EV vs Petrol Cost Comparison
How long an electric car takes to pay back its price premium in running cost, and whether it does so inside the period you plan to keep it. Distance driven decides this more than any price does: the same two cars break even in half the time at twice the mileage.
Also called: electric vs petrol car calculator, ev cost comparison.
6.71 years to recover the $600,000.00 price difference, at $89,437.50 of running cost saved a year. That is inside the 8 years being compared, leaving 115500 ahead by the end. Doubling the annual distance would halve the payback. Energy costs 1.2 a kilometre against 6.56 for petrol, and servicing saves 9000 a year on top. What this cannot settle is resale value and battery life, either of which carries more uncertainty than the whole running saving.
Cumulative cost of each
Hover or drag for valuesCumulative position
| Year | Electric, cumulative | Petrol, cumulative | Electric ahead by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $1,824,000 | $1,313,438 | -$510,563 |
| Year 2 | $1,848,000 | $1,426,875 | -$421,125 |
| Year 3 | $1,872,000 | $1,540,313 | -$331,688 |
| Year 4 | $1,896,000 | $1,653,750 | -$242,250 |
| Year 5 | $1,920,000 | $1,767,188 | -$152,813 |
| Year 6 | $1,944,000 | $1,880,625 | -$63,375 |
How this is calculated
The electric car costs more to buy and less to run, so the question is simply how long the running saving takes to cover the gap. That makes annual distance the dominant input, since the saving is per kilometre while the gap is fixed: a car driven 30,000 kilometres a year breaks even in half the time of the same car driven 15,000. Servicing matters more than people expect, since an electric drivetrain has far fewer wearing parts. What the arithmetic cannot settle is resale value and battery life, both of which carry more uncertainty than the running cost saving, and either can outweigh the whole calculation.
the price gap divided by the annual running saving, which is why the answer depends far more on distance driven than on either price- ΔP
- Price difference
- S
- Annual saving
Method and limits
What it assumes
- Home charging at the domestic tariff, which public fast charging does not match.
What it deliberately does not model
- Resale values for electric cars are still poorly established and can dominate the comparison.
- Battery replacement outside warranty would exceed the entire running saving over this period.
- Purchase incentives, road tax differences and charger installation are not included.
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Frequently asked questions
- What matters most in this comparison?
- Annual distance. The saving is per kilometre and the price gap is fixed, so doubling the mileage halves the payback period. Fuel and electricity prices matter far less.
- Does public charging change the answer?
- Substantially. Fast charging can cost three or four times the domestic tariff, which erodes most of the running saving for anyone who cannot charge at home.