It’s a moment that plenty of people said would never come, or at least not this soon. For the first time ever, the average price of a new electric car in the UK has dropped below the average price of a new petrol car.
According to data from AutoTrader, the UK’s largest automotive marketplace, the average new electric vehicle is now listed at £42,620 after discounts, compared with £43,405 for a new petrol model. That’s a difference of £785 in favour of electric — not a massive gap, but a symbolic one. The direction of travel is clear.
So what’s driven this shift? A combination of things, really. Government grant support has played a part, as has sustained manufacturer discounting as carmakers scramble to meet the government’s Zero Emission Vehicle mandate, which requires 33% of all new car sales to be zero-emission in 2026. Average discounts on new electric vehicles sat at 11.7% in April, down slightly from a record high of 12.8% in March, but still well above normal levels. Competition is fierce, and brands are cutting prices to shift stock.
The timing is interesting too. Broader geopolitical uncertainty — particularly the ongoing situation in the Middle East and its impact on fuel costs — has pushed energy security back to the front of buyers’ minds, with AutoTrader reporting a noticeable uptick in interest in both new and used electric cars as a result. When petrol prices are volatile and electricity costs are capped, an EV starts to look a lot more attractive from a running costs perspective as well as an upfront one.
The sales figures back this up. March 2026 saw a record 86,120 new battery electric vehicles registered in the UK — a 24% year-on-year increase and the strongest month for EV registrations on record. Consumer interest in new cars overall has risen around 20% in April compared with the same period last year, and retailers have responded by increasing the volume of new cars listed on AutoTrader by 13%.
MG reclaimed its position as the most popular new electric car brand on the platform in April, which tells you something about where the volume end of the market is heading. Chinese manufacturers entering the UK with competitively priced models are shaking things up considerably, and established brands are having to respond.
It’s worth being clear about what this milestone doesn’t mean. The average price point of around £42,000 is still a significant sum, and for many buyers — particularly those who can’t charge at home — an electric car still isn’t straightforward. Public rapid-charging costs have risen in recent times, and range anxiety, while fading, hasn’t disappeared entirely.
But for anyone who has been sitting on the fence waiting for the economics to make more sense, this is probably the clearest signal yet that the scales have tipped. EVs are no longer the expensive option. In fact, right now, they’re the cheaper one.
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Sources:
New Electric Cars Now Cheaper Than Petrol Models in UK — EV Infrastructure News, April 2026
UK EV Market Share 2026: Latest Electric Car Registration Stats — Zapmap, April 2026
