A recent study reveals that shipments of electric cars come considerably cheaper than supplying a gasoline model, even when only public loading stations are used.
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16/09/2026
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An electric car is usually more expensive to buy than a combustion equivalent. However, it seems to compensate in the long term thanks to its cost of use.
A report released earlier this month by the International Council for Clean Transport (ICCT) shows that electrics were 33 percent cheaper than gasoline vehicles in 2025 – a difference that remains, though falling to 28 percent if only public posts are loaded. And this was before the rise in fuel prices.
Charging an electric conductor in public stations was even more expensive than supplying a diesel model in 2025, but if it is considered a mixed charging scenario, 100 percent electric vehicles are always the cheapest to operate.
The forecast is that the energy costs for electric cars will fall or stabilize in the future, as opposed to what should happen to combustion models and plug-in hybrids. If the point of comparison is the combustion vehicles with e-diesel engines, charging an electric car should also be considerably cheaper than refueling (50 to 60 percent in 2030).
Electrics are getting cheaper, but..
Despite the advancement of technology, the price of electric cars dropped 18 percent in real terms in Germany between 2020 and 2025, while in the same period the combustion models became two percent more expensive.
A large part of this reduction is due to the fall in battery prices, which represent the most expensive single component of an electric vehicle. For this reason too, there are more electrics considered accessible in the European Union (prices below EUR 30 000).
Having said this, the prices of electric cars still remain considerably above the combustion models in several segments. But, in 2024 and 2025, already revealed a lower average price in the medium, medium-high and luxury segments.