A new study by the Federal Office for the Environment has revealed which type of motor vehicle is the cheapest to run in Switzerland. In what is likely a surprise for many, the report found that once purchase price, depreciation, vehicle taxes, fuel, car insurance and other factors are considered, electric cars are actually some of the most affordable motors you can buy.

Swiss government study reveals which car is cheapest to run

To create the study, the Swiss government calculated how much it would cost to buy 50 different brand-new models of car, use the vehicle to travel 15.000 kilometres per year for eight years, and then sell the car on. The cars were placed into small, medium, superior and SUV categories, and subdivided by whether they were powered by gasoline (petrol and diesel), electricity, or if they were hybrid

The data used the official findings of each motor car’s manufacturer and was verified with data from mechanics, private insurance providers and tyre companies. What they found was quite surprising:

Electric cars in Switzerland cheapest to buy, run and sell

It turns out, in every single category, electric cars were found to cost less than any other type, while hybrid and combustion vehicles cost roughly the same. In fact, electric cars in the “superior class” were more than 20.000 Swiss francs cheaper to buy, run and sell on than their fossil-fuelled counterparts.

In the other categories, the total cost of an electric car was between 2.700 and 13.000 Swiss francs cheaper in the long run. The government explained that after running the car for eight years, the total fuel costs associated with combustion engines started to outweigh the initially higher price of an electric vehicle.

However, as the amount of time at the wheel is reduced, the picture begins to change: if the total mileage per year is reduced from 15.000 to 10.000 kilometres per year, and the duration of ownership is dropped from eight to six years, electric cars are around 4 percent more expensive than their gas-guzzling rivals.

Thumb image: Shutterstock.com / Michael Derrer Fuchs