OwnCost

EV Total Cost of Ownership Calculator

Charging is cheap, but it's not the whole story — see an EV's real yearly and per-mile cost of ownership.

Purchase price ($)

Resale value after ownership ($)

Ownership period (years)

Annual miles

Efficiency (mi/kWh)

Electricity price ($/kWh)

Insurance + maintenance / year ($)

Annual cost of ownership

$7,314

Cost per mile: $0.610
5-year total cost: $36,571
Annual depreciation: $4,600

What you entered

Price: $45,000Resale: $22,000Years: 5Annual miles: 12,000Efficiency: 3.5 mi/kWhElectricity: $0.15/kWhInsurance + maint: $2,200

1
Total depreciation
$45,000 − $22,000= $23,000
2
Annual depreciation
$23,000 ÷ 5 yrs= $4,600
3
Annual energy cost
(12,000 ÷ 3.5) × $0.15= $514
4
Annual TCO
$4,600 + $514 + $2,200= $7,314
5
Cost per mile
$7,314 ÷ 12,000 mi= $0.610/mi

Result

Annual cost of ownership: $7,314

Owning this EV costs about $7,314/year ($36,571 over 5 years), or $0.610 per mile — depreciation ($4,600/yr) usually dwarfs the energy cost ($514/yr).

Annual EV cost of ownership over a 5-year hold, by price and resale

Every row keeps the car five years, covers 12,000 miles a year at 3.5 mi/kWh with electricity at 15 cents per kWh, and pays 2,200 a year for insurance and maintenance. That fixes the energy cost at 514 dollars a year in all eight rows, so the entire spread comes from depreciation.

Purchase price	Resale after 5 years	Annual depreciation	Annual cost of ownership	Cost per mile
$25,000	$11,000	$2,800	$5,514	$0.460
$30,000	$13,500	$3,300	$6,014	$0.501
$35,000	$16,000	$3,800	$6,514	$0.543
$40,000	$19,000	$4,200	$6,914	$0.576
$45,000	$22,000	$4,600	$7,314	$0.610
$50,000	$24,000	$5,200	$7,914	$0.660
$60,000	$27,000	$6,600	$9,314	$0.776
$80,000	$34,000	$9,200	$11,914	$0.993

Energy is 514 dollars a year in every row, between 4 and 9 percent of the annual total, while depreciation runs 5 to 18 times larger. The cheap-to-run story is real but it is not what decides the cost of owning an EV. Resale is therefore the input worth researching hardest, and it is genuinely hard to forecast for electric cars, because battery improvements, range expectations and changing purchase incentives move used values quickly. Depreciation here is spread evenly across the years rather than front-loaded, which real cars are not. Excluded: financing interest, tax credits and home charger installation. Illustrative figures. Use a resale estimate for your specific model.

An EV total cost of ownership calculator shows the real yearly and per-mile cost of running an electric car, not just the headline savings on fuel. Electric vehicles are often marketed on their low charging cost, and it is true that energy is usually the cheapest line in the budget. But the cost that dominates ownership for almost every car — electric or petrol — is depreciation, the value the vehicle loses while you own it. This tool puts depreciation, energy, insurance, and maintenance into one figure so you can compare vehicles and tariffs on their true cost, and see how small a slice charging really is.

The calculation is built from the numbers an owner can actually estimate. Depreciation is the purchase price minus the resale value you expect at the end of your ownership period, spread evenly across the years you keep the car — buy at $45,000, sell at $22,000 after five years, and that is $4,600 a year of depreciation before you have driven a mile. Energy cost comes from your annual mileage divided by the car's efficiency in miles per kilowatt-hour, multiplied by your electricity price; for a typical EV driven 12,000 miles a year that is only a few hundred dollars. Insurance and maintenance are added as an annual figure. Summed, these give the annual cost of ownership, which the calculator also divides by your annual mileage to produce a cost per mile and multiplies by the ownership period for a total. Seeing all four components side by side is usually a revelation: the charging cost people focus on is often less than a tenth of the annual total.

The reason the source research frames this around model, route, tariff, and depreciation is that those are the inputs that actually move the number. Depreciation varies enormously between models — some EVs hold value well while others fall sharply as battery technology and incentives shift — so a realistic resale estimate matters more than any charging assumption. Route and climate change real-world efficiency, and therefore energy cost, especially for high-mileage drivers. And the tariff you charge on can swing the energy cost by a factor of three. This calculator uses simple, transparent inputs rather than model-specific resale data, so treat the resale value and efficiency as the numbers to research carefully for your specific car. Use it to compare vehicles fairly, to weigh a cheaper car with worse depreciation against a pricier one that holds its value, and to see the honest all-in cost of driving electric. It estimates cost of ownership only and excludes financing interest, tax credits, and charging-hardware installation, which you can layer on separately.

Depreciation dwarfs charging cost

For most EVs, depreciation is 5-10× the annual energy cost. A car losing $4,600/year in value while costing $500/year to charge means the 'cheap to run' story is almost irrelevant to the total — what matters is buying a model that holds its value. Always estimate resale realistically; it's the single biggest lever on EV cost of ownership.

Why EV resale values are hard to predict

EV resale is more volatile than petrol cars because battery technology, range expectations, and purchase incentives all shift quickly, and a new model with more range can dent used values overnight. Some EVs depreciate faster than equivalent petrol cars; a few hold value exceptionally well. Research your specific model's resale trend rather than assuming, because this input drives the whole result.

Frequently asked questions

I buy a $45,000 EV, sell it for $22,000 after 5 years, drive 12,000 miles/year at 3.5 mi/kWh and $0.15/kWh, with $2,200/year insurance and maintenance — what's my cost of ownership?

Depreciation is $23,000 over 5 years = $4,600/year. Energy is (12,000 ÷ 3.5) × $0.15 ≈ $514/year. Adding $2,200 gives about $7,314/year, roughly $36,570 over five years, or about $0.61 per mile. Notice energy is under 8% of the total.

Isn't an EV supposed to be cheap to run?

The energy is cheap — often a few hundred dollars a year — but 'cost to run' isn't the same as 'cost to own.' Depreciation, insurance, and maintenance usually make up the large majority of the annual cost. EVs can still be cheaper to own overall, but the saving comes from the total picture, not just the low charging cost.

Why does resale value matter so much?

Because depreciation — purchase price minus resale — is typically the biggest single cost of ownership. A $3,000 difference in resale value after five years changes your annual cost by $600, far more than most charging or maintenance differences. A realistic, model-specific resale estimate is the most important input here.

How is this different from the EV vs Gas calculator?

The EV vs Gas calculator compares just the fuel/energy cost of an EV against a petrol car. This one totals the full cost of ownership — depreciation, energy, insurance, and maintenance — for the EV itself. Use EV vs Gas to compare running costs, and this to understand and compare the all-in cost of owning a specific EV.