For those who drive an EV, what are the running costs like?

[-]

Harrry-Otter@reddit

Home charge with an EV tariff is dirt cheap. Mine gets about 50% battery charge (roughly 160 miles) overnight for about £4. If you have to pay for charger installation it’ll be roughly £1000.

Public charging varies, and given the above I try to avoid it where I can. When I last used it it was about £40 for about 65% charge, so it’s roughly comparable to petrol prices.

[-]

AndromedaFire@reddit

Massive gov grants for ev charger fitting even if you live in private rented accommodation. Actual cost to OP more likely to be £100-300

[-]

MathematicianDry5142@reddit

Thats still expensive by the way. My car is 64kwh battery @ 4p per kw is £2.56 for a full charge ~250 miles

[-]

Harrry-Otter@reddit

What dirt have you got on an energy exec to get 4p per kWh? I’m paying 8p on the overnight rate.

The car has a 100kw battery so it was never going to be the cheapest, but it’s a damn lot less that I was spending on petrol for the car it replaced.

[-]

Notagelding@reddit

3.5p overnight rate, here. Octopus energy

[-]

HeartyBeast@reddit

They were paying me to take electricity the other day on Octopus Agile

[-]

Ieatsand97@reddit

Worth mentioning that Octopus Agile can charge up to £1 per kwh if you get caught out, so its for some, but not for everyone.

[-]

HeartyBeast@reddit

Yup. You need batteries and ideally some automations.

[-]

I get 3.99p overnight and that’s because I fixed in February right before the Iran war at 6.5p overnight , and on April 1st the levies were removed so 3.99p until February it is. So last night’s charge was £1.32 for 32 kWh

[-]

ffsloadingusername@reddit

Where are you finding tarrifs with single digit overnight rates? I'm all electric so use a ton of electric over night and cheapest rates i've seen are 15p+

[-]

audigex@reddit

E.On Next Drive and Octopus Intelligent Go are both under 10p overnight

[-]

TujiTV@reddit

In my area, Octopus offer 30.69 day and 7p night, which could be handy if you heat your home at night or have an EV.

My current supplier is a single tariff of 20p and I work from home, so the losses would be significantly more (when you consider washing machine, tumble dryer, hot water). Even with an electric car, it's not worth the switch, to me, unless I can get some big ass batteries installed in the house and charge them on 7p rates.

[-]

Nihlus89@reddit

E.ON Next Drive fixed is what I’m on now

[-]

audigex@reddit

Octopus just dropped their overnight rates to 3-5p for most people

Although they're increasing back to about 7p again from next month

[-]

ZBD1949@reddit

If fixed my Eon tariff last July and April 1at they dropped the overnight to 3.19p/kWh I expect it to go back up again in July

[-]

TujiTV@reddit

I think a lot of electricity companies now offer dirt cheap 3am charging tariffs.

Hell, some companies now give you money to shift your electricity usage to a later time if there is a massive demand.

[-]

MathematicianDry5142@reddit

Its with eon next drive. Fixed at 7p in december, taxes removed from april means 4p per kwh

[-]

shysaver@reddit

Worth noting that you don’t have to get the £1000 charger you can just charge on a granny plug, maybe EV rated socket to be safe but generally much cheaper.

Doesn’t suit everyone, but if you only do say, 10-20 miles a day you can just slow charge to keep that topped up

Granted, if you need the car to be at 80%-100% everyday or very frequently, a full 7kw charger is worth it

[-]

Rowdy_Roddy_2022@reddit

It's even a bit better than that if you crunch the numbers. A 1am-7am charge would hopefully give you anywhere from 25-35 miles of range. And if you need more than that then a couple of hours outside of the cheap tariff wouldn't break the bank.

[-]

Cam2910@reddit

+1 for the proper granny lead. 3pin plug to type 2 keeps our hybrid topped up enough for the daily mileage.

We'll get a charger at some point, but no major rush.

[-]

Delta1Dan@reddit (OP)

What EV do you have?

[-]

FrancoJones@reddit

To some extent it doesn't matter which one you go for, the day to day costs are tiny compared to an ice car. Sometimes you can see offered for a reduced price or free charger. Polestar offered a £1000 contribution the month after I bought mine. Have a shot of a couple of different cars, as they do drive and feel different. Also if you pick one, look for the appropriate sub on here amd read through the previous posts. Different cars have different challenges, some worse than others but keep in mind that the silent majority are probably sitting at home with no problems at all. There has to be someone out there with a working Taycan.

[-]

Harrry-Otter@reddit

Polestar 4 LRDM.

[-]

LittleSadRufus@reddit

I find the biggest cost I've found is tyres. They wear out quickly, many fitters don't specialise in EV tyres, and to they tend to be specific to the model so more expensive.

But there's a lot less to go wrong in a motor compared to a combustion engine, and batteries now are degrading at a much slower rate. I have the impression the market hasn't yet understood that EVs should depreciate differently, as 100k of mileage in a petrol car results in much more wear than 100k of mileage in an EV.

[-]

VladamirK@reddit

The original tyres on my Polestar did nearly 50k before they were changed and I swapped them with Yokohama tyres which aren't specific for EVs and they seem to be holding out well..

Are you just slamming the pedal at every green light?

[-]

EeveesGalore@reddit

It's worth checking tyre prices before buying any car. Even some rather dull ICE cars such as specific variants of the Nissan Note have 'exotic' tyre sizes that are arbitrarily more expensive than similar common sizes and not available from many tyre manufacturers.

It's not an EV specific issue and many EVs use common inexpensive tyres.

[-]

Melon_Hands@reddit

I have a company EV and I only charge publicly via IONITY at 43p/kWh as I don’t have a home charger (on street parking), but I still make a bit on business mileage at 14p (now 15p) per mile. My range is usually 250 miles per 80% range, so I can easily make £35 back on a charge that would cost me ~£27, but this is also down to driving economically (e.g. use heated seats instead of climate control as it uses significantly less).

If you want to save, home charger is definitely the way forward, but I couldn’t justify the 2k quote I was given to route the charger to the back of my house 50m away to put my car in a leaky asbestos-ridden garage.

[-]

Additional-Guard-211@reddit

At the risk of “no EV no opinion” type come back, I have done A LOT of research and i wanted to add a number of things that i cant see about charging as if you were about to buy one:

3 pin- DO NOT get a cheap one from Amazon or whatever. At least get something half decent, i understand the MasterPlug one is a decent one and i understand its cheapest from Screw fix. However its extremely slow charging, like it would take days to take it from zero to 80. Its also very important to ensure the wall socket is safe, as not all of them are, something about you need a particular standard or it could cause a fire due to how long its charging for.

The installed home charger is generally the way to go. Will probably charge enough for a days use, massively depending on how many miles you do. You also need to check you can have one, i understand a looped supply will be an issue, so your drive could need digging up. But if you get the a half decent charger, with the right electricity supply, and lets say you charge exclusively at home then you will pay in the region of 2 to 3 p per mile (circa 8p per KWh).

Public charging- public charging is MUCH faster, a Kia Niro (a car im looking at, will charge up to 100KWh), but its much more expensive. I have been looking round the ABRP app (EV drivers go mad for this app, it is good to be fair) and most of the charger i have seen are between like 45p and 89p per KWh. So you will save no money if you charge only on public charging, but there if you need it.

[-]

truckosaurus_UK@reddit

I run an EV without the ability to home charge.

I don't drive with economy in mind so average around 2.5 miles per KwH.

I pay for subscriptions with Tesla and Ionity for discounted rates, and access to chargers for both of these networks close to both home and work.

Tesla charge 21p a KwH before 8am which fits into my Monday morning commuting schedule, and 40-odd pence the rest of the day. Ionity are around 43p a KwH all day.

The current UK average diesel price is 190p a litre, so my EV usage, charging at 43p, is 17p a mile, which is the same as a diesel car that can do 50mpg. (When I ran a diesel Volvo I average about 45mpg for a similar driving style).

I reckon I'm a worse case scenario and still am no worse than a diesel.

If you can drive economically, or get a smaller EV, and can charge at home, then it should be a no-brainer to switch.

[-]

GoatBotherer@reddit

What car out of interest?

[-]

iamabigtree@reddit

For me works out at about 2p per mile for home charging. Away from home it's about the same as petrol.

[-]

dja1000@reddit

I am running mine for 2p per mile, i do 28k pa, i loved my diesel Passat but i cannot afford to not run EV ATM

[-]

TimorousWarlock@reddit

I've never dropped below 4 miles per kWh, but obviously that depends how much you pay for electricity.

[-]

Steeeeeveeeve@reddit

My Etron manages half of this 😂 - lovely car to drive though!

[-]

ProstyCiut@reddit

Please explain, how your m/kWh depend on the price of electricity

[-]

TimorousWarlock@reddit

I mean the running costs depend on how much you pay, which admittedly wasn't clear. I think it's a more useful measure as we don't know what tariff OP is on.

[-]

Cultural-Meaning5172@reddit

Super cheap. Garage the cargo bike battery once a day. Pennies.

[-]

Junior-Tap-8503@reddit

Oh and if you get the 40kWh Leaf, please be aware you don’t have 40kWh of range, it’s likely somewhere between 33-36kwh as my 4.8 mile per kWh gave me 168mile range.

[-]

teeeeeeeeem37@reddit

My girlfriend has a 2020 Citgo-E, average consumption over the last 20k miles is 4.8mi/kWh.
How much it costs to charge depends on your tariff, but I'm currently paying 3.5p/kWh. Current best offer is 7p/kWh.
That's about 1.3p/mile.

Public charging is more, but I do it once a year, so couldn't really care less how much it actually costs.

EVs are less attractive if you need to public charge more often.

[-]

Beneficial-Pitch-430@reddit

Home charging.. minimal. I drive 2200 miles a month and it costs me about £50.

[-]

Freddyeddy123@reddit

What are normal repairs and maintenance like for EVs

[-]

ethankostabi@reddit

Minimal. Ridiculously so.

[-]

who_-_-cares@reddit

if you can home charge its very cheap. if you get an older tesla with free unlimited supercharging for life its like having a golden ticket

[-]

ConsciouslyIncomplet@reddit

Just got an EV a couple of month ago.

Running costs are relatively cheap. Around £3 for a 50.% charge between early morning hours. That gets me about 120 miles.

[-]

audigex@reddit

1-2p a mile with home charging means I spend about £15/month on electricity

Public charging is more expensive, but as long as you can charge at home you won't need to do a public charge very often - I can leave the house every morning with 300+ miles of (real world) range, I've not needed to use a public charger for over a year

£6 worth of screenwash every few weeks

Maintenance and servicing has been almost non-existent, frankly - it's just a motor and a battery, so until it's old enough to have suspension issues there's not much to go wrong. And even that suspension etc work will be comparable to a non-EV

Tyres can be a bit more expensive due to the cars being a bit heavier and quite torquey, but once you get over the "EVs are quick off the line" right foot tax they're not that bad

Overall I'm saving a fortune - fuel would be costing me £300/mo right now, meanwhile I'm paying £15 and barely notice it because it just goes on the home electricity bill

[-]

Ok_Turn4362@reddit

In regards to the charger I’ve ordered a cord charger at the time it was £950 (installed and 7 yr warranty) plus 10% off so £855 currently it’s an £50 off offer but I guess that the10% may come back reviews seem good and it’s solar and octopus compatible.

[-]

jacobsnemesis@reddit

Electricity is extortionate. I didn’t see any difference in running costs when I had my EV compared to my current hybrid. Fuel costs have went up, but running an EV is still expensive.

[-]

Independent-Bid915@reddit

It’s expensive if you have to rely on public charging for sure, but if you can charge at home that is simply not true.

My ev has just gone into a repair shop, courtesy car is petrol. It had a virtually empty tank, so popped into a petrol station and put £10 of unleaded in, the mileage projection went up by 80 miles in the car.

£10 of electricity at home would get me about 600 miles.

[-]

jacobsnemesis@reddit

Yeah, I used my EV extensively, with quite long trips, so had to use public chargers as well. I agree; if you’re using it just for a quick zoom around the shops and your local area, it can be cheaper.

[-]

phead@reddit

A lot of modern ev’s are now over 300 miles. Hardly a trip to the shops.

[-]

Terrible_Tap_4385@reddit

Are you insane?

[-]

dimsumplatter75@reddit

low! previous car was a merc and i spent close to £250 per week on petrol. Now have an EV and my electricity bill is £500 per month, which includes my residential use as well.

Not to mention fewer needs for servicing and visits to the garage

[-]

ProfessionalBat6305@reddit

I run an absolute shit box Gen1 Leaf from 2017, has about 85% of the original battery capacity left, which was crap to begin with but it completely fills our short local trips need for a vehicle. It will maybe do about 80 miles but I rarely get it past about half, although my wife loves to occasionally live dangerously and get home on 2,1 or even 0 range left. It's done 108k miles, of which we've done about 7k.

I bought it at auction for £1200 18 months ago.

Pay 7p per KWh overnight, only has about 20KWh of usable battery left, so I can gently granny charge it to eek out it's pathetic existence.

Can also charge at work for free if I'm keen enough to get on the free charging spaces.

It's done really well since we've had it, takes the abuses of wife (the worst), children, pets, even had a few goats in it. It drives poorly but is a top spec one with heating and leather throughout, and sails through MOTs for fun.

I know it might die at anytime but if it does, I've a field where I could do with powering some lights so I'll bodge something up with the battery in a fireproof box, some breakers and a solar panel and see how long that lasts.

[-]

Exalyte@reddit

Drive about 9-10k a year so about average Here's twelve months of charging costs

I have intelligent go at home (5p currently 7p come may) and occasionally superchargers when on long drives averages out at 37p currently

M3 highland averages about 4.5miles per kWh This is my 2nd EV first was a Nissan leaf which I did not enjoy but it was cheap to run, then picked the M3 up in Feb 2025

Petrol equivalent is set by Tesla no clue what it's averaging too but I'd spend 200ish a month on fuel before hand (Audi s5)

[-]

One-Conversation-203@reddit

I charge at home overnight with my commando socket 32A which cost £400 to install. My car gets over 4 miles per kwh, and it costs me 4p per kwh, so my ‘fuel’ costs are less than 1p per mile. Insurance is more but i went from a 3k shitbox to a 500hp tesla so expected that. Tyres will be more frequent but havent got there yet. Overall would really recommend. When i travel for work they pay me 45p per mile, so I pocket the rest

[-]

SpaffMonster2021@reddit

Cost to install charger: £1050 via Scottish Power in March 2025.

For the last year my off-peak rate was 7p per kWh for at least 6 hours per day between 23:30-05:30. 1k miles per month costs £20ish. Now gone up to 8p per kWh, so perhaps £25 per month, including charging losses.

[-]

bbgun24@reddit

Can you explain what you mean by the cost parity bit.

[-]

SpaffMonster2021@reddit

Yes - I mean by using public chargers which cost anywhere from 70-100p per kWh, the petrol equivalent would be something like a V8 doing 15mpg - that's how expensive public charging can be.

Cost parity would be 35-40p per kWh, meaning your EV charging bill would be the same as a petrol car doing approximately 40mpg or so (rough figures - not absolutes).

But if you have a home charger and can charge at say, 8p per kWh, you are effectively doing the petrol equivalent of about 300mpg. Have I explained it in a way that makes sense to you? It makes sense to me, but then I've just finished 7 night shifts in a row and haven't slept since 8pm yesterday. If I'm talking shite - do tell me :)

[-]

bbgun24@reddit

Ah that makes sense. I was confused by the 15mpg bit.

Thanks!

[-]

Infamous_Side_9827@reddit

I pay 8p per kilowatt hour to Octopus, and my car does an average of 3.5 miles per kilowatt hour, so 2.29p per mile. It’s a fairly powerful SUV so a smaller car should get better than that. I’ve never had to charge at an external commercial charger yet, but if you do then the cost goes up very significantly.

[-]

Orpington_Oracle@reddit

My Model Y Long Range charge stats. Ridiculously cheap to run. My Octopus tariff is around 6-7p off peak so my monthly charge is no more than £20 and I do 1,000 miles a month easily. I average around 3-4 miles per KWH depending on where I'm driving to.

Would never go back to an ice car again.

[-]

Hot_College_6538@reddit

We have a 2020 Leaf, we get about 3.5miles per kWh and our home charging is at about 7p, so 2p per mile. Nissan servicing when it was new was a couple of hundred, but they didn't seem to actually do anything other than extend the warranty. Now we get a local garage to MOT and check the brakes etc which so far hasn't needed any work. Changed the tyres after about 40K miles.

The only downside of it is that it's not really suitable for very long journeys.

[-]

csutcliff@reddit

2020 Nissan Leaf, 3.6 miles/kWh average, about 1.5p per mile at 5.49p/kWh 2024 MG 5 long range, 2.9 miles/kWh average, about 1.9p per mile

[-]

highstreethellcat@reddit

model 3 with the charge cables in orignal plastic bag. 30km a day and some weekend driving but not much. Home charge, 10-15 euro a month here in madrid

[-]

Nosworthy@reddit

I'm interested in this - potentially looking to change cars in the summer.

We live in a terraced house though and don't have a drive. There is always space in the backstreet directly outside the back gate.

Are there any recommended resources (YouTube etc?) to learn more and more decide whether it is right for me? Generally fill the tank (£70 - 400 miles ish) every fortnight or so.

[-]

rossburton@reddit

The big thing is can you get a decent charger by your back gate, and connect it to the car without being a trip hazard. If you can then \~400 miles is two charges for our car (which does about 250 miles on a full charge, 64kWh battery), so £5 of electricity on our EV tariff.

[-]

Full-Quit7535@reddit

Insurance for electric vehicles tends to be a bit more expensive

[-]

rossburton@reddit

Counter-point: insurance is a black art: our insurance barely changed when we swapped a 2007 Honda Jazz for a 2020 Kia e-Niro.

[-]

Independent-Bid915@reddit

Yeah you are right about that. I think it mostly comes down to whether you can charge at home or not. I love my ev, but if I could not charge at home then I don’t think I could as the numbers work, unless I went for something really small like a leaf or mg4.

[-]

rossburton@reddit

I charge publically a handful of times a year, when we're driving across the country. Other than that we charge at home, almost always overnight on Octopus's EV tarrif. Last year's \~10K miles cost £135 on the home charger.

[-]

ChaoticCondition@reddit

An old ev -> mechanically simpler

No cambelt
No clutch
No DPF
No Turbos
Brakes don't get used as much due to energy recovery.
No wories about driving on a cold engine for short drives.

My EV was 4 this year, no cambelt change for its 4 year service.
Servicing is less freqent as well, as oil doesn't need to be changed.

Charge at home -> cheaper to run
Not charging at home -> it hurts. But I am not used to paying money on fuel!

Every time I drive and use public chargers, I find it expensive. But I don't do it often and don't have any fancy cards / schemes to try and get it cheaper in public.

I used to have a VW Tiguan, 90 quid a month in fuel. My ev, £20 a month.

Having said that -> car tax is a problem. Tyres do wear quicker. Insurance? I am old and don't care.

[-]

Key_Produce2617@reddit

I swapped my Ford fiesta for a Tesla Model 3 last month. I’ve only ever charged it at home (Octopus 5.2p/kw overnight) and it’s cost me £16 to charge and according to the Tesla app would have been £157 equivalent in petrol. My wife has the Ford Explorer so already had a charger but that cost £1000.

[-]

klmarchant23@reddit

Charger cost me £1000 about 3 years ago.

Servicing was included with breakdown cover for £12 a month for 3 years.

Charging was £3 a night when it needed it, about 1-2 times a week.

[-]

Junior-Tap-8503@reddit

I have two; 2021 Nissan Leaf N-Connecta and a 2021 Volkswagen ID4 Pro Max.

I charge at home using a 32A commando socket on the Octopus Intelligent Go Tariff (5.2p/kWh currently but 6.9p/kWh overnight incl. upcoming price increase).

My charger was cheaper to install than a smart charger; about £700 all in (I have 35m of cable; 25m commando & 10m Voldt charger).

In summer the leaf can push up to average 4.8 miles/kWh with careful driving, in winter though it gets slaughtered; you’re looking at more like 3-3.3 miles/kWh with the same careful driving.

So it’s cheaper to run in summer than winter; 1.43p/mile to 2.09p/mile (still cheap obvs).

So that’s just fuel of course, service every two years so far is about £200-300 per time.

Wiper blades like £30 to replace front and back.

My ID4 though has been more expensive to maintain due to having to replace parts (not standard I’m probably the exception of the rule).

ID4 has similar fuel cost of <2p/mile on my tariff but I’ve had to have both front door handles replaced (£500 all in for both), replaced the 12V EFB battery with an AGM battery (~£200), bonnet cable snapped so had to replace for like £150, now needs the SOS battery module replaced which will probably cost about £400 fucking hell.

I’ve just replaced the drop links at front as well, I love this car but it’s also been bloody annoying; glad it’s so nice to drive.

[-]

Sweaty-Possession-19@reddit

I bought a model Y in March. I've not got it because it's cheaper to run or because it's an EV. I looked at cars, was interested in the tech, the power and naturally ended up with a model Y.

It's cost. Me £1000 for home charger.

Insurance is about 200-300 more.

I have not changed my energy tariff yet so I am paying 22p/ kw. This month energy usage is around £50-60. I was spending £160 per months on diesel before.

I do want to move onto an EV tariff but currently they want 34p day rate. We are at home a few days a week so not entirely convinced. Due to a busy household load shifting is not always an option.

Biggest savings are if you have a battery.

[-]

FableAndFemme@reddit

We've got a Genesis GV70, costs about £5 every week or so to fully charge at home with Octopus IOG

[-]

No_Actuary9100@reddit

I'm interested in this but would probably look at running costs etc too (e.g. insurance, taxes) especially if you are comparing against an ICE or Hybrid.

And I would also factor in the cost of home charging infrastructure ... without that it would seem expensive; I'm seeing a comment below that public fast chargers can be 20p a mile ... if so that's equivalent of a 2.0L Diesel People carrier even at today's fuel prices of £1.90 a litre

[-]

Historical_Cobbler@reddit

I only really charge at home, on an EV tariff.

I have electric van that replaced my diesel. I’d usually put in ~£120 a month (before the current price spikes), and it’s about £30 in electric, but that also includes washing machine and other appliances.

[-]

Kamoebas@reddit

£2 for about 100 miles in my MG4. Overnight tariff - but the price is going up slightly in May.

[-]

Lonely-Job484@reddit

\~1.8p a mile roughly, assuming you have an EV tariff and charge at home. Insurance is indeed a bit higher, but then newer/more expensive car always will be.

[-]

BusyBeeBridgette@reddit

I charge purely from home and have a 4kw solar panel set up that, pretty much, tends to all my EV charging needs. That set em back about 7k and I rarely travel long distance. I have a Hyundai Ioniq N 5. Insurance tends to be a lil more expensive than regular combustion engine cars. However not paying for 'fuel' pretty much is a gift upon itself.

[-]

Greedy_Bother_987@reddit

Cars use around 3 to 4 miles per KWh of electric. Use your electricity bill to see how much you pay per unit. A unit is 1 KWh. My provider offers me a cheap overnight rate of ~8p a unit. Thats 2-3p a mile

[-]

yessuz@reddit

3p per mile. Data over 80k mioes, 4 years

[-]

Purple-Pie4283@reddit

The answer to this will be very different depending on whether you can charge it at home.

I have a VW id7 which I charge overnight at home on an off-peak Octopus EV tariff, and it'd dirt cheap - I think it costs about a fiver, and it's a big battery.

I only charge publicly when I'm on a long trip, and it gets much more expensive - it can be up to 95p per kWh, which is insane. If you have a Tesla charger near you, they tend to be the cheapest fast chargers around.

Have a look at one of the charging apps (Zapmap, ABRP etc) and zoom into what's near your home if you can't charge at home, that will let you see what you'll pay.

[-]

jejdhdijen@reddit

https://www.reddit.com/r/ElectricVehiclesUK/s/hoCIeXlQba

[-]

Total_Rules@reddit

1-2p per mile charging at home.

7-9p per mile at a Tesla supercharger.

20p at most other rapid chargers.

I rarely need to charge away from home. Usually only a few times a year if we go away.

[-]

AutoModerator@reddit

Please help keep AskUK welcoming!

When replying to submission/post please make genuine efforts to answer the question given. Please no jokes, judgements, etc. If a post is marked 'Serious Answers Only' you may receive a ban for violating this rule.
Don't be a dick to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.
This is a strictly no-politics subreddit!

Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.