Germany underestimate the costs.On average, the owners estimate the costs of purchasing, maintenance, fuel, taxes and fees for 221 euros per month than they are in reality.Now a study by Linnaeus University shows that in addition to the costs that the car owners pay for themselves, the company also costs around 5 per year.Must wear 000 euros per car.

According to their publication in the specialist magazine Ecological Economics, the team led by mobility researcher Stefan Gössling calculated the total costs for three car types, namely a small car (Opel Corsa), a car from the compact class (VW Golf) and an SUV (Mercedes GLC).

Total costs over 50 years

With a hypothetical service life of 50 years and a mileage of 15.The total cost of the Opel Corsa at 600 was 000 kilometers per year.000 euros (12.000 euros per year).With the Golf it would be 653.561 euros (13.071 euros per year) and at the Mercedes GLC 956.798 euros (19.136 euros per year).If the car owners also have to bear the externalized costs, an Opel Corsa could only afford an OPEL CORSA, the authors explain.

Study takes into account 23 factors

The study takes a total of 23 factors into account when determining the costs, including expenses for the driver's license as well as parking and toll fees.In addition, some costs are included, which at first glance do not notice directly, such as waiting times in traffic jams.

The costs for the general public are, among other things, in the form of air pollution and the land consumption.In addition, the maintenance of streets and other infrastructure is.Other externalized costs are restrictions for people who are traveling by bike or on foot instead of car, as well as the noise and the acceleration of climate change.

Conversion in costs problematic

The conversion is decisive for the study, the conversion is difficult to quantify, such as the waiting time in traffic jams into monetary values.The scientists therefore start the waiting time as lost working hours and thus come at the expense of 555 euros per car and year.

The authors determined the costs of air pollution based on their influence on life expectancy and surveys in which people explained how much further years of life would be worth them.The uninhibited years of accident deaths were also taken into account in the study as externalized costs.

Even under the premise that the real money value of lifetime can hardly be determined, the study shows that the true costs of car driving are significantly higher than previously assumed.

Ecological Economics, DOI: 10.1016/J.Ecolecon.2021.107335