Electric driving is often compared to driving a car with a traditional combustion engine. Not surprising of course, because we have been in a transition phase for quite a few years now in which the advantages and disadvantages of both types of engines are weighed up and are constantly changing. Since it is good to continue to look at the facts, differences and possibilities honestly and openly, we will look together with you at the difference in costs between electric driving versus driving on petrol or diesel.
The most important factors that we will discuss on this page to give you as complete a picture as possible:
- Purchase costs of the car
- The cost per kilometer
- Costs of maintenance (and repairs)
- Tax benefits, subsidies and fixed costs such as road tax
- Residual value of the car when sold after use
Some caveats and points of interest before we start the comparison
Comparisons are often full of generalizations and assumptions. Unfortunately, we cannot avoid that either. The price difference in purchasing a car, the costs per kWh for a charge and the exact maintenance interval simply depend on too many factors. Someone who drives more than 50,000 kilometers per year in a car costing €20,000 and keeps this car for 10 years does not appear in this comparison, just like the person who drives less than 5,000 kilometers per year in a luxury sedan that cost more than €80,000 and is sold after two years.
In order to give you the best possible picture, we have used our own experiences, combined with numerous information websites such as that of the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). In addition, we have combined the data from 2021, 2022 and 2023 to remove periodic trends from the comparisons, without losing sight of market developments.
The difference in purchase costs
There are more and more cheap electric cars, but these are not the cars that you can compare with an average family car that is in the driveway. If you want an electric car that has a decent towing capacity, a healthy range and enough space in the car, then you will soon end up with cars that cost half a ton or more.
If you compare cars with traditional combustion engines, you will see that the electric car apparently loses out. However, this comparison is not entirely fair in 2023. First of all, there are subsidies that you can use if you opt for a fully electric car and the range is still growing.
Only in the coming years will we really see a change in this picture. The mass production of parts for electric cars has taken a big hit (partly due to the corona problems and measures) and has still not really got going. The same applies to the introduction of models from renowned brands, which can reduce the (relatively large) price difference.
If you look at second-hand models, the combustion engine wins easily. This is mainly due to the lack of older electric cars that are marketed privately or commercially. This makes used cars with combustion engines cheaper than second-hand electric cars, although this also has to do with the residual value that we will discuss later.
The fuel costs
The comparison between fuel costs (usually expressed as a price per kilometer or 100 kilometers) is a sore point between proponents and opponents of electric driving. This has to do with the question of which data you use. If you only calculate with home charging and you take the electricity prices of mid-2022, then electric driving is a winner by miles. If you assume charging at public charging stations with the electricity prices of 2023 and you put this next to an economical diesel, then it becomes an exciting battle in which your EV could well lose.
Now there are many more factors that play a major role, which makes the story difficult. The costs per kilometre also depend on the distances driven (for shorter distances the price per kilometre is many times higher for cars with a combustion engine) and the number of kilometres driven (think of the particulate filter that has to clean itself).
By the end of 2022, the average electricity price per kWh in Europe rose by around 70%, with petrol and diesel seeing lower increases (15% and 36% respectively). In the countries where the difference was greatest (mainly Germany and Italy), this meant that the cost per kilometre for electric driving became almost the same as the cost per kilometre when driving on petrol or diesel.
There is, however, a huge caveat to this story. Refueling at home with petrol or diesel at a lower rate is not possible. Drilling oil under your home and processing it into fuel is not possible. What is possible is choosing, for example, dynamic electricity prices, charging with your own charging station during off-peak hours or even using solar panels. Do you work for a boss and can you charge at work at a low price or even for free as long as you bring your own charging cable for EVs ? Then this is another way that is particularly suitable for reducing the price per kilometre.
Another point in this same framework has to do with scarcity. Oil supplies will eventually run out, refineries will have to deal with increasingly stringent requirements and with the need to reduce CO2 emissions, diesel and petrol will (have to) disappear further and further from the streets. As we already knew in advance, this will be achieved, among other things, by steering behaviour from the government (excise duties).
Not only are the costs per kilometer lower on average for electric driving (even in this market), the difference will only increase in the coming years, with only people with an electric car being able to influence the costs per kilometer themselves.
Maintenance costs of the electric car versus the car with a combustion engine
Fortunately, the comparison in terms of maintenance costs is much simpler. An electric car has considerably fewer moving and mobile parts and fewer fluids. This means that the monthly costs for maintenance, as well as periodic repairs, are considerably lower. In other words, considerably more can break down in a combustion engine than in an electric motor.
The only caveat to this is the cost of car tires. For an electric car, you need significantly better tires than for an (average) car with a combustion engine, and the tires need to be replaced more often. This is primarily due to the torque of your EV (faster acceleration equals more tire wear) and also to the significantly higher weight of the car. However, this difference can easily be offset against replacing timing belts, replacing the oil and replacing the spark plugs or replacing the cylinder head gasket and all the damage that this causes.
The tax benefits
In terms of tax benefits and subsidies, there is only one winner. The electric car has many advantages when it comes to road tax, levies on the purchase and even in terms of insurance there are advantages for the people who choose the electric car.
The disadvantage is that the plug-in has completely disappeared from this picture. It mainly concerns cars that are fully electric. On the other hand, cars with combustion engines do not have to count on any benefits from the Tax Authorities or motor vehicle tax. This will only change further in the future to the advantage of the electric car, since the European Union wants to get cars with combustion engines off the streets as quickly as possible.
The residual value of the car after use
When the first comparisons were made at the introduction of the electric car, the EV was laughably dismissed because there would be no residual value after use. Those batteries would never have eternal life and replacing the battery pack would be more expensive than buying a new electric car.
Fortunately, we know better today. We also know much better what the real comparison is when we look at the residual value of a car with a combustion engine versus an electric car. The first electric cars had to deal with a significant depreciation due to the uncertainty about the battery life. Nowadays, that is no longer applicable, because the manufacturers give an 8-year warranty on the batteries in the models. We also now know that the batteries last much longer than was thought.
Research shows that the residual value of new cars with a combustion engine after 2 years is around 70% (upper limit) of the purchase price. For electric cars, however, this was around 83%. In addition, EVs are much more common, because the supply on the second-hand market is much lower, while the demand is definitely there from consumers who are actually waiting for the lease contracts of larger companies to expire.
Cost comparison of electric cars versus cars with combustion engines: who is the winner?
Despite the high number of reservations and points of attention, it is clear that the electric car comes out on top in the comparison, although the EV does not have nearly the margin that many proponents of electric driving would like us to believe. This is partly due to the long corona period, which has brought the on-demand delivery of parts (including chips) to a standstill, the increase in electricity prices and the lack of influx of new models from renowned brands.
The EV is already the winner, partly due to the possibilities of charging the car at home and the subsidies and other tax benefits from the government. When more models (including with a lower entry price) come onto the market and it becomes easier to charge at home with dynamic electricity prices or on your own solar panels, the gap between the electric car and the car with a combustion engine will only increase. Not only because of government steering, but also because of (technological) developments.
