Driving an electric car is £720 more expensive than a petrol engine, despite rising fuel costs

Driving an electric car is £720 more expensive than a petrol engine, despite rising fuel costs.

Switching to the eco-friendly alternative may cost Brits more money, a new study has found.

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A Europe-wide survey looked at the benefits of driving an electric vehicle – but the UK ended up in the bottom two countries.

Research, conducted by comparison site mone.co.uk, found that motorists in Denmark could save £22,000 every year.

The company calculated the average price of a new car plus 10,000 miles of driving in the petrol cars, the Sunday Mirror reported.

Danes could spend around £21,938 on a new electric motor, while petrol vehicles would set them back around £43,975.

While UK drivers pay around £27,487 for an eco-friendly car and £26,767 for petrol, the gap is 2.7 per cent.

Motorists in Germany ended up being £693 worse off – although the price differential between electric and petrol cars is larger than for Brits at 2.77 per cent.

Last year, one in six new British cars on the road was plug-in, up from 2020 when it was one in ten.

Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders head Mike Hawes said of the stats, “It’s a long way to go to reach net zero.”

Experts previously revealed the cheapest electric cars for Brits amid rising fuel prices.

Searches for the different cost per mile of electric cars are up 300% – suggesting more Brits are considering switching to electric motors.

Automotive experts from Leasing Options said the Hyundai IONIQ Electric has the lowest cost per mile at 6.3p.

While the Fiat 500 (Hatch) is the cheapest and fastest electric vehicle to charge on the go.

But be warned – there is a big difference in the cost of charging some electric vehicles compared to others.

Audi’s e-tron and Tesla’s Model S and X take the longest to charge and are the most expensive.

And there’s a whopping £17.24 difference between charging an Audi e-tron and a Fiat 500 in services.

To encourage drivers in the UK to opt for electric vehicles, the country is on board ready to roll out a tap-and-go network of charging points.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told The Sun that the points will be contactless, allowing consumers to easily charge from any lamppost.

He said: “I want it to be convenient, especially when you don’t have a driveway.

“You can top up as you walk into stores or on the way to your destination – and pay with your phone or your credit card.”

His plan is to have around 300,000 charging points by the end of the decade.

The scheme is backed by £1.6 billion in government funding.