EV vs Petrol Calculator
Petrol vs Diesel vs CNG vs EV — 5-year total cost for your running. This is the comparison CarWale and CarDekho never show fairly.
Your usage
5-year total: EV saves
₹1,25,600 saved
Cheapest overall: EV (home charging) (₹17,36,400) · Break-even: ~3.3 years
5-year cost (12,000 km/year)
| Fuel | ₹/km fuel | Fuel total | Maint. | Grand total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petrol | ₹6.87 | ₹4,12,000 | ₹50,000 | ₹18,62,000 |
| Diesel | ₹5.00 | ₹3,00,000 | ₹60,000 | ₹19,10,000 |
| CNG | ₹3.45 | ₹2,07,273 | ₹55,000 | ₹17,62,273 |
| EV (home charging) ★ cheapest | ₹1.04 | ₹62,400 | ₹25,000 | ₹17,36,400 |
Includes on-road price + fuel/charging + maintenance. Insurance, resale and loan interest excluded — add them in the full TCO calculator.
What this means
At 1000 km/month, petrol fuel costs ₹6,867/month vs ₹1,040/month for the EV — a monthly saving of ₹5,827. The ₹249k EV premium pays back in ~3.3 years.
Petrol vs CNG vs EV: how to decide
Decide on total cost, not mileage or EMI alone. High running (1,000+ km/month) with home charging almost always favours EVs within 3–4 years. Mixed city running with no home charging often favours CNG or hybrid. Very low running (under 700 km/month) usually favours the cheapest petrol car, because fuel savings never recover the EV/CNG premium. Enter your real annual km above — it matters more than any other input.
Frequently asked questions
Should I buy CNG or EV?
CNG wins on upfront cost and refuelling network; EV wins on per-km cost, maintenance and refinement if you can charge at home. Above ~15,000 km/year, EV usually wins 5-year total.
Does diesel still make sense?
Only for very high highway running. Diesel cars cost ~₹1.5 lakh more than petrol, face NGT/NCR age limits, and diesel resale is softening as cities push electrification.