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COULD YOUR NEXT CAR HELP BUILD YOUR INVESTMENTS? Following my posts on income and compounding, here’s another way to look at your monthly spending. Choose a car that costs less to own, then invest the difference in $MORE. You still have a new car. But some of the money you would have spent running it starts buying an investment instead. LET’S PUT SOME NUMBERS BEHIND IT. Autotrader reported an average advertised new petrol-car price of £43,405 in April 2026, after discounts. That is a published price benchmark, not the average amount every UK buyer actually pays. Tesla currently advertises the Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive at £44,990, with a representative 0% APR PCP offer: • £6,850 deposit. • 47 monthly payments of £349. • £21,753 optional final payment. • 48-month agreement. • 8,000 miles a year. That final payment matters. £349 a month does not buy the car outright. For this comparison, we include the final payment so that both cars are fully paid for after four years. THE PURCHASE AND FINANCE COST. Petrol-car example: £43,405 purchase price. £6,850 deposit. The remaining £36,555 financed over 48 months at an assumed 8.9% APR, with no balloon. That works out at approximately £902 a month. Total paid to own it: approximately £50,146. Of that, approximately £6,741 is interest. The 8.9% is an illustrative rate, not a claim about the national average. Your actual finance quote could be lower or higher. Model Y: Total paid to own it, including the deposit and final payment: £44,990. Interest under the advertised offer: £0. That gives the Tesla a £5,156 purchase-and-finance advantage in this example, despite its higher cash price. It also explains why comparing monthly payments alone can be misleading: the Tesla has a large payment deferred to the end. NOW THE ENERGY COST. Assume both cars cover 8,000 miles a year. For the petrol car: • 40 miles per UK gallon. • Petrol at 174.79p per litre, the RAC’s published figure on 9 October. • Annual petrol bill: approximately £1,589. For the Model Y: • An assumed 3.5 miles per kWh measured from the electricity meter, including charging losses. • All charging at home. • Electricity at 26.32p per kWh, Ofgem’s current average capped direct-debit unit rate. • Annual charging bill: approximately £602. Annual energy saving: approximately £988. That uses standard home electricity pricing. An appropriate overnight EV tariff could reduce charging costs further. Public charging, winter weather, motorway speeds and your driving style can change the result considerably. THE OTHER COSTS COUNT TOO. Here are explicit annual budget assumptions, rather than pretending every driver gets the same insurance quote or maintenance bill: Petrol car: • Insurance: £900. • Servicing and maintenance: £350. • Tyres: £300. Model Y: • Insurance: £1,100. • Servicing and maintenance: £150. • Tyres: £350. So this example allows the Tesla to cost more for insurance and tyres. I’ve also included a £1,000 one-off home-charger installation budget. Actual installation quotes vary. For vehicle tax, assume the petrol car’s original list price exceeds £40,000 and the Model Y remains below the £50,000 electric-car threshold. At current rates, years two to four cost: • Petrol: £640 a year, including the expensive-car supplement. • Model Y: £200 a year. First-year tax is assumed included in each purchase price. Future tax and energy rates are held constant purely for the calculation. WHAT ABOUT DEPRECIATION? This is one of the biggest ownership costs. For a transparent comparison, assume each car is worth £20,000 after four years. That is a modelling assumption, not a resale forecast. Add purchase and finance costs, energy, insurance, maintenance, tyres, subsequent vehicle tax and the Tesla charger. Then subtract that assumed resale value. FOUR-YEAR NET OWNERSHIP COST: Petrol car: approximately £44,622. Tesla Model Y: approximately £35,396. Difference: approximately £9,226. That is equivalent to approximately £192 a month, or £44 a week. This is an average ownership-cost difference, not a promise that £192 becomes available in cash every month. Deposits, the Tesla balloon and resale proceeds happen at different times. And resale values matter: if the Tesla were worth £5,000 less than the petrol car at the end, the saving would fall to approximately £88 a month. BUT IF YOUR ACTUAL BUDGET FREES UP £192 A MONTH… What could happen if you invested that saving instead of absorbing it into everyday spending? Using the model’s unrounded saving of approximately £192.21 a month, invested as equivalent weekly contributions into MORE: Assume a maintained 12% annual dividend rate, shares bought and reinvested at £100, and all dividends reinvested weekly. AFTER FOUR YEARS Money contributed: approximately £9,226. Illustrative investment value: £11,824. Gain above contributions: approximately £2,598. At that assumed rate, the holding could then produce approximately £27 a week in dividends. The car-cost saving has helped build a separate income-producing investment. IF YOU KEPT SAVING THE SAME AMOUNT FOR LONGER… These longer examples require you to maintain the saving through future motoring decisions. Today’s Tesla offer does not guarantee that. After 10 years: Contributions: approximately £23,065. Illustrative investment value: £44,507. Gain: approximately £21,442. After 20 years: Contributions: approximately £46,130. Illustrative investment value: £192,070. Gain: approximately £145,940. Those are nominal figures before inflation, investment fees and dealing costs. They assume immediate weekly reinvestment, including fractional shares. MORE is ISA eligible where supported by your provider. The contributions in this example are around £2,307 a year, within the current £20,000 annual ISA allowance if you have enough allowance available. You would still need to fund every car payment, including any balloon, independently. Investments are not a guaranteed way to meet a finance commitment. MORE’s dividend is variable, payments can be suspended, the shares can be redeemed and capital is at risk. Its Bitcoin exposure creates significant risk. These investment figures illustrate the maths, not an expected return. THE IDEA IS SIMPLE. Look beyond the monthly car advert. Compare the full finance cost, charging or fuel, insurance, maintenance, tax and likely resale value. Then, if your choice genuinely saves money, give that saving a purpose. A lower motoring bill can do more than make this month cheaper. Invested consistently, it could help build something you still own long after you’ve changed the car. $MORE $SWC Illustrative comparison, not financial advice. Finance offers are subject to eligibility and change. Check your own quotes and read the MORE prospectus. #TeslaModelY #CostOfOwnership #ElectricVehicles #DividendInvesting #StocksAndSharesISA #MORE