Compare the true total cost of ownership — energy, maintenance, insurance, financing and incentives — plus break-even year and CO₂ impact, with live charts.
Everything spent on each car, year by year — purchase (net of credits), loan interest as it accrues, energy, maintenance and insurance. Where the lines cross is your break-even point.
What's counted: purchase price net of credits, home charger, loan interest (within your ownership window), fuel/energy with separate inflation rates, maintenance and insurance. Depreciation and resale value are not modeled — see the notes in the footer. Fine-tune every assumption on the other tabs; this page updates live.
The core comparison — everything else on the page builds on these numbers.
Energy, maintenance and insurance per year of ownership, averaged over the full period (fuel inflation included).
Chargers, credits, maintenance and insurance — where EV and gas ownership really differ.
EV breaks even after 5 years
The gas car's running total minus the EV's. Above the dashed zero line, the EV is ahead; the crossing point is your break-even.
Financing model: both cars are financed on the same terms after your down payment. Interest is amortized over the loan and only the portion accruing within your ownership window is counted — so a 3-year ownership on a 5-year loan doesn't get charged all 5 years of interest.
Fuel-price trajectories and loan terms move the break-even year more than anything else.
Metric tons of CO₂ over your whole ownership period, at your grid mix.
Scope: the gas figure is tailpipe combustion (EPA: 8.887 kg CO₂ per gallon) and excludes upstream extraction and refining, which add roughly a quarter more. The EV figure covers electricity generation for your charging. Neither includes vehicle manufacturing.
An EV is only as clean as the electricity behind it — set your grid mix here.
Local incentives and smarter charging are the two biggest levers left.