Native tool · INT.03 Buy · runs on this page
EV vs ICE Breakeven
Two cars, one decision, N years. This puts purchase price, residual value, energy, tax, insurance, maintenance, the charger and the cost of tied-up money into two cumulative curves and tells you the year they cross, if they do.
Breakeven · v1.0
Cumulative cost, year by yearThe electric car
The petrol or diesel car
Over 8 years the EV costs €3 682 less
Per year: depreciation on a geometric curve to your residual, plus energy, tax, insurance and maintenance at your mileage, plus your discount rate on the value still tied up in the car. The EV's charger install lands in year one. Grants, leases and battery replacement are outside the model, on purpose.
The two lines most comparisons leave out
Depreciation is the biggest cost of owning either car, and the one most EV-versus-petrol calculators skip because it is awkward to source. Here it is your assumption, entered as the share of the price left after the period, and the tool spreads the loss along a geometric curve so early years take the bigger hit, as they do in the real market. Look at used prices for the same model at the age you will sell, and enter what you see.
Opportunity cost is the money's other job. Forty thousand in a car is forty thousand not in a savings account or a mortgage overpayment. Each year the tool charges your discount rate on the value still tied up in each car. It is a separate line so you can see how much of the verdict it carries, and a zero if you would rather not count it.
Reading the curves
The bars show cumulative cost at the end of each year: orange for the EV, grey for the petrol or diesel car. The breakeven is the first year the car that cost more to buy has spent less in total. Mileage moves it more than any other input, because the EV's edge is per kilometre while its premium is fixed. With the defaults, 15 000 km a year crosses in year three; halve the mileage and the crossing slides toward the end of the period.
| Defaults, 8 years, 15 000 km/yr | EV | Petrol |
|---|---|---|
| Energy per year | 701 | 1 706 |
| Tax + insurance + servicing per year | 1 000 | 1 350 |
| Depreciation over 8 years | 22 000 | 18 000 |
| Opportunity cost at 3 % | 6 948 | 4 990 |
| Total over 8 years | 43 758 | 47 440 |
FAQ
Usually missing, which is why so many comparisons flatter whichever car is dearer to buy. This tool takes your residual assumption for each car, spreads the loss along a geometric curve, and prints depreciation as its own line next to running costs.
Money tied up in a car cannot earn elsewhere. Each year the tool charges your discount rate on the value still sitting in each car; at 3 %, 40 000 tied up costs 1 200 in the first year. Set the rate to zero to ignore it.
Because the EV's advantage is almost entirely per kilometre while its disadvantage is fixed. Double the annual kilometres and the saving doubles while the premium stays put, so the crossover arrives sooner. Low-mileage drivers may never reach it inside the period.