Across 2024 and 2025, BEV affordability improved materially in both transaction price and monthly payments. Average BEV prices after discounts fell from £43,829 in 2024-Q1 to £38,019 by 2025-Q4, a reduction of approximately £5,800 over the period shown. Over the same timeframe, BEV headline PCP monthly payments declined from £530 to £491, with the lowest point reached in mid-2024.

ICE pricing and affordability followed a different trajectory. Prices after discounts remained broadly stable, moving within a relatively narrow range of approximately £33,000–£35,000, while headline PCP monthly payments increased from £466 in 2024-Q1 to a peak of £538 in 2025-Q3, before easing to £510 by year-end.

The resulting convergence in affordability reflects adjustment on both sides of the market, rather than EV-side improvement alone.. While BEV prices and monthly payments were actively reduced through targeted commercial support, conventional powertrains experienced firmer pricing and finance conditions as incentive investment was increasingly concentrated on electrified vehicles. In this context, parity emerged not solely because BEVs became cheaper in absolute terms, but also because ICE affordability became less insulated by market-wide support