Electric cars are a lightning rod: some owners are evangelical, while other drivers think they are overpriced and overrated.
But they are the future. Auto Trader has forecast a tenfold leap in the number of electric cars on our roads over the next decade, from just under 1.3 million to over 13 million.
So does it make financial sense now to switch to electric? Or would you save money in the long run with a new combustion engine car instead?
It depends on several factors including the type of car you drive, your mileage and (crucially) whether you have a driveway.
Use our tool to find out whether it’s time to take the plunge.
How the calculator works
Example 1
Say you drive 10,000 miles a year and are considering buying either a petrol hatchback or an electric hatchback. If you don’t have a driveway or a way of charging an electric car at home, you will have to rely on public charging points, which are far more expensive.
The calculator indicates that, in purely financial terms, it is probably not worth making the switch as your total costs would not be lower with an electric car within ten years. Even if you re-ran the calculator with the same information, but this time said you did have home charging, it still would not be cheaper to run an electric car than a petrol one within a decade of purchasing.
Of course, many things could change over ten years. The price to charge at public points could dramatically drop or the premium currently paid for an electric car over a petrol or diesel equivalent (assumed to be £12,500 in the calculator) could disappear. And there are other reasons people may decide to switch, from preferring the modern aesthetics of a Tesla, for instance, to concern over air quality.
Example 2
This time we’re assuming you drive 20,000 miles a year, want to buy a hatchback and that you have a driveway. Now the calculator suggests the break even point – when the total cost of an electric car becomes lower – is at around eight years.
Example 3
We’re still assuming an annual mileage of 20,000 but this time you want to buy an SUV.
It should be noted that the calculator results are merely indicative. Comparing fuel efficiency is very difficult as there are many factors at play and the calculator assumes an average efficiency for electric cars but has more precise estimates for petrol/diesel equivalents.
Why are buyers cautious about going electric?
Affordability remains a major sticking point: electric cars tend to cost more than their petrol or diesel equivalents. This was found to be the single biggest barrier for would-be buyers, according to a survey by YouGov.
But this premium is plummeting. Electric cars were 59pc more expensive on average in January 2020, according to Auto Trader, but five years later it had dipped below 25pc for the first time.
This is equivalent to an average of £12,500, which is reflected in our calculator as an upfront cost for an electric car. Leasing is of course an option, but in this analysis we are focussing on outright purchases alone.
The Government is also stripping away the relative tax advantages of electric cars. When first registered, the rate of Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) depends on carbon dioxide emissions – this covers the car for 12 months.
Electric cars used to be exempt from this so-called “showroom tax”, but the Chancellor has imposed a charge of £10 from April. This remains, however, considerably lower than the £540 average for a new mid-sized petrol car. From the second year onwards, all new cars – including electric – will pay the standard VED rate of £195.
An expensive car supplement is added on top of this for five years if the list price exceeds £40,000. This is set at £425 per year for 2024-25, bringing the total road tax bill to £620. The exemption sparing electric cars is also ending in April, meaning the tax advantage of an electric car is much less advantageous.
Have a driveway? Electric cars make a lot more sense
Savings, therefore, mostly come down to the cost of refuelling versus recharging.
Combustion engine drivers are at the mercy of the forecourt. Petrol was about 7p per litre cheaper than diesel at the start of 2025, but diesel cars tend to be more efficient and so will likely prove more economical over 1,000 miles.
When you have an electric car, the advantage of having a driveway – and so being able to charge at home – is huge. According to Zapmap, rates at public charging points have hovered around 80p/kWh over the past year. Off-peak home rates, meanwhile, came in 10 times cheaper at 8p/kWh. Many energy providers now offer two-rate tariffs, which supply electricity to homes at much lower rates at night.
After affordability, the next most-cited concerns about buying an electric car, according to YouGov, both relate to range: a lack of charging infrastructure, and a worry the car will have low mileage at full charge.
According to the Electric Vehicle Database, the current average range of cars currently on the market is just over 230 miles. Many new petrol cars, on the other hand, can go up to 400 miles on a full tank, with diesels often surpassing 500. How far you get on a single tank or charge is largely dependent on driving style and usage.
The UK is now expected to have more public charging points than fuel nozzles. The number of forecourts has been in decline for years, falling by a third since 2000 to just over 8,000. Charging points, on the other hand, are multiplying. There were 73,334 in January 2025 – up by 36.5pc in 12 months.
Of those, just under one in five offered rapid or ultra-rapid speeds – whose fastest connector is above 25kW and 100kW respectively – allowing for 80pc battery charge in as little as 30 minutes, according to Zapmap.
Over the longer term, it is also worth considering that while electric cars tend to be more reliable, a shortage of qualified technicians in some areas could push up repair costs. The Institute for the Motor Industry forecasts a shortfall of 16,000 by 2035.
Battery life shouldn’t be a worry: recent research by Which? found they lost between 1pc and 2pc of their capacity each year, with little change in engine efficiency. Most manufacturers offer a 100,000-mile, eight-year battery warranty.
Despite this, residual values – what a car is worth when it’s time to trade in – are considerably lower. Auto Trader found that a typical electric car halves in value after three years, at which point petrol and diesel cars had fallen by just a third.
Ian Plummer, of Auto Trader, said: “New electric vehicles still maintain a price premium, but this has dropped dramatically over time and more affordable models from both new and established brands are helping to close the gap.
“With running cost savings of around £660 a year, compared to petrol and if you’re charging at home, there are plenty of reasons why now is a great time to consider electric – especially if you have a driveway.”
