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Electric or petrol? And what will it really cost you?
How far you drive a year, and whether you can plug in at home. Those two answers decide the powertrain; the badge, the country and the finance decide the rest.
5powertrains compared
30manufacturers
29 + USmarkets
0rates quoted
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Start with the question you actually have
Almost nobody arrives asking which badge is cheapest. They ask whether to go electric. That turns on two things you already know about yourself — your annual distance, and whether you can charge at home — so start there.
Start here
Electric or petrol? The verdict table
Every combination of annual distance and charging access, with a named winner in each and what would change it. One row is your answer.
Head to head
Electric against petrol, line by line
Depreciation, energy, insurance, maintenance and tax side by side — the five lines where they part company.
Powertrains
All five powertrains
Battery-electric, plug-in hybrid, hybrid, petrol, diesel — each with the one hinge that decides whether it wins, and every pair compared.
Then narrow it down
Brands
30 manufacturers
Cost character, the finance arm behind each — Tesla Financing, Volkswagen Financial Services, Ford Credit and the rest — and which structures they sell through.
Countries
29 European markets and the US
How each country taxes cars, how people there actually finance them, and which reputable lenders to get a dated quote from.
Financing
7 ways to pay
Cash, bank loan, captive finance, PCP, lease, salary sacrifice, subscription — how each works, who it suits, and what catches people out.
Method
Read this first
Why depreciation beats everything, why the monthly figure is designed to mislead, and why the energy line is the one you still control after buying.
The questions the tables cannot answer
Cost lines
Depreciation
The largest cost line and the one nobody looks at — what actually moves it, and why the badge tells you less than the timing.
Cost lines
Home versus public charging
For an EV the energy line splits in two at very different unit costs. Where you plug in decides more than what you drive.
Cost lines
What winter really costs
Range, consumption and the tariff in the cold — mostly the heater, which is good news.
Financing
Reading a lease quote
The six numbers on the page, and the sum the quote does not do for you.
Cost lines
Battery warranty and resale
Two warranties, not one — and why a documented state of health is the second-owner asset.
Method
Why incentives are perishable
Subsidies work while they run and reverse when withdrawn. What to rely on instead.
Related reading
EV Ground Truth
Electric cars reviewed on real range, charging behaviour and life-cycle emissions.
Travel Health Evidence
Jet lag, travellers' diarrhoea, food safety and eating with an allergy abroad.
Carbon Evidence
Personal carbon footprints, life-cycle assessment, and which changes actually move the number.
The EV Route
Planning an electric road trip around real range, real charge curves and where the chargers actually are.