Every fill-up costs time: pulling off the route, hunting for a free pump, queuing, holding the nozzle, paying. At 15,000 km a year an ICE driver loses about 207 minutes — more than three and a half hours. LPG is worse: 330 minutes, because there are fewer stations and you refuel more often. A BEV with its own garage? 155 minutes a year, almost entirely at the occasional fast-charger stop. Overnight charging takes 30 seconds and doesn't count as lost time — you do it in your sleep.
Minutes spent fueling and charging per year
Basis: 15,000 km/year, compact car. Home charging counts as zero minutes (overnight, passive).
How we calculated it
ICE petrol
- 55 L tank, 8 L/100 km, range ~690 km → 22 fill-ups/year
- Detour 3 min + queue 2 min + pumping 2 min + payment 2 min = 9 min
- 22 × 9 = ~207 min/year
LPG
- 55 L tank, 10 L/100 km, range ~550 km → 27 fill-ups/year
- Fewer stations, so detour 5 min. 5 + 1 + 3 + 2 = 11 min
- 27 × 11 = ~330 min/year
BEV + garage (90% home charging)
- ~250 overnight sessions: plug in at night (30 s) + unplug in the morning (30 s) = 1 passive minute
- 5 fast-charger stops a year (longer trips) × 31 min = 155 min
- Total: 155 minutes — less than ICE
One fill-up, one charging session — where the time goes
At home almost all the charging is passive — the car sits, you sleep. At a public fast charger most of the time is waiting at the station, and here a BEV genuinely loses to ICE per visit — but it happens rarely.
Three driver profiles
| Profile | km/year | ICE | LPG | BEV + garage | BEV w/o garage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commuter (home garage) | 15,000 | 207 min | 330 min | 155 min ✓ | 1,333 min ✗ |
| Higher mileage (home garage) | 30,000 | 414 min | 660 min | 310 min ✓ | 2,666 min ✗ |
At 30,000 km a BEV with a garage needs around 9 fast-charger stops/year × 31 min = ~280 min. Without a garage, every 350 km means one stop.
When a BEV really costs time
"EVs charge for hours" — true in exactly one scenario. Outside it, a myth.
- No garage, no charger at work. A driver relying only on public fast chargers spends about 22 hours a year at them — more than three times an ICE driver. For a tenant in an apartment block with no wallbox access, a BEV is a logistical challenge, not a time saver.
- Daily long-distance driving. Every 300-400 km on the motorway means a 25-35 minute stop. A sales rep doing 50,000 km a year, mostly motorway, can lose more time than with an ICE car.
- 130+ km/h cruising. Higher consumption cuts range and adds stops. On the same route a BEV may stop twice instead of once.
Conclusion: time is the second dimension of cost
ICE and LPG drivers are used to refueling and don't count it as loss. Yet 3.5-5.5 hours a year at stations is a real cost. A BEV with a garage flips the equation — 155 minutes a year instead of 207-330, and mostly on long trips where you'd stop for a coffee or a sandwich anyway.
There's also the psychological side: you never hunt for a station on an unfamiliar road, never ask "fill up now or on the way?", never leave home with the nagging feeling that you forgot. The "tank" is simply full — with zero effort.
A garage with a wallbox isn't just about comfort. In time terms, it's the difference between a car that eats your time and one that gives it back.