Help!

Getting Started

To get started, choose your annual mileage from the selection box then click on any of the fuel types listed in the selection boxes.

You can then choose a manufacturer, range and model for your comparison, but you'll only be able to see cars which have the appropriate type of engine for your fuel selection.

You can choose from Petrol, Diesel, Hybrid and Electric cars, but you don't have to choose a car in every category; for example, you can just choose Petrol and Electric.

Once you've made your choices you can view the forecast running costs per mile for each vehicle.

Pence Per Mile running cost are calculated over 5 years based on outright purchase.

You can also see all the detailed calculations behind the pence per mile costs - just click on the 'Cost Details' button for any car.

What Does The Fuel Analyser Do?

Our e-Go! Fuel Analyser instantly compares the running costs for Petrol, Diesel, Hybrid and Electric cars.

The Fuel Analyser will forecast running costs over 1-5 years, so you can compare pence per mile costs for each type of car.

How Do We Calculate Costs?

We take forecasts for depreciation, maintenance, fuel consumption and insurance and break these down into annual running costs for a car.

Next we apply your expected annual mileage to the costs to work out a cost per mile.

Finally we convert these costs to tables and charts - you can either stick with the headline pence per mile costs or drill down into the data and see yearly breakdowns of the forecast running costs for ICE and electric cars.

We're now using results from WLTP testing for items such as fuel consumption, battery range and recharge times. WLTP became the official testing method for cars and vans from April 2020 (previously the NEDC standard was used).

Sometimes this swap leaves gaps in the data, but do keep checking back with us for more up-to-date information; we're plugging the gaps as quick as we can and if you know a piece of information that we don't hold please do tell us!).

Cost Details

Scroll down to the Cost Details button under any car and click on it to see a detailed analysis of running costs.

Depending on the size of your device screen you can also see charts analysing costs such as depreciation and maintenance (smaller mobile/tablet devices won't show this).

Depreciation

We calculate depreciation costs automatically for you using the On-The-Road price of the car and industry standard data on forecast used car values.

You can change the On-The-Road Price for a car; just type in a new amount in the On-The-Road box, press the 'Enter' key and we'll work out the depreciation for you.

Maintenance

Maintenance costs are calculated automatically for you using your selected annual mileage and based on CAP-HPI forecasts for servicing and mechanical repair costs.

VED

VED is short for 'Vehicle Excise Duty', which is the official name for the 'tax disc' that used to be displayed on cars but which is now recorded only on a central database.

We'll calculate VED costs automatically for you based on the current rates set by the Goverment - these vary according to the CO2 output of the car.

Fuel Costs

For fuel costs we have estimated the price of petrol, diesel and electricity, but you can change these - click on the Fuel button for the car.

You'll see a box for the pence per litre cost of Petrol or Diesel; just type in the price you want to use and press the 'Enter' key to change the calculations.

For Plug-In Hybrid and Electric cars you will also need to enter a cost for recharging the battery, and for the cost of the charger itself if you have one.

If you use a home charger you can find the cost of electricity on your bill - it's the cost per kiloWatt hour you are charged by your electricity provider.

If you use public charging points then use the cost per kiloWatt hour on the charger receipt or invoice.

Don't worry if you don't know this cost - we'll put an example value in each box anyway to get you started.

Home charger for hybrid/electric vehicles

If you have a charger fitted at home then you should enter details of the cost of the charger. Use the net amount you paid to buy and install the charger after any Goverment grant.

If you enter a value for the cost of the charger we will spread the cost over 5 years so that it is reflected in the fuel costs for the vehicle over this period.

For example, if you paid £500 for a charger after the Government grant then we would add £100 each year (£500 / 5) to your fuel costs.

Plug-in Hybrids - Electric Motoring Ratio

If your selected Hybrid car is a Plug-In Hybrid then you will need to specify the percentage of your motoring that uses just the electric motors.

This is to make the fuel cost calculation more accurate - you won't be using petrol or diesel during this motoring, which will reduce your liquid fuel costs, but you will be using electricity, which will increase your recharging costs.

We'll work out the appropriate adjustment to your fuel costs according to the percentage you select.

Don't worry if you don't know the percentage - we'll assume 50% 'electric-only' use unless you select a different percentage.

Insurance

You will also need to enter your expected annual insurance premium for each vehicle; once again we'll put an example value in the box for you to get started.

Click on the Insurance button below any car to change the annual insurance cost.

Remember that your annual insurance premium might change according to the vehicle you select for each type of fuel.

VAT Recovery

If you are a VAT registered business and can recover all your VAT then check the box below - we'll adjust the Maintenance and Fuel costs for recovered VAT at the standard rate on ICE fuel costs.

VAT on electricity can't be recovered by businesses at the moment (though businesses may qualify for a lower rate of VAT on electricity depending on their fuel consumption levels).

If you are a business then we will assume that Plug-in and Electric cars are recharged at business/commercial premises and you can therefore adjust the kiloWatt cost of electricity to your own cost per kiloWatt.

Recover VAT on maintenance and non-electrical fuel: