In a report dated September 6, 2026, the International Council On Clean Transportation (ICCT) claimed that operating an electric car in Europe in 2025 cost one third less than operating a conventional gasoline or diesel powered car. Because of the surge in fuel costs resulting from the unprovoked attack on Iran by the US, the disparity in the costs of operation could be even greater in 2026.
“Electric car drivers in Europe are paying about a third less than those with gasoline cars. Those savings are hard to ignore. They also explain why the car market keeps moving in one direction. We expect battery electric car adoption across Europe to scale up in the coming years if current policies are maintained,” explained Marie Rajon Bernard, lead researcher at the ICCT and lead author of the report.
That caveat is important. All across Europe, political leaders are under pressure to roll back environmental initiatives that benefit electric cars. The latest earthquake at Volkswagen, which announced this week it plans to reduce its workforce by 100,000 and is considering shuttering as many as four manufacturing facilities in Germany, has increased that pressure.
The report goes on to say that even for those drivers who regularly charge their electric cars at public charging facilities, their operating costs are still 28 percent lower that for conventional cars. The oil crisis that began in February 2026 further widened this gap. At the start of 2026, energy costs for combustion engine cars rose by 12 to 36 percent, while they remained largely unchanged for BEVs.
