More people are buying electric vehicles (EVs) than ever before, but the pace of change needs to pick up even further.
That’s according to the UK’s Climate Change Committee (CCC), which advises the government on its net zero emissions targets and said last week that the UK must increase its focus on making electricity cheaper to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.
The number of electric cars on UK roads has nearly doubled in the past two years, and nearly one in five new cars sold in 2024 was electric, the chief executive of the CCC told the BBC.
Honda E EV (Image: TL/Tanjent)
But that will only pick up even further when falling prices and the cost of running an EV tumble even further, and consumers switch away from petrol engines because it’s cheaper to do so. The CCC said that falling electricity prices are critical to making this happen.
So, when will road users be better off if they decide to buy an electric vehicle? We asked a number of experts.
When will electric vehicles be cheaper to run?
Taking a wide range of expenses – such as fuel costs, maintenance, depreciation and tax – into account, some EVs can already be cheaper to run than some petrol and diesel cars in the UK.
For example, a typical EV (charged during off-peak hours) can travel 50 miles on £1 of electricity – six times further than £1 of petrol will take you, Matt Walters, an EVs expert at fleet management company Ayvens, told Yahoo News.
“Our 2025 Car Cost Index shows that when you look at the full picture – including everything from fuel and maintenance to depreciation and tax – battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are cheaper to run than petrol and diesel cars in the UK,” Walters said.
Read more: Yahoo