£10,000 electric car vs £10,000 petrol car: which is cheapest to own? 

Electric cars have been around in the UK long enough now for some used bargains to start hitting the market, and you can now get behind the wheel of an EV for well under £10,000. But should you?

To help you decide if a £10,000 electric car is right for you, I’m going to compare the total cost of ownership of a used Renault Zoe with a comparable petrol model: the Renault Clio. I’ll look at fuel/charging costs, depreciation and the price of servicing over a three-year, 30,000-mile ownership period to see which one works out cheapest.

Remember, you can buy a brand new or used car right here on Carwow. And you can sell your car, too. We’re here to help you through every step of your car-changing journey.

Which cars have I picked?

After browsing Carwow’s selection of used EVs for under £10,000, I’ve settled on a Renault Zoe. It’s a small hatchback with a big boot, plenty of tech and impressive range.

I found this 2022 example on Carwow with just under 31,000 miles on the clock for £9,699. It’s a GT Line +, meaning you get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a reversing camera, cruise control and heated seats, as well as snazzy diamond-cut alloy wheels.

The logical petrol alternative would be the Renault Clio, and I managed to find a 2023 model with just over 44,000 miles on the clock for £9,880. It’s the Evolution version, meaning it has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, cruise control and parking sensors, but does without heated seats or a reversing camera. You’d need a higher-spec version to get those features, but that would blow our £10,000 budget.

Used Renault Zoe vs used Renault Clio: fuel/charging costs

This is where the biggest difference in your total cost of ownership will lie, because electric cars have the potential to save you a lot of money on fuel. That’s as long as you have a home charger, because public charging costs can be pretty steep.

According to official tests, the Renault Zoe should be able to do 238 miles on a charge. We drove one until it died during a Carwow range test, and it managed 229 miles in the real world. From a 50kWh battery, that works out to an impressive 4.6 miles per kWh.

But what does that mean for charging costs? Well, the average price of off-peak home charging is around 7 pence per kWh, while AC public chargers cost 54 pence per kWh on average according to Zapmap, and rapid DC chargers are 77 pence per kWh.

In reality, you’re likely to use a mixture of these methods if you have a home charging point. I’ve assumed that you do 70% of your charging at home, 20% at slow public chargers and 10% at DC rapid chargers. If you don’t have home charging, this is likely to be 70% AC public chargers and 30% rapid charging.

Here’s a breakdown of the total charging costs, depending on whether or not you have home charging.

Charging method	Total cost
Home charging (70-20-10 split Home/AC/DC)	£1,526
No home charging (70-30 split AC/DC)	£3,969

So having home charging saves you over 60% on the cost of charging, but how does the petrol-powered Clio compare?

The £10,000 budget doesn’t stretch to the more economical hybrid version of the Clio, so this car has the 1.0-litre engine with a manual gearbox. It should return 53mpg according to official tests, and 50mpg is doable in the real world.

The current average price of petrol is £1.64 per litre, meaning at 50mpg the Clio will cost £4,473 in fuel over 30,000 miles.

So even without home charging, the Zoe offers lower fuel costs than the Clio. Having a charger at home is a lot cheaper though, and more convenient because you can just plug in overnight and start every day with a full battery.

Used Renault Zoe vs used Renault Clio: depreciation

The joy of buying a used car is that someone else has taken the biggest hit in depreciation. You therefore shouldn’t lose much on these cars over three years.

When you come to sell this Renault Zoe, it’ll be seven years old and have around 61,000 miles on the clock. The estimated sale price of a Zoe of that age and mileage is just under £4,300 through Carwow right now, assuming the car is in good condition, so you’ll lose around £5,400.

The Clio I’ve chosen will be six years old and have 74,000 miles on the clock when you come to sell it on, and the Carwow valuation for a similar car was £5,400 at the time of writing. So the Clio will cost £4,480 in depreciation.

So if you don’t have home charging, the Zoe’s additional depreciation offsets the savings in fuel compared to the Clio.

Used Renault Zoe vs used Renault Clio: servicing costs

Electric cars tend to be cheaper to service because they have so few moving parts, and the Renault Zoe is no exception.

You’ll own the Zoe through years 4-7 of its life, meaning there are a few servicing items which will need doing. During your ownership, it’ll need three basic services, as well as a coolant change. According to Renault’s servicing guide, that’ll cost you a total of £1,075.

The Clio is more expensive to service because you have to worry about the yearly oil change, plus a spark plug change, coolant, brake fluid and an accessory belt. Renault only quotes a price for the belt on a case-by-case basis, but everything else comes to £1,225 over three years.

Used Renault Zoe vs used Renault Clio: the total cost of ownership

So where does this leave us? Well here’s a table breaking down the total cost of ownership of both these cars over three years and 30,000 miles.

	Renault Zoe	Renault Clio
Fuel/charging	£1,526/£3,969*	£4,473
Depreciation	£5,400	£4,480
Servicing	£1,075	£1,225+
Total	£8,001/£10,444*	£10,178

*home charging/public charging

The lowest cost of ownership comes from having a Renault Zoe with home charging, followed by the Clio, and relying on public charging with the electric car is the most expensive overall.

A 229-mile electric car only really makes sense with home charging anyway, because you’ll want to be able to start any long journey with a full battery without faffing at a public charger.

Another thing to keep in mind is not every Zoe comes with rapid DC charging capabilities, so if you do decide to buy one without a home charger, or you need to tackle the odd long-distance trip, make sure you buy one that can be charged quickly.

So if you can charge up at home, a used Renault Zoe is a great buy to keep the bills down.

Car change? Carwow!

Looking for a new set of wheels? With Carwow you can sell your car quickly and for a fair price – as well as find great offers on your next one. Whether you’re looking to buy a car brand new, are after something used or you want to explore car leasing options, Carwow is your one stop shop for new car deals.

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