Should you buy an EV in 2025?
Switching to an electric car could — and should — save you money but does today’s EV technology suit every motorists’ needs? Our guide explains everything you need to know.
- Find out the benefits and pitfalls of EVs
- Discover how to minimise electric cars’ downsides
- Could an EV already prove to be a money-saver for you?
Your essential guide to making the EV switch decision
Making the switch to an electric car’s simple, isn’t it? Just charge it up, drive around and plug it back in again when you’re done — all while saving the world and a bit of cash in the process. It’s the very definition of ‘a doddle’.
Except — as with many things car-related — what is theoretically straightforward is made complicated and costly by different demands of the EV industry’s stakeholders.
From baffling domestic electrical tariff options to the eye-wateringly expensive public charging network, let alone insurers behaving as though you’ve advised them that your new EV’s made from unobtainium with a veneer of Martian diamonds, running an electric car might not generate the cost savings you’d hoped for if you don’t do your homework.
In this guide we unpack the real-world costs associated with running EVs, helping you to avoid needlessly wasting money and end up feeling as flat as an uncharged battery.
Charge your EV at home as much as possible
If you’ve got a driveway or dedicated parking space and can stick a charger on it, then congratulations — you’ve unlocked the golden ticket to electric car cost savings. Charging at home is how you will spend the least when topping up your EV’s battery — unless you have a very generous employer who’ll let you do it at the office car park for free.
Dedicated EV tariffs and electric car-friendly low-cost overnight rates can see the unit cost of electricity dip below 7p per kilowatt hour (kWh). That means a flat-to-full recharge for a 300-mile-capable model such as a 77.4kWh battery Kia EV6 should comfortably cost less than £6. Looking at it another way, a solitary quid’s worth of electricity will buy you 50 miles of range.
Even on a standard tariff of closer to 30p/kWh that total recharge will cost you in the ballpark of £23. Even with an especially miserly diesel-engined car, fuel of the same value isn’t going to let you drive the same 300 miles.
Low energy cost-per-mile potential here is what makes EVs especially attractive for those who are able to have the requisite wallbox installed at home — the downside is the equipment and installation isn’t exactly cheap. Sure, you can charge an electric car off a regular three-pin plug but waiting 24 hours or more for 0%-100% zap-up isn’t something many of us find convenient.
Prices for wallboxes range from a few hundred to the low thousands, the differences depending on an array of considerations such as its design to whether you want a tethered cable or to correspond with it over Wi-Fi. Our advice is to go for the one that does all you need for the least money — beyond that the benefit of spending more’s questionable.
There are always exceptions to rules and it might be that your wallbox pre-installation survey reveals problems that can fitting one much more expensive than envisaged, if not impossible.
If your fuse box is older than your nan’s teapot, expect extra work to be needed at extra cost. Some homes need wiring upgrades, new consumer units or even dedicated ones specific to the wallbox to safely manage the load of a home charger. Planning permission usually isn’t required but it’s worth double-checking what you’re permitted to do if you live in a listed building or a conservation area.
Some energy providers offer finance packages if you buy your wallbox through them, while it’s not uncommon for dealers keen to sell an electric — or plug-in hybrid — car to sweeten the deal by paying for the installation. Just be wary of the cost being bundled into the car’s finance package as you may end up paying more for the wallbox that way.
It may sound obvious but it’s surprising how many people forget that charging an EV at home will see their electricity bill rise substantially — the more you plug it in, the more it’ll cost. Sensible budgeting can help here — set aside the cash you’d have previously allocated for petrol or diesel to pay for your increased electricity bill and the amount left over will be a very tangible demonstration of how much you’re saving.
Public charging: Convenience at a cost
Here’s where it gets sticky. Public charging, especially the ultra-rapid variety at 150kW or higher, can be a wallet-slayer. Companies such as Gridserve, Ionity and Instavolt need to recoup their costs from installing the infrastructure in the first place.
Combining this with the additional expense most of us reasonably expect to pay for such speed and convenience is one thing, but most EV drivers are rightly baulking as prices are edging ever-closer to the £1/kWh level. At today’s rates, recharging that same Kia EV6 will cost in the region of £60–£75 — similar to, if not more than, a tank of petrol for a powerful hot hatchback to have the same 300-mile range.
This is why most savvy EV drivers avoid public chargers like the plague, using them only when absolutely necessary, such as when needed on a long journey. And that’s assuming you happen upon one that’s actually working or hasn’t been blocked off by an ignoramus in a non-plug-in car.
Membership schemes can reduce costs a bit, with the likes of Electroverse and Pod Point offering small discounts, but it’s still expensive and you’ll also need multiple radio frequency identification (RFID) cards or smartphone apps as not all public chargepoints accept contactless payments. Before you know it you’re juggling apps like a digital circus performer while your diesel-driving neighbour’s already brimmed their tank and has driven out of view. Simplicity? Not quite.
Another consideration is dwell time — how long you’re parked and hooked-up to the charger. Zapping from a 10%-80% state-of-charge using an ultra-rapid connection usually takes well under an hour — that’s not bad if you’re grabbing lunch and stretching your legs, but can feel like a lifetime on a cold, wet day with kids loudly arguing in the back.
Don’t fall into the trap that many drivers do when using the public charging network of leaving you car plugged in until its full. If you only need 20 miles of additional range to get back home to your own charger, why add more than say an additional five miles of ‘insurance range’ to do so. Every minute you’re plugged in for longer than you need to be is wasting your money.
Relying on public infrastructure for everyday charging is a guaranteed route to rage, regret and financial ruin.
Understanding EV jargon
Electric vehicle battery capacities are typically quoted in kilowatt hours (kWh) — the higher the number, the more electrical energy they can hold. Similarly, in our electric car reviews, we express their efficiency in miles per kilowatt hour (mi/kWh).
The numerical results are lower than they are for miles per gallon (mpg), which requires getting your head around but as a broad rule of thumb 3.0-3.5mi/kWh is average. If you’re achieving 4.0mi/kWh or higher then you’re doing brilliantly, while 2.5mi/kWh or lower indicates the opposite. Of course, it’s all relative to the performance, size, weight and aerodynamics of the EV concerned — 2.5mi/kWh would be decent going for a large, van-derived MPV yet it’d be dismal for a small hatchback.
Low winter temperatures — and to a lesser extent hotter summer ones — negatively affect battery efficiency and therefore driving range. This impact can be reduced by pre-conditioning your EV to your preferred internal temperature while it’s still plugged in, which is more cost effective and energy efficient than doing so while driving.
Winter also plays a role. Cold temperatures reduce battery efficiency and range, which can cause your heater to work overtime — draining your charge quicker and prompting more frequent top-ups. Pre conditioning (warming the cabin while plugged in) helps, but it’s another factor to consider.
All things being equal, larger batteries take longer to charge — except, when it comes to recharging an EV, things are neither equal or constant.
Consider the flow rate of electricity from the charger, usually expressed in kilowatts (kW), for instance. It flows more slowly if the battery is low on charge, speeds up once it’s past 10% before slowing down beyond 80%. That’s assuming there aren’t other demands on the electricity grid both at your exact location, such as someone else using the adjacent charger, or because you’re in a large city trying to recharge at a time when people are typically arriving home from work and preparing dinner.
Home wallbox chargers usually deliver at around 7kW, although those with three-phase electrics can typically enjoy speeds of 11kW.
In public places, chargers that range from 11kW to 22kW are classed as fast. Compared with a three-pin plug connection at 2.3kW, they are, but it’s rarely fast enough to use as a stop-off on a long journey. Rapid chargers are those which typically serve a flow of 50kW to 149kW while those delivering 150kW or higher are ultra-rapid.
Where some EV drivers become unstuck is by hunting out the fastest charge points they can find, without considering the speed of their car’s on-board charger — it’s that piece of tech which limits the maximum flow rate the vehicle will handle. If the on-board charger is only 50kW, connecting to a 350kW ultra-rapid device will still only allow it to charge at a maximum of 50kW. Similarly, battery preconditioning available on some EVs can improve charging speeds — but only if you know how to use it. Again, do your research in advance.
Less confusing in recent years are the different connection types, primarily because the Chademo system favoured in Japan and common to older Nissan Leafs is gradually falling by the wayside. For the most part AC charging, which typically ranges from those sources providing 7kW-22kW, uses a Type 2 connection. The plug is circular with a flat top, ensuring it can only go in one way, and contains seven pins.
Typically operating at rates of 50kW and above, DC charging employs a CCS connection. This resembles the Type 2 plug with two further pins immediately below it — most EVs have a separate cover over the socket for the pair of extra pins to prevent them from getting full of detritus when only the Type 2 socket is in use.
What there’s no danger of is expensively remedying matters after charging your EV with the wrong type of electricity in the way a combustion-engined car could be mis-fuelled — usually by filling a diesel with petrol rather than the opposite way around due to the nozzle diameters.
Cheaper EV maintenance and servicing
Here’s a big win for EVs because they’re mechanically far simpler, with fewer moving parts than a combustion engine. Not only are there fewer things to go wrong, there’s also a reduction in consumables — no engine oil, no spark plugs, no timing belts chains, no AdBlue and no diesel particulate filters (DPFs).
Servicing an electric car is therefore simpler and usually less expensive for basic inspections and fluid checks — just don’t expect it to be cheap.
Brake wear is usually much lower with EVs thanks to regenerative braking where the motor plays a more active role in slowing the car down than with a petrol or diesel model, ensuring both your pads and discs last longer. Tyres? Well, that’s another story. EVs are heavier and torquier than their combustion-engined equivalents so they munch through rubber like a Labrador through leftovers.
Many smaller, independent garages won’t touch electric cars because the staff haven’t had sufficient — or any — training in how to look after them, meaning you may need to stick with to appointed main dealers. Their labour rates are typically higher while the lack of alternatives could mean waiting times for an appointment are longer, particularly for newer models which require little more than a software reset.
Expensive electric car battery replacement
One frequent concern raised about electric cars by those who’ve no direct experience of them is the shockingly high cost of replacing the battery packs. Depending on the model in question, this could be well in excess of £10,000.
That’s the bad news — the good news is that in the real-world, its very rare that an EV’s battery needs replacing and if it did the car’s owner would be unlucky if they end up footing the bill.
How so? Well, acute failures are exceptionally rare and most EVs come with long warranties for their high-voltage batteries, with many manufacturers guaranteeing at least a 70% rechargable capacity for eight years or 100,000 miles, whichever occurs sooner.
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Promisingly, the oldest of the moden-era electric cars, such as early Nissan Leafs and Renault Zoes, are still going strong despite being out of warranty — the reality is that the battery will still have a useful second life long after the car it was fitted to has been scrapped.
Just as with those fitted to laptops, tablets and smartphones, batteries in electric cars do degrade over time, with the overall chargeable capacity typically reducing by 1%-2% annually.
Battery degradation can be minimised by maintaining a 20%-80% state-of-charge (SOC) as often as is practical, avoiding charging back up to 100% whenever possible, especially when using an ultra-rapid DC connection and doing whatever you can to prevent the car from being exposed to temperature extremes — thankfully such fluctuations are rare in the UK.
Why is EV car insurance so expensive?
Here’s a curveball — despite all the safety kit and modern technology on hand with most EVs that help prevent you from being involved in an accident in the first place, they can still be painfully expensive to insure.
That’s largely because repair costs for electric cars are higher than comparable combustion-engined models — especially so if the battery pack is damaged — due to the number of more specialist parts involved, but also because most EVs remain expensive to buy new. Tesla owners will also be nervous about whether anti-Elon Musk sentiment will grow across the country in a manner similar to that across the Atlantic.
If you’re a younger driver then you may need to dig very deep for your premium — assuming you can find an insurer willing to cover you in the first place.
As electric cars become ever-more popular generating economies of scale that reduce the cost of more specialist components that may require post-accident replacement or repair, insurance costs will fall — but is unlikely ever to become inexpensive given the high bar premiums started at. Right now you could well be spending more insuring an electric Volkswagen e-Golf than you would a rorty and rapid GTI version.
As was ever thus with car insurance, for EVs or otherwise, spend time shopping around for a variety of quotes rather than simply going for the first one you see or automatically renewing with your existing cover provider.
Electric car taxation winners and losers
If you’re a company car driver there’s reason to smile by opting for an EV — the Inland Revenue will only charge you a relative pittance for driving one. The reason is that Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) taxation is just 3% for all electric cars at 2025/26 rates, making many high-end EVs better value for money for company car drivers than a modestly priced petrol or diesel model.
Take the entry-level version of the Ford Puma mild hybrid petrol which emits 122g/km of CO2 placing it in the 30% BiK band. At present (May 2025) P11D values, that means a person in the 20% taxation bracket would pay a smidge over £130 per month in BiK. Compare that with Porsche’s smallest electric SUV — even in its dearest Macan Turbo Electric guise at just shy of £97,000 would still only cost a higher earner in the 40% bracket less than £97 each month in BiK.
If you’re self-employed or running a fleet of vehicles, there are also capital allowance perks to take advantage of. Electric vehicles qualify for 100% first-year allowance, meaning you can deduct the entire cost from your pre-tax profits. Definitely something worth discussing with your accountant.
No surprise why EVs have almost become the default choice among company car drivers, then — but far from everyone is able to take advantage of such a benefit. Most of Britain’s drivers are private motorists who have faced the potential of a double-duty blow from 1 April 2025.
Until that point, electric cars weren’t subjected to bills for Vehicle Excise Duty — that’s VED, often inaccurately referred to as ‘road tax’. Now, the first-year rate is an essentially nominal £10, but from year two onwards EVs attract the same flat £195 fee as even the most-polluting petrol and diesel cars.
Worse than that, EVs are no longer exempt from the Expensive Car Supplement — colloquially known as the expensive car tax — levied on new cars costing £40,000 or more and payable annually for five years from the anniversary of their first registration. The majority of new EV choices are well in excess of £40,000 new and therefore will be liable for that £425 yearly tax.
Weak EV resale values
Considering buying a used EV? Then tread carefully. Some older electric cars, such as the Renault Fluence, can appear to be brilliant value, but factor in that they’ll have had much smaller driving ranges than new EVs on sale today even before battery degradation’s taken into account and you might end up with one that hasn’t got an ice cube’s hope in a freshly brewed cuppa of totting-up 100 miles before it needs plugging back in. That might be fine if you just want a cheap urban runaround but that won’t suit everyone.
Always check the car’s battery health with a diagnostics tool before buying used. If the seller won’t let you, then walk away just as you should if the service history and maintenance records are patchy, let alone non-existent.
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While weak EV resale values are great news for people looking to buy an excellent used example, plummeting residuals are a worry for new electric car buyers. Simon Harris, Head of Valuations at Vehicle Data Global sets the scene:
“Reports of EV values increasing are based on monthly snapshots of trade prices immediately following resale prices reaching levels where traders feel they can make a profit, so demand has a blip.
“But there isn’t much that would indicate a trend of long-term stability for the moment, although as more appear on the market and used car buyers begin to understand them better, adopting them on a wider scale, this should begin to improve.”
In other words, a PCP agreement for a new EV bought now is unlikely to realise a significantly higher market value than that predicted as part of the finance package calculations by the time it draws to a close — but the one after that could offer brighter prospects.
EV costs compared with petrol and diesel cars
So how does all that stack up against a petrol- or diesel-powered alternative to an EV? Fossil fuels are likely to keep increasing, especially if carbon-neutral alternatives become commonplace in the years ahead. Servicing is usually pricer, most consumable parts wear out faster and there’s the looming spectre of the mass-adoption of Clean Air Zones (CAZ) across many more UK towns and cities. Some councils are already charging higher rates simply to park combustion-engined vehicles.
Yet this ‘old tech’ is usually less costly to insure and — a key factor for new private car buyers — petrol and diesel models are still more often than not significantly cheaper than their EV alternatives.
For how much longer, though? That gap has narrowed in recent years to the point where Vauxhall now sells some of its newer fully electric models at the same price as their equivalent mild hybrid petrol-electric counterparts.
One thing you can be sure of is that as soon as the cost of producing electric cars significantly below that of manufacturing those fitted with combustion engines there’ll be a divergence where consumers readily opt to make the switch and car companies pivot to become EV-only brands.
Whether this happens before the 2035 ban on combustion engine-only new cars remains to be seen.
So is 2025 the year to switch to an electric car?
Yes… albeit with the caveat that doing so will depend entirely on your personal circumstances.
If you don’t have a dedicated parking space or driveway, you regularly drive in excess of 250 miles daily or your home’s wiring looks like it could have been installed by a young Thomas Edison, then you could still save money with an electric car, but your chances of doing so are minimised.
On the other hand, if none of the above apply, then making the switch to an EV in 2025 could prove to be an especially prudent decision — and if you’re a company car driver, doing so is a no-brainer.
