And no, it's not just for old ones that have done lots of miles.
Driving a mile in an electric car uses aroundthree times less energy than driving a mile in a petrol one. As a result, it’s usually cheaper to run and fuel an electric car. I’vewritten about this before.
A remaining hurdle for electric cars has been their higher upfront costs. If people don’t have the money for the car in the first place, it doesn’t matter how low the running costs are. In the UK, that’s still the case for manynew electric cars, although the UK Climate Change Committeethinks this price gap will close in the next three years.
But most car buyers — around80% in the UK — opt for second-hand rather than brand-new ones. And in the last few years, a quiet revolution has happened: used electric cars have started to undercut the price of their petrol equivalents.
This is not true for every model, but it seems to be the case for many, if not the majority.
A few big reports have highlighted this.
Onecommissioned by Electric Vehicles UK — and carried out independently by New Automotive — concluded that “Among used vehicles registered in 2022 or 2023, 12 out of the 15 most popular EVs are priced lower than their ICE [internal combustion engine] equivalents. The only exceptions are the Kia Niro EV, the MG4 and the BMW i4.”
It was accompanied by the following chart, which compares the up-front costs of a range of comparable vehicles. Most EVs were at least a few thousand pounds cheaper than the petrol equivalent.
Source:Cost of Driving Electric Report 2025
This was also true for older electric cars, as shown below. They reported that 8 out of 10 EVs were cheaper.
Source:Cost of Driving Electric Report 2025
This report was not the first to highlight this closing and now inverting price gap. Arecent study by CarGurus found that used electric cars were — on average — around £2,500 lower than combustion engine equivalents. It looked at vehicles in the UK from the top 30 manufacturers.
A closer side-by-side look at the price of second-hand electric and petrol cars
Many of my readers will trust these results. I do too: I think the Electric Vehicles UK and Everything Electric team try to do good work and trust that they are not fiddling with the data. The report was carried out by an independent organisation, and I would expect them to take the results at face value, regardless of whether they fit with their hopes or not.
But I also expect many people will be understandably sceptical: “Of course Electric Vehicles UK will say electric cars are cheaper!”
So I decided to do my own quick independent analysis. Now, I won’t pretend to be as comprehensive as the commissioned study above (this is a Sunday afternoon not a months-long project), but I wanted to transparently replicate the experience that a consumer might actually go through when trying to pick a car.
I went on toCinch — one of the most popular car dealers in the UK — then pulled and plotted the price data for many of the model comparisons used in the previous report. Rather than just giving an average for different models, I wanted to show the distribution of prices that I could buy today. I’ll also include links to the specific models so you can quickly see what the cars look like. I think this is helpful: simply saying “car X is, on average, £2000 cheaper than Y” can be a bit too abstract for some people.
Second-hand car prices can obviously vary a lot more than new ones because prices also depend on the mileage and condition of the car — that’s why there’s a much larger distribution than you’d get buying new. To keep things more consistent, I’ve matched the age of the cars — usually giving a 2 to 3-year period — so we’re not comparing EV cars from 2017 to 2023 petrol ones, or vice versa.
My overall takeaway is pretty consistent with the reports above: in many cases (but not all) second-hand electric cars are now cheaper upfront than petrol equivalents. At the very least, I think it’s fair to say that their cost-competitive. I think public perception is probably the opposite: there is still a dominant narrative that electric cars are much more expensive. That is still true for manynew cars, but for most drivers — who buy second-hand — that price gap has closed.
MINI Hatchback
Let’s start with some of the cheaper models. Below you can see the price distribution of second-hand MINI Hatchbacks (here’s theelectric version, and here’s thepetrol one).
These were all manufactured in 2021, 2022 or 2023, so they’re only a few years old.
You can see that electric models are cost-competitive with some of the cheapest petrol ones.
Nissan LEAF vs. Renault Clio
The good old Nissan LEAF. For many people, it was the first electric car they’d really seen or know anyone to own.
You can get a second-hand one slightly cheaper than the Renault Clio — which is a close petrol alternative — but the gap isn’t huge. At the very least, Nissan LEAFs are clearly price-competitive with other “small” (by today’s standards) petrol cars.
Peugeot e-208 and Peugeot 208
The Peugeot 208 family are extremely popular in the UK. You can now get an electric model for less than a petrol one.
There is quite a large distribution in prices, mostly reflective of the age of the car. The EV dot on the far-left is a 2020 model with around 25,000 miles. The most expensive on the far-right is a 2023 model with 7,000 miles.
Here’s theelectric version, and thepetrol one. They look almost identical.
Vauxhall Mokka-e and Mokka
The electric version of the Vauxhall Mokka is several thousand pounds cheaper than the petrol version. These are for cars manufactured in 2021 or 2022.
Here’s theelectric version, and thepetrol one. Again, a very similar car.
MG ZS EV and MG ZS
MG cars are becoming very popular in the UK; they’re one of the electric models that I see most often on the roads.
There weren’t actually many comparable electric models available for sale on Cinch, which means we’re drawing from a small sample. But I think the electric version of the MG ZV (here) is still more expensive thanthe petrol one.
Kia e-Niro and Niro
I found the fully electric Kia Niro (e-Niro) to generally be a bit cheaper than theplug-in hybrid alternative. This was actually at odds with the earlier report, which suggested the opposite. Perhaps we were looking at slightly different “sub-models” or a different age range.
The jury is still out on this one, but both results suggest that if there is a price gap in either direction, it’s not a large one.
Audi e-tron and Audi Q5
Another example where the price gap — in favour of electric — is quite clear. It’s a saving of £6000, if not more.
Here is theAudi e-tron and theAudi Q5.
BMW iX and BMW X5
Both of these cars — regardless of whether you go for the electric or petrol version — are on the pricier side. It’s also the comparison with the biggest price gap (and in the favour of the electric model). It topped the list in the Electric Vehicles UK report, and I found a similar gap in the raw data.
The BMW iX (seenhere) can be as much as £10,000 to £20,000 cheaper than petrol BMW X5 models (seenhere).
BMW i4 and BMW Series 4 Gran Coupe
Depending on the age and mileage,someBMW i4 cars will be cheaper than theBMW Series 4 Gran Coupe. But I think there is still a small price advantage in favour of the latter (the petrol version).
This is also what the Electric Vehicles UK report found above.
Tesla Model 3 vs. BMW 3 Series
Tesla’s sales have been tanking in many markets recently. I know many of my readers would never consider buying one now. But it’s still interesting to look at the price comparisons.
A second-handTesla Model 3 (which is still a good car, even if you don’t like the CEO) is several thousand pounds cheaper than theBMW 3 Series, which is a reasonable petrol alternative. You can now get one for around £15,000.
If you’ve read this far, I would guess that you’re pretty interested in electric cars and electrification more generally.
The Everything Electric team are hosting a big event at the ExCeL in London from April 16th - 19th.
I actually spoke at the event last year about energy and climate change, and really enjoyed it. If you’re looking for some expert advice on not just electric vehicles, but also heat pumps, and clean energy more generally, there are lots of professionals there to help. You can also test-drive a bunch of electric cars, scooters, and vans too. You can find more information on the event, and buy ticketshere**.