In the never-ending ‘electric cars versus petrol cars’ debate, there’s little room for nuance. The internet, in particular, dictates that you have to be all-in on one or the other.
The truth, as ever, is somewhere in between, and as we’ve said many times, what a driver should choose generally comes down to their circumstances. In reality, the vast majority of people who can charge at home could run an EV with little impact on their lives, certainly when you consider the fuel cost savings.
But like much in life, it’s not quite that straightforward to say fuel A or fuel B is the right choice, because the balance shifts wildly model by model. When we looked at a selection of five match-ups where there’s an obvious petrol and electric alternative from the same brand, two found conclusively in favour of the petrol car, two others were close and one was heavily in favour of the EV, once you take into account all of the running costs.
EVs’ faster drops in value hamper their chances, while insurance is generally more expensive, but these are countered by savings on fuel and servicing costs. And the more miles you do, the more the advantage swings to EVs, thanks to the low at-home charging cost versus visits to a petrol station. But too much public charging quickly eats into that advantage, thanks to its far higher price.
