Electric Car Vs Petrol Car: When Will EV Be Cheaper
Car owners know electric cars will likely be the future but are holding off buying one until they become cheaper than petrol cars.
Car owners know electric cars will likely be the future but are holding off buying one until they become cheaper than petrol cars.
Simon Pavey
Website Marketing Manager
While there are plenty of reasons to transition to electric cars, there are also many financial considerations.
EVs reaching price parity with petrol and diesel vehicles would be a massive victory in the world’s mission to reduce harmful emissions. Fortunately, this goal might be closer than we once thought.
Electric cars and vans will be cheaper to produce than combustion vehicles by 2027.
A recent study by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) highlights a positive change in the electric vehicle market.
The industry is forecasted to lower the price of electric vehicles by improving designs, reducing battery costs, and creating more dedicated production lines. So much so that all forms of EV will be cheaper to produce than combustion vehicles within the next decade. As the cost of petrol and diesel cars increases with inflation, technological advances help lower the price of EVs, thus creating a smaller gap and, eventually, reaching price parity.
Interestingly, light vans are predicted to become cheaper than their petrol equivalent first. The study suggests that this price will be achieved by 2025. Regular cars, heavy vans, and SUVs will follow soon after in 2027.
If these predictions come to fruition, electric cars and vans will become reliably cheaper by the end of the decade. The study even suggests that electric vehicles could completely dominate the market by 2035. By offering cheaper prices, they could even completely replace sales of petrol and diesel vehicles.
As we approach the 2030 ban on the production of petrol and diesel cars and vans, this is promising news for all drivers.
If you have an HGV, click here to see if electric HGVs can compete with petrol and diesel trucks.
You’re likely to spend an extra 5-10% on the initial purchase of an EV. However, drivers should consider the lower total cost of ownership.
If you’re looking to find out more about the cost of electric cars for UK fleets, read our helpful guide today.
Once you own the car, you’ll be paying less for fuel. Charging an electric vehicle can be as much as 50% cheaper than filling a car with petrol. These savings will drastically increase over the weeks, months and years of EV ownership.
Wondering if you can charge your car with a solar battery charger? Click here to find out.
Charging an electric car at a public station in London typically costs around £26 for a full charge, with rapid chargers costing around £19 for a 30-minute, 90-mile charge.
Charging an electric car at home typically costs around £13 to £15 for a full charge, depending on your electricity rate and battery size, and is generally cheaper than public chargers.
Installing an electric car charger at home costs between £800 and £1,500, including the charger and installation. However, this can vary based on the charger model, the complexity of the installation, and whether you're eligible for a government grant.
In the UK, replacing an electric car battery typically costs around £7,200, though this can vary depending on factors such as battery size, vehicle make/model, and labour costs.
In London, insuring an electric car (EV) generally costs more than insuring a comparable petrol or diesel car due to factors like higher repair costs, specialised mechanics, and the newness of EV technology. However, this is improving as EVs become more common.
Electric car servicing is generally cheaper than a petrol or diesel car, with costs ranging from £100 to £300, depending on the make, model, and service type. Electric cars often require less frequent servicing.
Electric vehicles do not emit harmful CO2, meaning owners are exempt from road tax. If electric cars dominate our roads, as BNEF’s study suggests, road tax might become a distant memory for many!
An electric car cost calculator helps you estimate the running costs of an electric vehicle compared to a petrol or diesel car. It considers factors like electricity prices, charging habits, and driving distance to help you understand potential savings.
In line with their plan to reduce carbon emissions, the government offers low-emission vehicles eligible for plug-in grants. Drivers could be offered up to £2,500 to pay for a new electric car. For some, this might negate the increased cost of purchasing compared to a petrol or diesel car.
According to the ZapMap EV market, as of the end of March 2025, there were over 1,480,000 fully electric cars in the UK. This means that around 4.35% of the c.34 million cars on UK roads are fully electric.
At the end of 2021, 396,945 electric cars were on the road, representing 1.2% of all cars. Since then, the number of electric cars has increased more than threefold.
At the end of 2021 just 18.6% of all new vehicles registered were electric (BEV). As of the end of 2024 this has risen to 19.6% of new car registrations. A further 8.6% of all new cars registered were plug-in hybrids, making the final market share for new cars registered with a plug in 2024 28.2%.
We've seen a really positive start to 2025 with 29.9% of all new vehicles registered being fully electric or plug-in hybrids across the first quarter. These numbers reflect both the increase in demand for electric vehicles and the decline in demand for traditional petrol and diesel cars.
As mentioned above a lot of companies are also considering hybrid vehicles for their business vehicles, but should you choose electric or hybrid cars for your commercial fleets?
Due to the impending change on our roads, fleet managers should be preparing to make the transition. The lowering cost of electric cars and vans should make them seem viable compared to the petrol and diesel vehicles that fleets have consisted of for years.
This drop in price might explain why one in three fleet managers in the UK is expected to replace 50% of their fossil fuel-burning vehicles with plug-in vehicles by 2025. This survey, conducted by Go Ultra Low, also states that 70% of fleet managers hope to purchase an electric car within the next two years.
When will you be making the transition to plug-in vehicles? Are you waiting for the price of EVs to drop, or are you keen to say goodbye to petrol vehicles sooner? If you’re unsure, get in touch with our expert team. We can help you save money on charging costs and also help you get the most range from your vehicles.
Once your fleet has adopted EVs, you’ll probably want to keep your charging costs as low as possible. With the Shell Electric Vehicle Fuel Card, you’ll save 2p per kWh. The card can also be used to pay for regular fuel, making it an excellent option for fleets in a transition period.
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