In the UK, EVs are cheaper than petrol cars, thanks to Chinese competition

It’s long been cheaper to own an electric car, due to lower fueling costs. But the upfront cost is now lower, according to UK’s largest auto-buying website Autotrader, and reported by The Guardian. And a large part of it is because of the availability of low-cost Chinese EVs, which are unavailable or subject to tariffs in many other countries.

Data from the UK’s largest auto-buying website Autotrader now says that the average EV costs £785 ($1,063) less than the average petrol-powered car, meaning that EVs result in both long-term savings from cheaper fuel and upfront savings from a lower purchase price (and, of course, the societal savings of less pollution).

The Guardian says the average new petrol car listed on Autotrader is £43,405, while the average electric car is £42,620, including discounts and taxes. Automakers have put high discounts on EVs lately in an attempt to meet decarbonization targets or face high penalties for polluting too much.

Another reason for the difference is an electric car grant implemented in the UK last year, giving buyers up to £3,750 off of an EV. The grant is limited by sticker price, which has influenced buyers to move towards lower-priced vehicles.

But one important point here is that plenty of lower-priced EVs are available in the UK, because the country does not ban the import of Chinese electric cars, nor does it even have a special tariff for EVs of Chinese origin, unlike both the US and the EU (though the EU might come to a deal with China soon).

The EU does allow Chinese-built EVs, but prices in Europe are higher due to tariffs. With no trade tariffs on Chinese EVs in the UK, they can cost upwards of ten thousand dollars/pounds less than they would across the channel.

And the presence of lower-cost alternatives can force non-Chinese brands to have to compete, rather than sitting on their laurels and gathering profits from expensive land yachts as the competition’s prices are inflated by tariffs. This is why the UK is getting Honda’s super cool Super-N, and the US isn’t. Or Volvo’s EX30, which was recently cancelled in the US, along with plenty of other models.

A quick search on Autotrader shows several brand new EVs available in the ~£15k (~$20k) range, from both Chinese and European brands.

The news of cheaper EVs bodes well for UK’s decarbonization targets, including a recently-weakened 2035 all-EV target. UK EV sales already surged at the end of last year, meeting the country’s end-of-2026 target a year early – that was due to an end-of-year spike, but it looks like the UK is roughly on target to meet its 2026 targets, if sales continue to rise through this year.

And while the news today is about upfront price, the question of running costs has become all the more important lately as global energy prices have spiked due to geopolitical tensions. This has led to increased interest in EVs in many parts of the world, including the UK, where petrol prices currently average around £1.6/liter, or £1.9/liter for diesel.

Elsewhere in the world, Australia, another country that doesn’t put tariffs on Chinese EVs and has seen significant concern over energy cost spikes, has seen its own huge surge in EV sales lately, with focus on affordable Chinese models.