How much are Electric Cars?

How much are electric cars? 

If you’re thinking about switching from diesel or petrol to an all-electric car you've come to the right place. In this article we take a look at the cost of electric cars, this includes the initial purchase price and the cost of running and maintaining an electric vehicle. So, you can make an informed decision if you would like to switch or plan a switch to electric in the future. If you’re interested in browsing our EV cars you can use the filters at the top of the page or see our full used electric vehicle range. 

Initial purchase price 

The initial purchase price of any vehicle typically is a large sum of money, if you’re buying new or second hand. In this section we take a look at the cost of buying a used electric car compared to buying a used petrol or diesel vehicle. These prices are based on stock from the SPOTiCAR website in February 2022. Prices are likely to change and fluctuate over time.  

The current cheapest electric vehicle listed on the SPOTiCAR website is just under £9,000 for a Citroen C-Zero. This model is categorised as a small city car and was one of the first EV vehicles to be released. The C-Zero has a comparable specification to the petrol Citroen C1. The price of a Citroen C1 with similar mileage and year of issue currently on the SPOTiCAR website is just under £6,000. The C-Zero is therefore £3,000 more expensive at the current time.  

The Peugeot 2008 has all electric options and petrol and diesel options. This is a popular SUV and a good model to compare electric vs petrol or diesel purchase price. Currently electric Peugeot 2008 range from £29,441 to £37,495 on the SPOTiCAR website with 107 electric Peugeot 2008’s in stock. There are currently 1,032 petrol Peugeot 2008s in stock ranging from £7,750 to £32,290. A comparable model and year has a difference of £3,701 in price, with the electric version being more expensive.  

There is no doubt that electric cars are more expensive to buy compared to a similar petrol or diesel model. They do however have additional cost saving benefits in terms of tax and running costs. So, it may be worth increasing your budget to allow for these additional benefits. 

Running costs  

The cost of running an electric vehicle is based on the price paid for electricity. This can vary depending on where you are choosing to charge your car and what tariff that electricity is being charged at. We take a look at the difference between charging your electric vehicle at a public charging point compared to the equivalent miles in fuel.  

To charge a Peugeot 2008 electric vehicle from completely flat to 100% charge, which is the real world equivalent of just under 200 miles, will cost £15 and take 1 hour to charge.  

The equivalent fuel for a Peugeot 2008 averaging 50mpg would cost £26.80 at the current average petrol price. 

There are even more savings to be made if you are able to charge your electric vehicle from home. Some supermarkets also offer free electric vehicle charging in their facilities, so you can charge your car completely free whilst you do your weekly shop.  

Tax and clean air zones 

In addition to the savings made on charging, buying an electric vehicle can also save you money on vehicle tax and clean air zone charges. An electric vehicle has no vehicle tax and no clean air zone charges. So, if you regularly enter clean air zones you can save considerably if you switch to an electric vehicle.