Thinking About Going Electric? What Nobody Tells You Before You Switch

Switching to an electric car is a bigger decision than switching brands of petrol car, mostly because the way you fuel it, tax it, and budget for it all change. Here is the honest picture, the genuine savings and the genuine compromises, without the sales pitch.

What it actually costs to charge

This is where most of the real savings live. Charging at home overnight, on a typical domestic electricity tariff, generally works out considerably cheaper per mile than petrol or diesel, and cheaper again if you are on an EV-specific off-peak tariff. Public rapid charging on motorways and at service stations is a different story: it is priced per kWh at a premium, and on a long motorway journey the cost per mile can end up closer to, or sometimes more than, an efficient petrol car. The realistic summary: an EV charged mostly at home is usually meaningfully cheaper to run day to day, but the gap narrows a lot if you rely heavily on public rapid charging.

Government support, as it stands

As of 2026, the Electric Car Grant gives a discount of up to £3,750 on eligible new electric cars priced under £37,000, applied automatically by the dealer at the point of sale rather than something you claim yourself. Not every EV qualifies, and the eligible model list changes as manufacturers apply, so check the current list before assuming a specific car is covered. The grant only applies to new cars, not used ones. There are separate, smaller grants towards home charger installation for people with off-street parking. Because this kind of scheme changes with government budgets, always check gov.uk for the current rules before you base a buying decision on it.

The road tax change that catches people out

Electric cars used to be completely exempt from Vehicle Excise Duty, commonly called road tax. That changed from April 2025. EVs now pay road tax broadly in line with petrol and diesel cars: a low first-year rate for new cars, then a standard annual rate from the second year onward. If your EV's list price was above a certain threshold when new, an additional supplement applies for several years. The headline point is simple: budget for road tax on an EV the same way you would on a petrol car, rather than assuming it stays free.

Range and charging in real life

Modern EVs typically offer a real-world range that comfortably covers most daily UK driving, since the average car journey is well under 30 miles. Range anxiety tends to matter most for occasional long motorway trips rather than everyday use. The practical questions worth answering honestly before you switch are not just "what is the maximum range," but: do you have off-street parking to install a home charger, how often do you genuinely drive further than the car's real-world range in one go, and how easy is reliable public charging on the routes you actually use.

Maintenance and running costs

Electric cars have far fewer moving parts than a combustion engine: no oil changes, no spark plugs, no exhaust system, and brake wear is often lower because regenerative braking does some of the work. Servicing tends to be cheaper and less frequent as a result. The main known long-term cost to be aware of is the battery, which degrades gradually over many years. Most manufacturers warranty the battery separately, often for 8 years or 100,000 miles, against capacity dropping below a set threshold, which is worth checking specifically when comparing models.

Buying used

The Electric Car Grant only applies to new cars, and EVs have historically depreciated faster than equivalent petrol cars in their first few years, partly due to rapidly improving battery technology and partly due to early buyer uncertainty. That faster depreciation is bad news if you are selling a nearly-new EV, but can be good news if you are buying used, since it often means strong value for a car that is only two or three years old. If buying a used EV, ask specifically about battery health or state of health reporting, not just mileage, since battery condition matters more to an EV's remaining usable life than it does on a petrol car.

Is it actually cheaper overall?

For most drivers who can charge at home, the honest answer is usually yes over the time you own the car, once you account for lower running costs and maintenance, even with the loss of the old road tax exemption. The calculation gets less clear-cut for drivers without home charging who rely mainly on public charging, and for anyone planning very high annual mileage on motorways. It is worth running the numbers on your own driving pattern rather than relying on an average.