Wondering how many kilometers it takes for each type of car to pay for itself in fuel savings? Find out the average distances for gasoline, electric, hybrid, and diesel cars here.
It is not easy to make the right choice when buying a new car . We are often misled by superficial factors, such as the design of the vehicle, the colour or even the manufacturer. We rarely sit down at the computer, open Excel and fill in cells with data to determine which one is the most suitable.
Today’s market offers more choice than ever when it comes to engines. While it’s true that you can no longer select engine sizes and power outputs like you could a few years ago, you will still have a wide range to choose from: petrol , diesel , various hybrids or even models that are completely electric .
And this is where we ask you the question. Do you already have a clear idea of the car you want to buy? So, have you calculated more or less in what range of kilometres you will pay for it? If not, stay with us. This way, you can avoid paying more for savings that will never materialise in your wallet.
Gasoline cars
The gasoline vehicle is always the base that we are going to use to compare other options . With equal performance compared to other cars, these are usually the most economical , so we will not have to pay a price difference to be able to use them.
However, its use always involves expense. Gasoline is more expensive than diesel, LPG or CNG. We will not be able to do a simple numerical calculation to find the number of kilometers that must be traveled to pay for it .
If you are going to use your car very little, almost always, the most sensible option is to get a car with a petrol engine. Before going to the dealership, it is also a good idea to calculate how much you would spend on public transport or a taxi. Although, when we buy a car, what we are really acquiring is the comfort of using it.
Diesel car
At the beginning of this century, we were told that diesel cars were for everyone. And no, they weren’t. The premise of a diesel engine is very tempting. With the same performance, these engines consume less . In addition, the price of a litre of diesel is cheaper. What’s the catch?
There are many more variables to consider when buying a car of this type, as we already described in the article on diesel or gasoline, which consumes less and which is more profitable.
Diesel vehicles have a significant extra cost , around 2,500 euros on average, although the difference increases depending on the range of the vehicle being analysed. Their maintenance is somewhat more tedious and their breakdowns are substantially more expensive.
The extra cost we pay for the car will have to be offset by driving the miles , that is, by the difference between the 1-2 litres per 100 kilometres less that these engines consume and the few cents we will save per litre when refuelling. Although nowadays the price difference between the litre of both fuels is no longer so exaggerated.
In compact and medium-sized vehicles, you will have to travel between 75,000 and 85,000 kilometres to recoup the extra cost. However, when we look at more powerful cars or more premium brands, this distance can be extended and go over 100,000 kilometres.
Bifuel car (LPG, CNG, LNG)
Before we move on to talk about hybrid and electric vehicles, it is worth paying attention to bifuel engines, which normally run on petrol and a gas. Not only are they cleaner vehicles, but their use also results in savings in the medium term . After all, the price of fuel is more affordable.
The premium price of these cars depends fundamentally on two clear factors:
- If you buy a bi-fuel car directly (you won’t find much variety in Spain), you will have to pay between 1,000 and 2,000 euros more for the vehicle.
- On the other hand, you can convert a gasoline vehicle to bifuel . The operation usually costs between 1,500 and 3,000 euros. You can find more information about how much it costs to convert a car to LPG and the process in this post that we linked to.
To make our calculations, we will use LPG as an example. It is the most commonly used fuel in private bifuel cars. It costs between 40 and 50% less than gasoline . It is slightly less efficient, which will cause our vehicle’s consumption to rise slightly. Nothing to worry about.
As a general rule, the extra cost of the technology or modification can be amortized in a period of less than 40,000 kilometers . From there, we will be cutting money from what it would cost to fuel a vehicle with an engine that runs exclusively on gasoline. It’s a matter of doing the math. The lower the extra cost, the sooner we will recover the investment.
Conventional hybrid car (HEV)
We are going to skip micro-hybrid cars, since, for practical purposes, they pay for themselves in the same way as if they did not have hybridisation at all – the lower consumption in these cars is practically residual. Therefore, we go directly to conventional hybrids , technology used by manufacturers such as Toyota, Honda, Renault and other brands that we all know.
When you buy a hybrid, you are going to pay a certain extra cost. The positive side is that you are also going to have a considerable reduction in consumption , which translates into the possibility of making cheaper trips. To make our calculations, we are going to have to compare two vehicles with similar performance. One hybrid and the other pure gasoline. In this case, we will measure these two cars:
| Model | Power | Combined consumption (WLTP) | Price (euros) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota Corolla Hybrid 140H Active Plus | 93 HP (140 HP combined) | 4.4 | 26,800 |
| Peugeot 308 1.2 Puretech | 131 HP | 5.5 | 24.600 |
With this data (you can use other data to compare other cars) we can see that the hybrid costs around 2,200 euros more than the petrol one. For a price of 1.60 euros per litre, it would take around 125,000 kilometres to pay off the extra cost of the Toyota. As a general rule, conventional hybrids pay for themselves after 100,000 kilometres.
Plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV)
Calculating with plug-in hybrid cars is not so simple. Many more variables come into play. In addition, there is not a single manufacturer that will not try to deceive you with the approved consumption figure. The WLTP standard never reflects the consumption that these vehicles have once the battery is depleted .
The most important variables when doing the numbers are these:
- Vehicle range : the extra cost compared to a pure combustion car increases the more premium the car is. The average extra cost is between 4,000 and 10,000 euros.
- Electric range : the larger the battery, the more kilometers we will be able to travel in electric mode. Theoretically, we will have more opportunity to save.
- The vehicle can pay for itself more quickly the more trips are made around the city in fully electric mode.
- For calculations, it is worth including the price of the charging point at home . In addition, the cost of use depends on the contracted electricity rate. However, it is always cheaper than fossil fuel.
- When it comes to long road trips, the approved consumption is of no use . When the battery runs out, the car will start to consume fuel as if it were not hybridised.
- We can amortize the investment sooner if we obtain aid such as the MOVES III Plan .
With all this information on the table, the formula can give us different solutions depending on the use we make of the vehicle . If we charge at home at 3 cents per kilowatt, we make many urban journeys and we take advantage of MOVES, we will recover the investment sooner than if we charge at stations and make long journeys.
Calculating with a Kia Sportage that uses 70% electric power and 30% petrol, we can amortise the extra cost in the range of 70,000 kilometres, as long as we take advantage of the aids. Of course, it should be noted that these are the numbers that come out if we take the combined consumption given by the manufacturer – in which it is assumed that the battery on the road will continue to provide energy, which is not entirely true.
If we take the battery out of the equation, assuming that it will be depleted on long journeys, the calculations tell us that these vehicles begin to pay for themselves after 95,000 kilometres . In any case, it is all very subjective. If you move almost exclusively in the city and charge at very low prices (or even for free if you have solar panels), it is not unreasonable that you will pay for yourself (the extra price) before reaching 30,000 kilometres .
Electric car (EV)
After complicating our lives with plug-in hybrids, it is now the turn of electric cars . With these cars we are going to pay a fairly high extra cost. However, it happens as in the previous case. If we have good planning, we charge at home at low prices and we do not abuse fast charging – because it is expensive – profitability will be assured .
Paying off the cost sooner or later will depend on the car you choose, the subsidies and the price of recharging. Electric cars also require less maintenance . When you do your own calculations, we recommend that you take this into account – we are going to leave this data out because it also depends on the combustion car you are comparing it with.
Depending on the vehicles you compare, you can get very different figures. Amortization after a few kilometers will depend fundamentally on the price difference between both versions . To give you a visual idea, we are going to do two different examples, making conservative calculations at 0.10 euros per kilowatt and 1.60 euros per liter of gasoline:
Peugeot 308 Puretech vs. Peugeot E-308
In this first case, we are going to recover the Peugeot 308 from before and compare it with the same electric model, that is, the Peugeot E-308 .
| Model | Power | Combined consumption (WLTP) | Price (euros) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peugeot 308 1.2 Puretech | 131 HP | 5.5 | 24.600 |
| Peugeot E-308 | 156 HP | 415 km (autonomy) | 38,450 (31,450 with MOVES III Plan) |
The electric version costs 13,850 euros more than the pure combustion car. The gap is reduced to 6,850 euros with the MOVES III. The results are as follows:
- By applying the subsidies, we will recover the extra cost in the range of 80,000 kilometres . We can advance this if we are able to carry out more affordable recharges.
- If we do not have the aid, we will have to travel more than double the kilometers to pay off the cost , unless we are able to recharge the vehicle at a lower price.
BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe vs. bmw i4
We have chosen this pair because they share the same base, only with two different engines . Both are the most affordable versions of their engine, although the electric one is substantially more powerful. You will see how different the numbers are:
| Model | Power | Combined consumption (WLTP) | Price (euros) |
|---|---|---|---|
| BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe (420i xDrive) | 184 HP | 7 | 55,300 |
| BMW i4 iDrive35 | 286 HP | 406 – 499 km (autonomy) | 58,600 |
The electric version of this German car costs 3,300 euros more. However, the price gap is so small that we will be able to amortize the extra cost in just 35,000 kilometers . From there, everything becomes savings. Moving the i4 represents an approximate cost of 0.018 euros per kilometer charging at these prices, compared to 11 cents for the gasoline version.
Prices can be reduced even further with MOVES (this BMW model is eligible, the higher models are not), as well as charging at home with lower rates.
So, we can get the general idea that we can amortize an electric car between 35,000 and 90,000 kilometers . It depends on many factors. However, the data is clear. If we choose the right car for our use and we do enough kilometers, these are the cars that we will be able to amortize most easily if we have all the variables well controlled.