British electric vehicle (EV) drivers are saving significantly more money than their German counterparts, according to new analysis from the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU). The study found that UK EV owners save, on average, more than £1,500 a year by running an electric car instead of a petrol one – around £540 more than EV drivers in Germany.
With electric vehicles now accounting for more than one-in-five new car sales in the UK so far in 2025, the report highlights a clear financial benefit for drivers making the switch. The ECIU compared the costs of owning and running a range of popular electric and petrol cars in both countries. The results showed that while EVs are cheaper to run than petrol cars in both nations, the savings are far greater in the UK. German drivers can expect to save about £970 a year, but for British EV owners, that figure rises to more than £1,500 annually – making the UK one of the best-value EV markets in Europe.
The key reason, the ECIU says, lies in how British households use smart meters and flexible electricity tariffs. While petrol prices are broadly similar in both countries, UK electric car drivers can charge their cars overnight using cheap, surplus electricity at rates as low as 7p per kilowatt-hour (kWh). That means an EV can be driven for under 2p per mile, compared to around 15p per mile for a petrol or diesel car. In Germany, however, the limited rollout of smart meters means these flexible tariffs are not widely available. German EV owners charging at home typically pay around 29p per kWh, or just over 7p per mile – still cheaper than petrol or diesel, but notably higher than in the UK.
Colin Walker, Head of Transport at the ECIU, said: “We’re ahead of Germany in terms of market share for new EVs, which means a greater proportion of British drivers are taking advantage of the hundreds of pounds that can be saved by switching from petrol to electric driving. Thanks to electric cars the UK’s motoring bills are falling. And thanks to smart net zero technology most drivers can charge on cheap electricity overnight while they’re asleep, allowing them to save hundreds of pounds a year more than the average German EV driver.” He added that even those reliant on public chargers can still save, but warned that the UK government weakening its EV policy risks more people buying hybrids, which recent research suggests are more polluting and expensive to run than previously thought.
The analysis also found that the cost gap between petrol and electric cars is narrowing rapidly, especially with the government’s Electric Car Grant. For example, the new Renault 5 E-Tech Electric starts at just £21,495 after the grant, with the cheapest hybrid Renault Clio costing £400 more. From a German perspective, Adrien Pagano, Head of Transport at Initiative Climateneutral Germany, said: “This analysis highlights how much German drivers are missing out because our energy system has been too slow to modernise. While electric vehicles are already much cheaper to run than petrol or diesel cars, the lack of smart meters and flexible tariffs in Germany means that drivers cannot yet take full advantage of cheap and clean power – something that is already standard in the UK.”
