New analysis from the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) has found that the best-selling second-hand EVs of 2024 could save their owners an average of £1,600 a year, compared to their petrol equivalents.
This comes on the back of news that the second-hand market for EVs has increased in size by 57% in the last year. Autotrader recently stated that three-to-five year old EVs are the fastest selling segment of vehicles on their platform. It also revealed that price parity between second-hand EVs and their petrol equivalents has been reached.
ECIU analysis also found that the Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate – which requires car manufacturers to sell an increasing proportion of cars that are electric and was introduced by the previous government on January 1, 2024 – is set to help save second-hand EV buyers billions of pounds on their driving bills.
Based on projections for sales in 2024, the new EVs sold in the first year of the mandate could collectively save drivers who go on to buy them second-hand up to £6bn over their remaining 10-year lifespan. New EVs sold under the mandate could collectively save drivers who go on to buy them second-hand approaching £40bn by 2035, based on current policies and projected energy costs. These second-hand savings have the potential to reach hundreds of billions of pounds by 2048, when the last of the EVs sold under the mandate will likely be scrapped.
Colin Walker, transport analyst at ECIU, says: “The previous government’s ZEV mandate policy is working, with manufacturers discounting their EVs as they compete for sales to hit their targets. As prices are driven down, sales are going up. The increasing number of new EVs being sold today will hit the used market in around three to four years’ time, opening up the opportunity for cheaper and cleaner electric driving to a majority of people, as most people buy their cars second-hand.
“Any slowdown in the roll out of EVs under the ZEV mandate could cost British drivers millions, if not billions, of pounds in extra driving costs in the coming years.”
The analysis looked at the total costs of ownership of the six best-selling second-hand EVs on Autotrader in 2024 and compared them to their petrol equivalents. These costs include the vehicle’s upfront purchase cost as well as its fuel, maintenance, tax and insurance costs.
Exact savings vary by model, but the analysis shows that all six of the top selling second-hand EVs are hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds cheaper to run every year. The top-selling EV with the biggest savings compared to its petrol equivalent was the Audi e-tron, which will save its owner around £2,600 a year – or about £26,000 over its remaining 10-year lifespan – when compared to the petrol Audi Q5. Even the top-selling EV with the ‘smallest’ savings compared to its petrol equivalent, the Renault Zoe, will still save its owner an average of around £875 per year – or about £8,750 over the 10 years of its remaining lifespan – when compared to a petrol Renault Clio.
Of the six models analysed, the average total cost of ownership savings of a second-hand EV versus its petrol equivalent was £1,600 per year. The ECIU says these figures are significantly higher than when it last analysed the second-hand market in early 2023, largely because second-hand EVs are no longer more expensive to buy than their petrol equivalents.
It says such savings may come as a surprise to many petrol car owners, since recent polling by YouGov for ECIU found that nearly two-thirds (62%) of petrol drivers believe it’s more expensive to own and run an EV. Only 14% correctly recognised that an EV’s total costs of ownership are typically lower.
