8 of 10 of the UK’s best-selling plug-in hybrids cost more to buy than EVs

With the price of petrol and diesel soaring as a result of conflict in the Middle East, new analysis from the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit has found that 8 of the UK’s 10 best-selling plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) cost more to buy than their electric equivalents.
 
The analysis found that the UK’s 10 best-selling PHEVs had Recommended Retail Prices (RRPs) that were, on average, £4150 higher than an equivalent EV – making PHEVs 10% more expensive, on average, to purchase. These include:

• the VW Tiguan PHEV - £5780 more expensive to buy than the VW ID.4 EV
• the Ford Kuga PHEV - £4035 more expensive to buy than the Ford Explorer EV
• the MG HS PHEV - £3400 more expensive to buy than the MG S5 EV.
• the PHEV version of the Jaecoo 7, the UK’s best-selling car in March 2026 – £2000 more expensive to buy than the Omoda E5 EV.

This analysis comes on the back of recent news from Autotrader that the average price of a new electric vehicle is now lower than the average price of a new petrol car. [1]
 
The analysis has also found that, based on their manufacturers’ claims about their fuel efficiency, the UK’s best-selling PHEVs should cost, on average, £540 a year for petrol and electricity. But with research finding that PHEVs consume 490% more fuel than their manufacturers claim, the real-world figure is £1030 – almost twice as high. These real-world fuelling costs have jumped by 18%, or £160, since the war in Iran began.
 
This means that PHEVs now cost, on average, £620 a year more to fuel than their electric equivalents - a figure that is £140, or 30%, higher than it was before the conflict in Iran started. Once servicing, tax and insurance costs are factored in, together with the typically higher up-front costs of a PHEV compared to an EV, PHEVs are now over £1000 a year more expensive to own and operate than an EV.
 
Commenting on the analysis Colin Walker, Head of Transport at the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), said: “Sales of PHEVs are growing strongly, but on the back of figures that don’t stack up. With more drivers looking to shield themselves from rocketing fuel prices, there is a risk that some will make the switch to vehicles that simply won’t deliver the savings that are promised of them.The reality is that PHEVs cost more to buy, and more to run, than their electric equivalents.
 
“In real life, PHEVs rely on petrol for most of their driving – and burn much more of it than their manufacturers claim. This leaves them vulnerable to the rising fuel prices that are hitting petrol and diesel drivers hard when they go to fill up at the pump. The best way that drivers can reduce their exposure to spikes in global oil markets is shift to vehicles that don’t need oil to move – EVs. Not only are they cheaper to buy than PHEVs, they can save their owners hundreds, even thousands, of pounds a year in running and ownership costs.
 
“Yet the Government recently weakened its EV sales targets to incentivise the sale of PHEVs, and is under pressure from manufacturers to weaken them again. Maintaining these targets will help the UK enhance its energy security, and shield its drivers from shocks in global oil markets, by encouraging the uptake of EVs, increasingly powered by electricity generated in British wind and solar farms”. 
 
In 2025, the Government extended flexibilities in its Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate, allowing more of the credits that manufacturers need to earn to hit their EV sales target to come from the sale of vehicles that emit comparatively low amounts of CO2, such as PHEVs. [2] Transport & Environment has estimated that this extension could result in 500,000 additional PHEVs arriving on the UK’s roads by 2030. [3] These vehicles, which have been found to consume 490% more fuel than their manufacturers claim, cost considerably more to run than their owners are being led to believe, and emit levels of CO2 that are not dissimilar from a regular petrol car. [4] We have recently witnessed strong growth in PHEV sales, up by 35% in 2025, [5] and 46.5% in the first quarter of 2026. [6]

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1. Autotrader - https://plc.autotrader.co.uk/news-views/press-releases/new-electric-cars-now-cheaper-than-petrol-on-average-for-the-first-time-says-autotrader/
 
2. UK Government - https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/phasing-out-sales-of-new-petrol-and-diesel-cars-from-2030-and-supporting-the-zev-transition/outcome/phasing-out-sales-of-new-petrol-and-diesel-cars-from-2030-and-supporting-the-zev-transition-summary-of-responses-and-joint-government-response
 
3. Transport & Environment - https://www.transportenvironment.org/te-united-kingdom/articles/car-drivers-will-be-hit-by-zev-mandate-changes-that-rely-on-flawed-hybrid-data
 
4. Transport & Environment - https://www.transportenvironment.org/articles/plug-in-hybrids-pollute-almost-as-much-as-petrol-cars-eu-data
 
5. SMMT - https://www.smmt.co.uk/uk-new-car-market-breaches-two-million-as-almost-one-in-four-buyers-go-electric/
 
6. SMMT - https://www.smmt.co.uk/best-month-ever-for-new-ev-registrations-as-market-grows-in-all-important-plate-change-march/

For more information or for interview requests:

George Smeeton, Head of Communications, ECIU, t: 020 8156 5305, m: 07894 571 153, email: george.smeeton@eciu.net