EV vs Petrol

With the default inputs, 12,000 miles a year at 25 mpg and $3.50 a gallon costs $1,680 in petrol, while an EV at 3.5 miles per kWh costs about $720 in electricity. That saves roughly $960 a year, or about 6 cents a mile against 14. Enter your local prices for a real figure.

The tool divides the extra purchase price by your yearly fuel saving. A $5,000 premium and $960 saved per year gives a break-even of 5 years and 3 months. Driving more miles or paying more for fuel shortens the payback, so set the premium to match the two cars you are comparing.

Yes, a lot. The calculator splits charging between home and public points, with 80 percent at home by default. Home power at $0.15 per kWh and public charging at $0.45 give a blended rate of about $0.21 per kWh. Move more charging to public stations and the savings shrink.

This is an estimate covering fuel, charging, and the purchase price gap you enter. The tool leaves out maintenance, insurance, tires, and battery replacement outside warranty. EVs usually need less servicing, but add those costs yourself if they differ much between your two cars.

The tool counts tailpipe emissions only, at 19.6 pounds of CO2 per gallon burned. A 25 mpg car driving 12,000 miles uses 480 gallons and emits about 9,400 pounds. It does not count emissions from generating electricity, so an EV's real footprint is above zero where the grid burns fossil fuels.

This tool works in miles and gallons, so enter miles per gallon for the petrol car and miles per kWh for the EV. If your EV shows kWh per 100 miles, divide 100 by it: 28 kWh per 100 miles is about 3.6 miles per kWh. For litres per 100 km, divide 235 by it to get US mpg.