EV vs Petrol Total Cost of Ownership

This compares entered ownership assumptions, not a general claim about EVs or petrol cars. Each total combines depreciation, energy and recurring costs.

The headline difference is easier to understand when the major cost components are separated.

This comparison uses the purchase price and expected end value entered for each vehicle to estimate depreciation, then adds energy and the recurring costs represented by the model. It does not assume that either powertrain is automatically cheaper.

Mileage matters because energy cost is distance-dependent. The more miles driven, the more often the petrol fuel cost or EV electricity cost is incurred.

The table keeps the other example assumptions unchanged and varies annual mileage only. It therefore shows how mileage changes this particular comparison rather than predicting that one type of car will always be cheaper.

The result can move substantially when the assumptions change.

Depreciation can be especially important because a relatively small difference in expected resale value can outweigh several years of energy savings. Annual mileage affects how much influence fuel or electricity has on the result, while the entered petrol and electricity prices determine the cost of that energy.

Maintenance, insurance, VED and other ownership costs can also differ between individual vehicles. Compare realistic vehicles and use assumptions appropriate to them rather than treating the default example as a market average.

Higher mileage magnifies the modelled fuel and electricity components. Depreciation and the entered recurring costs follow the same ownership-period assumptions, so neither vehicle is presented as universally cheaper.