Lifetime cost of driving: Do EVs really save you money?

When my old Toyota Corolla was written off after being hit, I found myself scrolling through numerous car sales websites trying to find a replacement.

It would take two years to finally find one that I could afford. I settled on a 2018 Honda Jazz: basic for my needs and driveable.

I did consider buying an EV but the upfront costs were too high and, frankly, there weren’t any affordable second-hand EVs.

Now, with more second-hand EVs on the market, and with skyrocketing petrol prices, I have wondered if an EV would have been the better option.

After trading in her 21-year-old BMW for her EV MG4 two years ago, Imogen Lamport said she will never go back to an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle.

Lamport paid $40,000 for her EV, which she said was an average price at the time for what was available.

“I decided to go EV. There’s no fumes or noise, and because we have solar panels it’s mostly free to run. I recently had my first two-year service and it cost $270.”

Another reason for the change was the rising costs of servicing, petrol and maintenance.

“I paid around $10k more than an equivalent ICE car but from my calculations it would only take two years to make up the difference. After my old running costs it’s so much lower now, so it was worth it.”

Lamport drives mostly around Melbourne. At home she has installed a 7kW charger in the garage for faster charging, and charges the car once a week.

The only long drives are to Canberra to visit her elderly parents. On these trips she stops twice after fully charging the car before leaving home.

“I visit my elderly parents fairly frequently; my car has a smaller battery, which is perfect for city driving. There are a reasonable number of charging stations along the way. It takes me an hour longer depending on where I stop and the speed of the charger.”

Her husband Adam recently purchased an EV Zeekr 7X, making the trip to Canberra easier.

“Now, I only need to stop once,” says Imogen Lamport. “It takes 20 minutes to charge – enough time for me to go inside, use a toilet, buy a drink and a snack, and walk back to my car. Almost the same time as I used to take to purchase petrol to get to Canberra.”

She believes her EV has saved her close to $8000 in the past two years.

“I rarely have to use the public charging network and even then, if I’d had to, it would still have saved me $5000 as the maintenance costs with my BMW, along with petrol, was around $5000 a year.

“I’d never go back to an ICE car. EVs are much nicer to drive, along with being more environmentally friendly and quiet. Even when I do have to use public chargers, it costs me less than half of what I used to pay in petrol.”

A study conducted on behalf of the Electric Vehicle Council found that driving an ICE vehicle with petrol at $2 per litre costs an average of $22.20 per 100 kilometres of driving, rising to $27.75 at $2.50 and $33.30 at $3 per litre.

Battery-EV owners charging at 6pm, considered peak period, pay an average of $5.90 per 100 kilometres, dropping to $1.20 for midday charging.

According to the council, an EV owner could save an average of $3000 a year based on lower charging costs, compared with fuel and fewer parts, which means less maintenance.

While savings are found in running costs, be prepared to pay more insurance. In 2026 a comparison test by consumer group Choice found EV cars are generally more expensive to insure.

The average premium for an electric vehicle is $2545, whereas the average premium for a petrol vehicle is $1702. Electric vehicle owners pay about 40 per cent, or $843 a year, more than petrol car owners.

Geelys are the cheapest EVs to insure, with an average cost of $1622 for a new car, and Tesla the most expensive, at an average cost of $2985.

The council announced a significant milestone in August 2026: for the first time, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) overtook every other fuel type in Australia’s new car market.

BEVs accounted for 25.6 per cent of all new vehicle sales, ahead of petrol at 24.4 per cent and diesel at 22.3 per cent.

Combined BEV and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) sales held a 36 per cent share of the new car market.

The Tesla Model Y remained Australia’s best-selling new vehicle, while BYD Australia and New Zealand and Tesla ranked second and third among manufacturers behind Toyota.

The council’s chief executive Julie Delvecchio said Australians are increasingly looking beyond the upfront price of a car and considering the lifetime cost of driving it.

“They want cleaner transport but they also want to spend less money getting to work, taking their kids to school and travelling to see family and friends on weekends.”

Emily Chantiri is a Sydney journalist, bestselling author and regular contributor to Business, Money and Career sections.

Expert tips on how to save, invest and make the most of your money delivered to your inbox every Sunday. Sign up for our Real Money newsletter.

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.

Remove items from your saved list to add more.

You've used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.