> typically more expensive to purchase and insure
The cheapest car for sale in the UK is an EV at this point. The market is rapidly filling with EVs in essentially all price segments. Most EVs are still under warranty when they hit the second hand market for the simple reason most EVs on the market were produced in their typical warranty period.
Also in Australia: AUD 19,900 driveway (means taxes, registration etc included), or about US$14K: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49772728
Quite possibly China and many other countries.
(edit) There's a comment further down, cheapest car in UK is EV: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49875856
> The cheapest car for sale in the UK is an EV at this point.
It's still 12,000UKP more expensive than the paid-off ICE 15-yo I have on my driveway, which is a heck of a lot of petrol.
If you are not in the market for a new car, there are plenty of second hand EVs now. Including some that are close to 15 years old. Most of those will easily beat your ICE car on maintenance and fuel consumption. And they aren't that much more expensive even.