The total cost of owning an electric vehicle will match some equivalent petrol or diesel-powered cars as soon as next year, according to analysis by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

The analysis, released on Tuesday, found electric cars "should start to achieve total cost of ownership parity with equivalent internal-combustion [cars] as early as 2020 in Australia for some segments of the market".

The cost of owning an electric car will match some petrol and diesel models by next year. Credit:Bloomberg

Ali Asghar, a Bloomberg NEF analyst, said average mid-sized battery electric ones would match the cost of a higher-end BMW-3 series vehicle by next year. For models such as Toyota's Camry or the Honda Accord, the parity point in ownership costs including purchase price was three to five years off.

"The crossover point is coming very close," Mr Asghar said, as tumbling battery costs allow manufacturers to drive prices lower.