Motoring

Cost per mile, petrol, diesel and electric

Cost per mile is usually quoted as fuel alone, which is the smaller half of the truth. Depreciation, insurance, tyres and servicing are all costs of driving a mile, and including them changes which car wins. We publish both numbers, separately and clearly labelled, because the fuel only figure is the one every manufacturer quotes and the all in figure is the one that leaves your account.

Read

Cost per wash: pressure washer or a hand car wash7 September 2026A pressure washer against a hand car wash at UK forecourt prices, per wash and at the number of washes it takes to pay for itself.
Cost per mile: petrol, diesel and electric in 202622 August 2026What a mile costs in a petrol, diesel or electric car at August 2026 UK pump and charging prices, fuel only and with depreciation and upkeep included.

Everything we have priced in this room

Priced at the tariffs shown in the bar at the top of the page. Sorted cheapest first.
Item	Running	Cost per use
Diesel car	15.8p	47.4p
Petrol car	17p	55.3p
Electric car, charged at home overnight	1.94p	63.5p
Electric car, public rapid charging only	22.2p	83.8p

Open the calculator to put your own tariff, your own purchase price and your own usage against any row above.

Worked through

The cheapest and the dearest of the things here that are measured in the same unit, with every term of the sum shown, so you can see which part of the number is the part that actually matters.

Diesel car, 47.4p per mile

Cost per mile, the working

Purchase, £18,500 over 80,000 miles23.12p

Diesel, B7, 0.08266 × £1.9115.76p

Upkeep, £850.00 a year8.50p

Cost per mile47.4p

Electric car, public rapid charging only, 83.8p per mile

Cost per mile, the working

Purchase, £35,000 over 64,000 miles54.69p

Public rapid charging, 0.2778 × 80.00p22.22p

Upkeep, £550.00 a year6.88p

Cost per mile83.8p

The same car, the same efficiency, and a fuel cost that lands close to petrol. Whether you have a driveway changes the running cost of an electric car more than which car you buy does.

The same sum, applied in garden and diy, furniture and sleep and kitchen. Or open the calculator and put your own numbers through it.

Prices used on this page

Diesel, B7, 190.72p per litre. UK average pump price, ultra low sulphur diesel.. Weekly road fuel prices, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Checked 16 September 2026.
Off-peak EV electricity, 7p per kWh. A dedicated overnight EV rate. Not capped, varies by supplier, and normally requires a smart meter.. Typical UK EV night tariff. Checked 22 August 2026.
Public rapid charging, 80p per kWh. Weighted average pay-as-you-go price on 50kW and above chargers.. Zapmap EV charging price index. Checked 22 August 2026.
Petrol, E10 unleaded, 168.14p per litre. UK average pump price, ultra low sulphur unleaded.. Weekly road fuel prices, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Checked 16 September 2026.