“EVs are cheaper to run” is one of those claims that is true often enough to be repeated everywhere and vague enough to be useless. How much cheaper depends almost entirely on where you charge and what you pay for electricity — the gap between charging overnight at home and charging on a highway fast charger is larger than most people expect.
So rather than hand you an average, here is the arithmetic with every input exposed. Put your own numbers in.
Work out your own figure
Energy costs only. Defaults are starting points, not a quote — change them to match your tariff, your driving and the specific cars you are comparing. Servicing, tyres, insurance and depreciation are covered below.
Why charging location dominates everything
The cost of the same kilowatt-hour varies enormously depending on where it comes from. In rough order, from cheapest to most expensive:
- Your own rooftop solar, where the effective cost is whatever you would otherwise have earned exporting it — usually very little. This is the cheapest driving available to anyone in Australia.
- An off-peak or dedicated EV tariff overnight. Several retailers now offer EV-specific plans with a cheap overnight window aimed exactly at this. If you can charge at home, this is the setup to ask about.
- A standard flat residential rate. Still meaningfully cheaper than petrol for most drivers, but nothing special.
- Public AC charging, often at shopping centres and car parks. Convenient, moderately priced, slow.
- Public DC fast charging. The expensive end. Priced for speed and convenience, and if it is your only option the running-cost advantage over petrol narrows sharply.
This is precisely why the first question we ask anyone is where they would charge. It is not small talk — it is the difference between an EV being an obvious win and a marginal one. If you do not have a garage, read this next.
Servicing and maintenance
An electric drivetrain has dramatically fewer moving parts than a combustion one. There is no oil to change, no timing belt, no exhaust system, no spark plugs, no gearbox in the conventional sense. Scheduled servicing is correspondingly lighter and, on most models sold here, cheaper.
Two things genuinely go the other way, and you should know both:
- Tyres. EVs are heavier than equivalent petrol cars and deliver torque instantly, so tyres wear faster. Some models also specify particular EV-rated tyres that cost more to replace. Budget for this honestly.
- Panel and structural repair. Repair networks for some brands are still thinner than for established marques, which can mean longer waits and higher quotes after a collision.
Brakes usually last considerably longer, because regenerative braking does most of the slowing. The flipside is that under-used brakes can seize or corrode, so they still need inspecting.
Insurance
EV premiums have historically run higher than for comparable petrol cars, driven by repair costs, parts availability and the value of the battery pack. The gap varies a lot by model and insurer, and it has been narrowing as more EVs enter the fleet.
Treat it as a real line item rather than an afterthought: get an actual quote for the specific car before you commit. A model that looks cheap to buy can be noticeably dearer to insure, and it is a straightforward thing to check in ten minutes.
Registration, stamp duty and road user charges
This is the part of EV ownership that changes most often. Concessions on registration and stamp duty differ by state and territory, and several incentive schemes that were widely publicised have since closed to new buyers. Road user charging for electric vehicles has also been the subject of significant legal and policy change.
Novated leasing and salary packaging
For employees with access to salary packaging, a novated lease can change the maths on an EV substantially, and the rules around fringe benefits tax treatment for electric vehicles have shifted more than once. Eligibility depends on the vehicle type, its price and the date it was first held.
If you are considering this route, tell us when you get in touch — it affects which cars are worth shortlisting, and it is worth confirming your eligibility with your employer and a qualified adviser rather than relying on general information.
Depreciation: the elephant
The largest cost of owning any car is not fuel or servicing — it is the value it loses. Used EV prices in Australia have moved sharply in recent years as new-car prices fell and more models arrived, which has been painful for some sellers and excellent for buyers.
As a used buyer, you are on the right side of that. The steepest part of the depreciation curve has already been absorbed by the first owner. It does mean paying attention to which models hold value and which do not, and it means being realistic that the car you buy will also depreciate.
The honest summary
- If you can charge at home overnight, an EV will almost certainly cost you less per kilometre than the petrol car you are replacing — often substantially.
- If you would depend on public fast charging, the energy saving shrinks and may not justify the switch on cost alone.
- Servicing generally favours the EV. Tyres and insurance often do not.
- Anything involving a government incentive needs checking on the day, not taken from an article.
If you want this worked through for the specific cars you are weighing up — with your tariff and your driving — tell us how you drive and an EV specialist will do it with you.
General information only, not financial or taxation advice. Figures depend on your electricity tariff, driving, vehicle and location. Rebates, concessions, road user charges and fringe benefits tax treatment change and vary by jurisdiction — confirm the current position with the relevant authority or a qualified adviser before relying on it.