EV vs Petrol Cost Calculator
Compare the total cost of owning an EV and a petrol car, with break-even year
| Year | EV total | Petrol total | Petrol ā EV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase | ā¹16,00,000 | ā¹11,00,000 | -ā¹5,00,000 |
| 1 | ā¹16,63,714 | ā¹12,27,000 | -ā¹4,36,714 |
| 2 | ā¹17,27,840 | ā¹13,56,400 | -ā¹3,71,440 |
| 3 | ā¹17,92,389 | ā¹14,88,272 | -ā¹3,04,117 |
| 4 | ā¹18,57,375 | ā¹16,22,690 | -ā¹2,34,685 |
| 5 | ā¹19,22,811 | ā¹17,59,731 | -ā¹1,63,080 |
| 6 | ā¹19,88,710 | ā¹18,99,473 | -ā¹89,237 |
| 7 | ā¹20,55,085 | ā¹20,41,997 | -ā¹13,088 |
| 8 | ā¹21,21,952 | ā¹21,87,387 | ā¹65,435 |
Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type or upload is sent to us or stored.
Results are for general guidance. Please check anything important before relying on it. Terms of use
How to Use
- Enter how many years you plan to keep the car and how many km a year you drive.
- For the EV, enter the on-road price, real efficiency (km per kWh), your electricity price, yearly maintenance and insurance, and the resale value you expect. Turn on battery replacement if you want to include one.
- Do the same for the petrol car: on-road price, real mileage, today's petrol price, maintenance, insurance and resale value.
- Set the yearly price rise for electricity and petrol (0 keeps today's prices), and choose cash or a car loan.
- The total cost of ownership, break-even year, cost per km, the cumulative-cost chart and the year-by-year table update as you type.
EV or petrol: which costs less to own?
An electric car usually costs more to buy but much less to run. Whether it works out cheaper depends on how much you drive, for how long you keep the car, electricity and petrol prices, and what each car is worth when you sell it. This calculator adds up the total cost of ownership (TCO) for both cars over the same period and shows when, if ever, the EV's higher price pays for itself.
How the calculation works
Energy (EV) = km Ć· (km per kWh) Ć electricity price
Energy (petrol) = km Ć· (km per litre) Ć petrol price
Total cost of ownership = price paid up front + all yearly costs + loan still owed ā resale value
Cost per km = total cost of ownership Ć· total km driven
Energy prices grow each year by the rate you enter. With a loan, both cars use the same down payment, interest rate and tenure, and any loan still running when you sell is counted as paid off from the sale. The break-even year is the first year from which the EV's cumulative cash spent stays at or below the petrol car's, before counting resale.
Worked example
Take a ā¹16 lakh EV and an ā¹11 lakh petrol car, kept for 8 years and driven 12,000 km a year, bought with cash, with prices held flat:
| EV | Petrol car | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy per year | 12,000 Ć· 7 Ć ā¹8 = ā¹13,714 | 12,000 Ć· 15 Ć ā¹100 = ā¹80,000 |
| Maintenance + insurance per year | ā¹5,000 + ā¹45,000 | ā¹12,000 + ā¹35,000 |
| 8-year running cost | ā¹5,09,714 | ā¹10,16,000 |
| Resale (35% / 40%) | ā ā¹5,60,000 | ā ā¹4,40,000 |
| Total cost of ownership | ā¹15,49,714 | ā¹16,76,000 |
The EV saves about ā¹1.26 lakh over 8 years. Its extra ā¹5 lakh price is recovered at ā¹63,286 a year of lower running costs, so the break-even comes in year 8. Halve the distance to 6,000 km a year and the petrol car comes out cheaper: running-cost savings are what pay for an EV.
Inputs that matter most
- Distance driven. The more you drive, the faster the EV pays back. Low-mileage drivers often don't break even.
- Where you charge. Home charging at a residential tariff is far cheaper than public fast charging. If you rely on public chargers, use a blended price per kWh.
- Resale value. The used-EV market is still young and resale values are uncertain. Try a lower EV resale % to see how sensitive the answer is.
- Battery replacement. EV batteries usually carry a long warranty (often 8 years). If you plan to keep the car beyond it, include a replacement cost from the manufacturer or dealer.
- On-road prices. Many states charge lower road tax and registration fees for EVs, so compare on-road prices, not ex-showroom. The on-road price calculator can help.
What isn't included
Tyres and wear parts beyond the maintenance you enter, home charger installation, parking, the return you could earn on the money you didn't spend, and any tax benefits for business use. For the day-to-day cost of a single charge, see the EV charging cost calculator. All prices and percentages here are your assumptions; nothing is fetched live.