Hidden Costs of Owning an EV Over 5 Years (2026)

Marketing headlines highlight "fuel at one-third the cost" and "almost no maintenance" for EVs. Over five years that can be true but only if you understand the extra line items that show up with electric ownership: insurance shifts, home charger hardware, tire wear, software subscriptions, and public charging premiums. At Energy Solutions, we've tracked total cost of ownership data from 400+ EV owners over 3-5 years. Using a 5-year, 15,000 km/year reference scenario, we compare a typical mid-size EV against a comparable petrol car, including hidden costs that many buyers overlook.

Cost Categories: ICE vs EV Over 5 Years

The table below summarises the main cost buckets for a typical owner over 5 years / 75,000 km.

Methodology & Assumptions Behind the Numbers

The numbers in this article are built around a 5-year ownership window and roughly 15,000 km of driving per year for a mid-size car. They draw on owner-reported data, insurer quotes, public charging tariffs, and manufacturer maintenance schedules rather than a single lab study.

To keep the comparison readable, we made a few simplifying assumptions:

• Fuel economy and efficiency values reflect realistic mixed driving, not the most optimistic test-cycle ratings.
• Electricity prices assume a blend of mostly home charging with a smaller share of public fast charging; your split will shift the totals.
• Costs such as insurance and tyres are treated as order-of-magnitude ranges, because they vary by country, driving style, and brand.

None of these assumptions guarantee a specific outcome for every driver. Instead, they provide a structured way to think about where the savings and extra line items are likely to appear when you move from petrol to electric.

EV-Specific Hidden Costs

Most EV buyers correctly expect fuel savings, but the following line items are easy to underestimate:

• Home charger: hardware + electrician, often $900-$1,800 depending on panel upgrades.
• Public fast charging premiums: kWh prices 2-3- higher than home rates.
• Tyres: EV-rated tyres can cost more, but last longer and reduce noise.
• Software: connected services, navigation, or driver-assistance subscriptions.

5-Year TCO Example: Mid-Size Petrol vs EV

Below is a simplified 5-year comparison for a mid-size petrol car vs a comparably priced EV in a market with moderate electricity prices and fuel at $1.80/L equivalent.

Who Wins Financially and Under What Assumptions

EVs tend to win on 5-year cost of ownership when:

• You drive more than ~12,000-15,000 km/year.
• You can charge mostly at home or work at reasonable tariffs.
• You avoid frequent DC fast charging at premium prices.

EV economics are weaker if you rely heavily on public fast charging, keep mileage low, or pay a large premium between equivalent EV and ICE purchase prices without incentives.

Case Studies: Different Driver Profiles

Three common patterns show how the outcome changes:

• Long-distance daily commuter: 25,000 km/year with 85% home charging - saves thousands of dollars in fuel over 5 years even after accounting for home charger and extra tyres.
• Low-mileage urban driver: 8,000 km/year using public charging heavily - may see limited savings or even higher costs than a small petrol car, especially if DC tariffs are high.
• Family with garage and moderate mileage: 15,000 km/year with cheap overnight tariffs - EV clearly outperforms over 5-7 years even with slightly higher financing payments.

Global Perspective: Tariffs, Incentives & Taxes

The gap between EV and ICE depends heavily on the country:

• Markets with heavily taxed fuel (parts of Europe) give EVs a major advantage even with high electricity prices.
• Markets with cheap electricity and subsidised fuel make the financial return weaker, increasing the importance of home charging convenience and noise reduction rather than direct savings.
• Purchase incentives and registration taxes or annual fees can tip the scales strongly in one direction or another.

Beyond Money: Comfort, Convenience & Risk

Even when the 5-year spreadsheet looks close, EVs and ICE cars can feel very different to live with day-to-day. Many owners weigh these non-financial aspects alongside the totals:

• Driving experience: instant torque, quiet cabins, and one-pedal driving can make daily commuting less tiring.
• Home charging convenience: plugging in at night and leaving with a full battery can matter more than a small difference in energy cost.
• Access to low-emission zones: some cities begin to restrict older combustion vehicles, which can affect future usability and resale.
• Resilience and risk: reliance on a sparse fast-charging network or on-street charging introduces different risks than relying on fuel stations.

These factors do not show up neatly in a 5-year cost table, but they often explain why drivers accept-or reject-the remaining cost gap between an EV and a petrol car.

Devil's Advocate: When EVs Don-t Save Money

There are realistic scenarios where EVs don't outperform financially over 5 years:

• If the initial price is much higher and there are no incentives or discounts.
• If most energy is charged on expensive fast networks (highway stations or premium networks).
• If driving patterns are so short that the home charger investment cannot be recovered.

However, even in these cases, non-financial factors-such as driving experience, urban air quality, and personal CO2 goals-may remain reasons to choose an EV.

Outlook to 2030: How the Cost Gap Evolves

By 2030, it is expected that:

• Battery costs will fall further, reducing the purchase price gap between EV and ICE.
• Motor and electronics efficiency will increase, lowering energy consumption per km.
• Carbon and fuel policies will tighten in many countries, raising the operating cost of petrol and diesel cars.

If these trends materialise, the "hidden costs" of EVs will remain, but their balance against energy savings will be more clearly in favour of electric vehicles in most markets.

Another shift by 2030 is likely to come from the used EV market. Better battery monitoring and standardised health reports should make it easier to price second-hand cars, reducing uncertainty around depreciation. That, in turn, will tighten the range of outcomes in 5-year ownership models-making it clearer whether an EV works for your specific mileage, tariff, and charging pattern.