If you’re looking to buy a new car, it may have crossed your mind whether it’s worth making the switch to electric?
Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming more and more popular with sales up by 43% in the last year.
You can use our tool below to compare the running costs of some of the most popular petrol/diesel cars with electric alternatives.
How much could you save?
1 YEAR
You could save an average of
£XX,XX
£XX,XX
on car insurance
£XX,XX
on vehicle tax
£XX,XX
on fuel
5 YEARS
You could save an average of
£XX,XX
£XX,XX
on car insurance
£XX,XX
on vehicle tax
£XX,XX
on fuel
Total running costs of petrol/diesel cars
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One year |
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Five year |
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Total running costs of EV cars
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One year |
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Five year |
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Methodology
We compared 50 of the most popular petrol and diesel vehicles with the most registrations as of Q4 2020 (according to the Department for Transport and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) with each fully electric model currently available.
For each, we looked at the cheapest model currently available and compared them on the following factors.
Average insurance premium
All insurance data has been sourced from comparethemarket.com from March – May 2021 and refers to 21 registered plates. Average premiums refer to the average top five quotes presented for people who have clicked through to the provider to take out a policy.
Vehicle tax rate
The vehicle tax rate for a new car. For one year, the figures relate to the first tax payment, which is made when you first register the vehicle, while figures for five years include both the first payment, as well as four instalments at the lower rate which is paid for each subsequent year. Note that all-electric vehicles are exempt from vehicle tax.
Estimated fuel cost
The estimated fuel cost for one and five years, calculated using nextgreencar.com’s fuel cost calculator, based on an annual mileage of 7,400 miles (the national average according to the Department for Transport) and fuel costs of £1.27/L for petrol, £1.22/L for diesel and 17.5p/kW for electric.
Note that five-year savings are based on current averages for insurance, tax and fuel, which are all likely to change in the next five years and therefore should just be taken as a general estimate.