Electric cars can be half as cheap to run as petrol or diesel vehicles, despite recent soaring energy costs.

Drivers charging at home on an electric vehicle tariff save just over 56% compared to petrol or diesel per-mile costs, accoring to the tracker

Transport research organisation New AutoMotive has launched a new fuel cost tracker to measure car running costs – helping to monitor changes, especially during the current volatile energy and fuel prices.

A key finding of the analysis is that the Government’s new energy price cap means that EVs are still cheaper to run than diesel or petrol cars.

In fact, drivers of electric cars can save more than half (just over 56%) on per-mile costs when charged at home on a dedicated EV energy tariff.

But even charging at home on a standard energy tariff is on average 24% cheaper compared to petrol or diesel per-mile costs.

And the new online tool – which converts the latest available energy prices into a cost-per-mile figure and compares the difference in running costs between fuel types in an interactive chart – also indicates that EV drivers who can’t charge at home still enjoy running cost savings. New AutoMotive is working on including clear public charging costs – and also says it supports FairCharge UK’s call for more equitable public charging pricing.

The business also stated that electric car running cost savings will remain a strong selling point, even more so given Opec+’s recent decision to cut oil production.

Ben Nelmes, CEO, said: “Electric cars are likely to become even cheaper to run than petrol or diesel cars in the imminent future, as OPEC’s recent decision to impose the largest cuts to oil production since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic means fuel prices will continue to rise. Fluctuating energy prices and the cost-of-living crisis means the savings EVs offer have never been more important for British motorists.”

Commenting on public charging costs, Nelmes added: “Motorists who rely on public charging also save compared to petrol and diesel drivers, but the higher cost of charging using the public network means that they do not currently enjoy the full extent of the savings EVs offer.

“These savings should be available to all EV drivers, not just those who can charge at home. To ensure this is the case, the Chancellor should cut the rate of VAT on public charge points from 20% to 5%. Additionally, regulations to improve pricing transparency around public charging should be fast tracked, so that consumers can shop around and find the best deal when they need to charge.”

The tracker updates weekly, using data from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) on the average prices of petrol and diesel and the standard domestic tariff price for electricity. The EV tariff price is provided by Octopus Energy and used as a general example of prices provided by dedicated EV tariffs.