EV Total Cost of Ownership Calculator
The full 5- or 10-year cost of owning an EV vs a gas car — purchase, fuel, maintenance, insurance, and depreciation in one number.
Free calculator, no signup required. Runs in your browser — your entries stay on this device (saved in this browser until you clear them) and are not sent to us.
What goes into total cost of ownership
TCO is the full lifetime cost of a vehicle, not just its sticker price. The five components that actually move the needle:
- Net purchase price — price minus any incentive you have verified and entered (default $0).
- Fuel / electricity — annual miles divided by efficiency, times the rate.
- Maintenance — built-in illustrative formulas below, not measured values.
- Insurance — the “Extra insurance for EV” field is where you set the EV’s extra cost, from your own quotes.
- Depreciation — the value of the car at the end of the comparison period, subtracted from the gross cost.
The formulas under the hood
Both vehicles are assumed kept the full period, not sold and rebought. Insurance, fuel and maintenance accrue every year; the depreciated value is recovered once at the end as resale.
How to read the result
The headline is the 5-year (or N-year) net cost of keeping each car — what you actually spent after subtracting what the car is still worth at the end. A lower number means cheaper to own.
This is a planning estimate. Real-world TCO depends on driving conditions, climate, exact insurance quotes, charger install, registration costs and luck. Use the result as a directional comparison, not a prediction. Pair it with the individual calculators ( EV vs Gas, Resale, Break-Even) for detail.
The incentive field is $0 by default. The IRS says the federal new and used clean vehicle credits are not available for vehicles acquired after September 30, 2025. Source: IRS, new clean vehicle credit and used clean vehicle credit (read October 15, 2026). The calculator does not decide eligibility.
Frequently asked
What does Total Cost of Ownership include?
Five components over the comparison period: net purchase price (price minus any incentive you enter), fuel/electricity, maintenance, insurance, and depreciation (final resale value subtracted from purchase). The calculator handles all of these in one place rather than across multiple tools.
How is depreciation calculated?
With a fixed illustrative curve built into the calculator: 78% of the price remains after year one, then 90% of the prior value each year for the EV; gas cars use 80% and 88%. These are example assumptions, not measured market data for your vehicle. The remaining value at the end of the period is subtracted from the gross cost.
What if I will not qualify for the federal credit?
Leave the incentive field at $0, which is the default. The federal new and used clean vehicle credits are not available for vehicles acquired after September 30, 2025 (IRS). Enter an incentive only if you have verified it separately; this calculator does not decide eligibility.
Why do the insurance defaults differ for EV vs gas?
The extra-insurance field is an example amount for the EV. Insurance varies by vehicle, driver, location and carrier, so override it with your actual quotes. See the EV Insurance guide for the reasoning.
What time horizon should I use?
Use how long you expect to keep the car. Try several horizons: the result can change in either direction, because running-cost differences accumulate each year while the depreciation curve flattens.
Does this include charger installation, registration, or sales tax?
No — those are state- and situation-specific. Typical extras: $700-2,300 home charger install (one-time), $300-1,500/year in registration and taxes in some states. Add them manually to either side of the comparison if they apply to your situation.