06:21 14-01-2026

ADAC 2025 ranking: EVs lead on total cost of ownership

ADAC has wrapped up 2025 and published its annual ranking of cars with the best overall ownership efficiency. The study covers a five-year use cycle and factors in depreciation, taxes, insurance, maintenance, and running costs, according to 32CARS.RU.

For the first time on record, electric cars have become the unambiguous leaders of the list. If a year earlier the highest-placed EV only managed the second tier of the chart, by the end of 2025 seven electric models had broken into the top 10.

The Hyundai Inster took first place, thanks to a sharp mix of pricing, low service outlays, and strong residual values. Right behind it, the MINI Cooper E earned second by striking the best balance between its technical score and overall costs.

The top ten also features the Dacia Spring, KIA EV3, MINI Aceman, Renault 5 E-Tech, and Skoda Elroq. The latter achieved the highest technical score in the entire ranking—1.6 points—edging out even more affordable contenders.

At the same time, the Dacia Spring emerged as the most frugal car in terms of total expenses, scoring 1.4 on the back of a minimal purchase price and extremely low running costs. In all, ADAC analyzed about 100 models. None received a “very good” rating: 32 cars were rated “good,” 63 “satisfactory,” and another 5 merely “sufficient.”

Premium combustion models fared worst economically—steep depreciation and expensive servicing drag down their final efficiency. ADAC also noted that Chinese brands were left out due to a lack of reliable ownership-cost data. The broader message is hard to miss: electric cars have moved from niche to mainstream not on environmental rhetoric, but on the strength of the spreadsheet.

ADAC’s 2025 list reads like a market tipping point. EVs didn’t win on subsidies or fashion; they won on cold math. If this trajectory holds, the choice between an engine and a motor will soon be settled less by gut feeling and more by what the calculator says.