Electric vs Petrol
which one really pays off?
Enter the details for each vehicle and adjust the years of use and annual mileage. The total cost updates instantly.
No oil changes or timing belt: an electric motor doesn't need them.
The timing belt is replaced once per interval, usually together with the water pump.
Total cost of ownership
How is the real cost of owning a car calculated?
The purchase price is only part of the cost of owning a car. Over the years, energy (electricity or petrol) and periodic maintenance — filters, oil, timing belt — weigh as much as, or more than, the initial outlay. This calculator adds up all of those costs over the period you choose and shows you exactly when an electric car pays off compared to a petrol one, or vice versa.
You can freely adjust every input: vehicle price, consumption, energy price — with the 95 unleaded petrol price fetched automatically from Spain's official public fuel-price API — and the cost of each service. The more kilometres you drive per year, the sooner an electric car's higher upfront price is usually offset by its lower cost per kilometre.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the petrol price come from?
It is fetched automatically from the official public fuel-price API of Spain's Ministry for Ecological Transition, averaging the national price of 95 unleaded petrol. You can overwrite it manually if you know your local price.
Why doesn't the electric car have oil changes or a timing belt?
Because an electric motor doesn't need them: there's no combustion or parts that require that kind of lubrication or mechanical timing. Its maintenance is mostly limited to filters and fluids.
What is the "break-even year" shown on the chart?
It's the point, in years, where the cumulative cost of both vehicles becomes equal. From that point on, whichever car was more expensive until then becomes the cheaper one.