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EV vs Hybrid vs Petrol Running Cost Calculator

Compare what an electric car and a petrol car actually cost to run over a year in the UK. The answer hinges almost entirely on one thing: whether you can charge at home.

Starting figures: petrol 174.07p a litre (DESNZ, week of 26 October 2026), home electricity 26.32p a kWh (Ofgem cap, 1 October to 31 December 2026), public rapid 77p (Zapmap, August 2026). Sources and dates are listed below the inputs.

Your driving

The England average is about 7,100 miles (DfT National Travel Survey, which surveys residents of England).

Petrol car

What the car actually returns day to day, not the official figure. Starts at an assumed 40 mpg, not a published average — put in your car’s own figure.

A hybrid is a petrol car with better economy. Starts at an assumed 60 mpg, not a published average — put in the hybrid’s own real-world figure.

Starts on the UK average pump price for the week commencing 26 October 2026 (DESNZ).

Electric car

How far the car travels on one unit of electricity. It differs from car to car, and can be lower in cold weather.

On your electricity bill, in pence per unit. The Ofgem price cap is the usual reference.

Starts on the Ofgem cap for Great Britain, 1 October to 31 December 2026, which excludes VAT. An off-peak EV tariff can be as low as 7.6p (Intelligent Octopus Go’s “from” rate, read on 5 October 2026).

Shown on the charge point before you plug in. The UK average rapid price was 77p in August 2026 (Zapmap Price Index, pay as you go, published 4 September 2026), several times the home rate.

20%

This slider is the whole story.

Charging entirely at home costs about £534 a year. Doing it all on public rapids costs about £1,562. Same car, same miles. If you cannot charge at home, an EV's running-cost advantage can disappear entirely.

Where the starting figures come from

Every box above opens on one of these. They are starting points, not your bill: change any of them to what you actually pay.

  • Petrol price, 174.07p a litre. The UK average pump price for the week commencing 26 October 2026, from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s weekly road fuel prices, checked 27 October 2026. DESNZ weekly road fuel prices
  • Home electricity, 26.32p a kWh. The Ofgem price cap for Great Britain, the average of the regional caps for a Direct Debit customer, for 1 October to 31 December 2026. It excludes VAT: domestic electricity in Great Britain is zero-rated for VAT from 1 October 2026 to 30 June 2027 (extended at Budget 2026). It does not apply in Northern Ireland, where the Utility Regulator sets a maximum average price for Power NI instead. Ofgem price cap unit rates
  • Public rapid, 77p a kWh. Zapmap’s Price Index for August 2026, published 4 September 2026: the weighted-average pay-as-you-go price on chargers of 50 kW and above, without a membership. A commercial index, not a regulated price; read again on 5 October 2026. Zapmap Price Index
  • Off-peak home tariff, 7.6p a kWh. Intelligent Octopus Go’s advertised “from” rate, read on its own page on 5 October 2026. A supplier’s commercial offer: it needs a smart meter and an eligible car or charger, and your own rates come from a postcode quote. It is not what the home-rate box starts on. Intelligent Octopus Go
  • Electric car, 3.5 miles per kWh. An assumption, not your car’s measured consumption: DfT assumption for a 70–80 kWh battery, including charging losses. DfT charging statistics FAQ
  • Miles a year, 7,100. The DfT National Travel Survey average for cars in England in 2025, self-estimated by drivers, table NTS0901a (updated 10 September 2026). National Travel Survey
  • Petrol 40 mpg and hybrid 60 mpg. Our own assumptions, not published averages. Put in the figure your own car returns.

Electric is cheaper by

£665/ year

On 7,100 miles a year, with 20% of the charging on public chargers and £200 a year road tax for the electric and petrol car (£200 for the hybrid).

Electric£940

£740 electricity + £200 tax · 10.42p per mile

Petrol£1,605

£1,405 fuel + £200 tax · 19.78p per mile

Hybrid (60 mpg)£1,136

£936 fuel + £200 tax · 13.19p per mile · saves £468 a year on fuel vs petrol

Electric cars lost their road-tax exemption in April 2025, so both now pay the same £200 standard rate — and so do hybrids, at £200, since the £10 alternative-fuel discount went at the same time. This assumes both cars were registered on or after 1 April 2017; an older car pays its CO2 band rate instead, which can be as little as £20. Check a specific car.

What this leaves out

Fuel and tax only. Depreciation, insurance, servicing and tyres all differ between the two and usually matter more than fuel over a few years — EVs typically service cheaper but eat tyres faster.

It also leaves out the £440 Expensive Car Supplement, which lands on cars that listed above £50,000 new if electric, or £40,000 if petrol or diesel, in years 2–6. On an expensive EV that is the single biggest tax line, and it can outweigh a year of charging savings.

Browse electric cars

For guidance only. The starting fuel and electricity prices are dated above, with their sources, and move constantly — override them with what you actually pay. Uses imperial gallons (4.546 litres), as UK MPG figures do.

Example · Electric is cheaper by

£665

Example using default figures. per year, on your figures

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a hybrid cheaper to run than a petrol car?
On fuel, usually yes — a hybrid is a petrol car with a better MPG, so the saving is simply the difference between the two figures at the same mileage and pump price. This calculator starts the petrol car at an assumed 40 mpg and the hybrid at an assumed 60 mpg: assumptions of ours, not published averages, so put in the figures your own two cars return and the saving is yours rather than ours. Vehicle tax is the same for both: the £10 alternative-fuel discount was abolished in April 2025. Set both MPG figures above to see the gap for your own driving.
What is the cost per mile of an electric car versus petrol in the UK?
It depends almost entirely on where you charge. Charging at home on an off-peak tariff gives a pence-per-mile figure well below petrol; relying on rapid public chargers narrows the gap sharply and can close it. The calculator above shows pence per mile for electric, hybrid and petrol side by side, and lets you set the split between home and public charging, which is the single input that changes the answer most.
Is an electric car actually cheaper to run in the UK?
It depends almost entirely on where you charge. On the Ofgem-capped domestic rate, an EV at 3.5 miles per kWh costs about 7.52p a mile against roughly 19.78p for petrol at 40 mpg. On a smart overnight EV tariff such as Intelligent Octopus Go, advertised from 7.6p per kWh when its page was read on 5 October 2026, it falls to about 2.17p a mile. But public rapid charging at the UK average pay-as-you-go price of 77p per kWh (Zapmap Price Index, August 2026) works out around 22.00p a mile, and about 26.29p at a peak price such as InstaVolt's 92p — dearer than petrol, not merely close to it. If you cannot charge at home the running-cost case is much weaker, and for high-mileage public charging it can disappear entirely.
Does this comparison include road tax?
Yes. Electric cars lost their VED exemption on 1 April 2025. They now pay £10 in the first year and then the same £200 standard rate as petrol and diesel. EVs that listed over £50,000 new also pay the £440 Expensive Car Supplement in years 2 to 6 — but only if they were first registered on or after 1 April 2025. An electric car registered before that date is exempt from the supplement whatever it cost.
How many miles per kWh should I expect from an electric car?
This calculator starts the electric car at 3.5 miles per kWh, a DfT assumption for a 70–80 kWh battery, including charging losses. It is an assumption, not a measurement of your car, and the figure differs from model to model. Your own car’s trip-computer figure, or the miles and kWh from a few full charges, is better. It can fall in cold weather, so use the figure you see in winter if you want a cautious estimate.
What does this calculator leave out?
It compares fuel, electricity and road tax only. Depreciation, insurance, servicing and tyres also differ between electric and petrol cars and usually matter more over a few years of ownership. EVs typically cost less to service but get through tyres faster.

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