Buy a new Tesla its cheaper

**If you drive a combustion engine vehicle time to make some money.** I’ve never been a big fan of electric vehicles but I *am* a fan of saving money. That’s what pushed me to actually sit down and run the numbers, and the results surprised me enough to switch. For context, I was driving a 2011 diesel that did around 50mpg. I bought it for £3,200 and ran it for 3 years. On the surface, it felt cheap… but when I broke everything down monthly, the “hidden” costs really added up: Purchase cost lost: £3,200 → \~£88/month Diesel spend: \~£6,200 → \~£172/month Maintenance + tax: \~£1,600 → \~£44/month **Total real cost: \~£304/month** Then I looked at leasing. I got a brand new 2026 Tesla Model 3 on a **no-deposit lease for £330/month**. My off-peak EV tariff is **2.69p/kWh**, so charging costs me about **£5/month** for my mileage. **Total: \~£335/month** So realistically, I’m paying about **£31/month more** than I was but now I’ve got: A brand new car No reliability worries Way lower running costs A much nicer driving experience And that’s comparing against a *very efficient* diesel. If you’re driving something less efficient (which most people are), you’d likely **save money overall**, not spend more. For me, £31/month for peace of mind + a new car is a no-brainer. I’ve gone pretty deep into this since switching built a bunch of Excel sheets to compare energy tariffs and figure out when it actually makes sense to move to an off-peak EV tariff. It’s not always a win, since your standing charges, gas, and daytime rates all go up, so it really depends on your mileage and home usage. If anyone’s curious whether it would work for their situation, I’m happy to help. I’m so passionate about Tesla now. Edit: My car’s value plummeted by £3200 over three years due to a breakdown. If you own a car, consider the price drop after you’re ready for an upgrade and account for the extra mileage. You’ll find the average monthly loss is similar, mines on the lower end because it’s spread across 3 years. Edit: Some people seem unaware that buying a second-hand car for £10,000 and selling it after three years, factoring in mileage and depreciation, would cost at least £3,000. The best resale price would be £6,000. Someone suggested running it until completely worn out and using it for ten years but even then I’d still lose £83 a month. This doesn’t even include fuel and maintenance. Therefore leasing an EV makes perfect financial sense if you have a combustion engine; it’ll cost you less per month or slightly more in my case.