What an electric car really costs to own (and when it is cheaper than a petrol one)

Updated 6 October 2026 · Figures calculated with the evrouteplan calculator

An electric car usually costs more to buy and quite a lot less to run. Whether it ends up cheaper or dearer depends mostly on three things: where you charge, how many kilometres you drive and how many years you keep it. This guide shows you how to do the sum and what changes it, with a worked example.

1. What goes into the sum

To compare properly you have to add up everything you pay during the years you keep the car, not just the price:

• The purchase or the fee: the price if you buy it, or the down payment and instalments for renting or leasing.
• Energy: electricity at home and at public chargers, or fuel.
• Maintenance: services, oil, filters, brakes.
• Residual value: what the car is worth when you sell it, which is subtracted.

The evrouteplan calculator adds all that up for an electric car and a combustion one with the same kilometres and years. It does not include insurance or road tax; if in your case they are very different between the two cars, add them separately.

2. What charging costs

Energy is where the electric car saves, and how much it saves depends almost entirely on where you charge. With a consumption of 18 kWh/100 km, electricity at €0.12/kWh at home and €0.55/kWh at a public fast charger, and a petrol car using 6.5 l/100 km with fuel at €1.80 a litre:

Charging at home, the electric car spends about five times less on energy than the petrol one. Always charging out and about, only a little less. That is why the first question before buying an electric car is not its price but whether you can charge at home or at work.

3. A worked example

An electric car at €40,000 against a petrol one at €35,000, both bought, 20,000 km a year for 5 years (100,000 km), charging 80 % at home (average price €0.206/kWh):

• The electric car costs €5,000 more to buy.
• It spends €3,708 on energy in 5 years, against €11,700 for the petrol car: it saves €7,992.
• Total: €43,708 for the electric car (€0.437/km) and €46,700 for the petrol one (€0.467/km). The electric car comes out €2,992 cheaper.
• It becomes cheaper after 3 years and 2 months: from then on, every kilometre is a saving.

This example does not count maintenance or residual value, which are switched on separately in the calculator.

4. What changes the result most

With the same example, changing one thing at a time:

• Where you charge matters most: if you charge 80 % at public chargers, the electric car ends up costing €1,652 more than the petrol one.
• Kilometres: at 10,000 km a year the energy savings do not make up for the price difference (€1,004 in favour of the petrol car); at 30,000 km a year the electric car saves €6,988 and becomes cheaper after 2 years and 2 months.
• Years: the longer you keep the car, the more the energy savings add up.
• Maintenance: an electric car has no oil, fuel filters, clutch or exhaust, and brakes a lot with the motor. With €300 a year for the electric car and €650 for the petrol one (example values: use your garage’s), the difference rises to €4,742.

5. Buying, renting or leasing

With renting (long-term rental) you pay a fee that usually includes maintenance and insurance, and you hand the car back at the end: you take no risk on what it will be worth. With leasing you pay instalments and at the end you can keep it by paying the purchase option. Buying is the cheapest in the long run if you keep the car for many years, but you take on the residual value. The calculator compares the three with the fees from your quotes.

6. Residual value

It is the most uncertain figure: nobody knows for sure what a car will be worth in five years, and for electric cars it depends a lot on how batteries and the prices of new cars evolve. That is why the calculator does not count it unless you switch it on and enter your own estimate. With €18,000 for the electric car and €14,000 for the petrol one, plus maintenance, the difference in the example would be €8,742; but that number is only as good as the estimate you enter.

7. Do your own sum

The figures in this guide are an example. With your prices, the way you charge and your kilometres, the result can be very different, either way. In the cost calculator you change any figure and instantly see what each car costs and when the lines cross. And if you are wondering what travelling with it will be like, the route planner tells you where to stop to charge and for how long, with your model.

How the figures were calculated: with the evrouteplan calculator in October 2026 and its example values (purchase prices, consumption, energy and fuel prices, maintenance and residual value). They are values to show how the sum works, not current market prices or those of a specific model: replace them with those from your quote and your tariff.