The hidden costs of EV ownership nobody mentions

None of these should stop you buying an electric car. All of them should be in the spreadsheet before you do.

The home charger

£800 to £1,300 fitted, and it is effectively mandatory if you want the cheap running costs that justified the purchase. Budget it as part of the car, not as an accessory. See what installation actually costs.

Cables and adapters

A spare Type 2 cable is not cheap. Neither is a good adapter. Neither is optional if you use untethered public posts.

Tyres

EVs are heavy and torquey, and they eat tyres. Expect shorter replacement intervals than an equivalent petrol car, and EV-rated tyres cost more per set. More detail here.

Insurance

Often higher. Repair costs are higher, parts are more specialised, and fewer bodyshops are approved for structural work on battery vehicles. Always get a real quote for the exact model.

Public charging when your plans change

A week with the driveway blocked, a longer trip than usual, a house move. Rapid charging is the expensive tier and it is where an otherwise cheap month goes wrong.

The 12 V battery

Yes, EVs still have one, and yes, it still dies. It is a common cause of a no-start fault and it surprises people every time.

Winter

Range drops, so if you rely on public charging you buy more sessions in the cold months. Our winter range measurements put the spread at −12% to −43% depending largely on whether the car has a heat pump.

Depreciation

The big one, and the one most comparisons omit entirely. Steep on new EVs; excellent news if you are buying used.

The honest framing

Running costs are genuinely lower — often dramatically so with home charging. But "cheaper to run" is not "cheaper to own", and anyone presenting those as the same thing is not giving you the full picture. Put every line above into your own calculation and the answer will be right for you rather than right in general.