Auto Cost Compared

Powertrain

Petrol: what it costs to own

The lowest purchase price and the best-understood residuals, paid for at the pump every week. The powertrain whose costs are most predictable and least improvable.

Updated 2 min read 12 citations

Driver's side interior of a saloon car with leather seats and a centre screen
Tokumeigakarinoaoshima · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The shape of the cost

The lowest purchase price and the best-understood residuals, paid for at the pump every week. The powertrain whose costs are most predictable and least improvable. Total-cost studies that compare powertrains find the ranking of the cost lines differs between them more than the total does — which is why the shape below matters more than any single number [1].

Cost-line weights for a new petrol car A bar chart of the relative weight of depreciation, energy, insurance, maintenance, tax and financing cost for a new petrol car over its first years, on an ordinal 1–5 scale. Energy / fuel4Depreciation3Maintenance3Tax & fees3Insurance2Financing cost2
The shape for ICE. Ranks, not amounts — where petrol is unusual is which bar is tallest and which is shortest, and that pattern is what changes the decision. Ordering consistent with the total-cost-of-ownership literature cited on this page.

Line by line

How each cost line behaves for a petrol car
LineHow it behavesWith more kilometres
DepreciationWell understood and stable — but watch the policy direction: as low-emission zones and CO₂-based taxes spread, higher-emission used cars face a slowly narrowing market in several European cities.holds
EnergyOne line, one price, rising in step with distance. No cheap-tariff option exists.rises
MaintenanceMiddle of the pack, rising with age and mileage in the familiar way.rises
InsuranceThe reference point the others are compared with.holds
TaxThe structural loser under CO₂-weighted registration and company-car regimes — which in several markets is now the largest single cost difference against an EV.holds

When it wins, when it loses

Still competitive at low mileage, where energy barely matters and the lower purchase price dominates. Loses ground steadily as distance rises and as tax regimes tighten.

Head to head

Interior of a convertible showing front seats, dashboard and gear lever
NJo · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Petrol at each annual distance

  • 10,000 km a year — Short commutes or a second car; the car spends most of its life parked.
  • 20,000 km a year — The European and US average: a daily commute plus regular longer trips.
  • 30,000 km a year — Long commutes, sales territory, frequent motorway journeys.
  • 60,000 km a year — Professional driving, cross-country work, the car as a place of business.
Is a petrol car cheap to run?
One line, one price, rising in step with distance. No cheap-tariff option exists. Middle of the pack, rising with age and mileage in the familiar way.
Does a petrol car hold its value?
Well understood and stable — but watch the policy direction: as low-emission zones and CO₂-based taxes spread, higher-emission used cars face a slowly narrowing market in several European cities.
Who should buy a petrol car?
Still competitive at low mileage, where energy barely matters and the lower purchase price dominates. Loses ground steadily as distance rises and as tax regimes tighten.

References

Every citation below links to the original peer-reviewed record on PubMed or via DOI. Nothing here is a substitute for medical advice.

  1. How to Improve the Total Cost of Ownership of Electric Vehicles: An Analysis of the Light Commercial Vehicle Segment Lebeau P, Macharis C, Van Mierlo J · World Electric Vehicle Journal · 2019 · Journal article DOI
  2. Total cost of ownership of electric and gasoline used vehicles Woody M, Yin S, Green A, et al. · Environmental Research Letters · 2026 · Journal article DOI
  3. What Holds Its Value Price Determinants in Indias Used Motorcycle Market and the Absence of the Yamaha RX100 Bhavnagri P · International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology · 2026 · Journal article DOI
  4. Fair Market Value of Used Capacity Assets: Forecasts for Repurposed Electric Vehicle Batteries Bach A, Onori S, Reichelstein S, et al. · The Accounting Review · 2026 · Journal article DOI
  5. Ownership Levies and Electric Vehicle Adoption: A Total Cost of Ownership and Legal Analysis of Ukraine’s Fiscal Reversal Vovk Y, Vovk I, Martsenko N, et al. · World Electric Vehicle Journal · 2026 · Journal article DOI
  6. Route-Specific Total Cost of Ownership for Electric Trucks: A Danish Distribution Case Study Iversen L, Rehmeier C · World Electric Vehicle Journal · 2026 · Journal article DOI
  7. Dynamic User Equilibrium for Electric Vehicle Departure Time and Path–Charging Choices with Wireless and Fast Charging Services Zhang X, Ren H · World Electric Vehicle Journal · 2026 · Journal article DOI
  8. Machine Learning for Plug-in-Time Classification of Charging Faults and Abnormal Termination Events in Public Electric-Vehicle Charging Sessions Thango B, Duan C · World Electric Vehicle Journal · 2026 · Journal article DOI
  9. Total Cot of Ownership of Electric Car and Internal Combustion Engine Car With Performance Normalization Santoso A, Priyono B · International Journal of Environmental, Sustainability and Social Science · 2026 · Journal article DOI
  10. Depreciation Patterns in the UAE Used Car Market: Evidence from Dubizzle Listings Miranda A, Alavi A, Gella M · Journal of Business Insight and Innovation · 2026 · Journal article DOI
  11. The impact of intra-European used-car trade on electric vehicle market diffusion and greenhouse gas emissions Frank F, Disch F, Gnann T · eceee Summer Study proceedings · 2026 · Journal article DOI
  12. Residual Value Patterns and Price Dispersion in Cambodia’s Used-Car Finance Market Pak J · American Journal of Student Research · 2026 · Journal article DOI