What Does Your Car Really Cost Per Mile?
What does your car really cost per mile? Add annual energy and ownership costs, then divide by annual distance. Defaults are examples; replace them with your own vehicle data.
Vehicle and annual-cost inputs
Energy efficiency and prices are editable example defaults only. Enter figures from your vehicle, bills, receipts, and quotes.
Annual running costs
Annual fixed costs
Depreciation
Total cost per mile
$0.00 per mile
Fuel cost per mile $0.00 Fuel price ÷ MPG
Annual total $0 Fixed cost + running cost
Annual fixed cost $0 Depreciation, insurance, registration, finance
Annual running cost $0 Energy, maintenance, tires
Annual depreciation $0 (Purchase − resale) ÷ years kept
EV vs gas energy cost per mile
Use the same distance unit and inspect both powertrains side by side. The table compares energy only; the calculator's headline still includes ownership costs.
| Input group | Gas | EV | Energy cost per mile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gas price | $0.00 | — | $0.000 |
| Electricity price | — | $0.00 | $0.000 |
| MPG | 0 | — | Gas row above |
| kWh/100 miles | — | 0 | EV row above |
Enter both sets of energy inputs to compare the rates.
Why fuel cost per mile is not total cost per mile
Fuel is only one line. In imperial mode, fuel cost per mile equals price per gallon divided by MPG. For example, if the editable inputs were 3.50 per gallon and 30 MPG, the energy line would be 3.50 ÷ 30 = about 0.117 per mile. That arithmetic says nothing about depreciation, insurance, registration, finance interest, maintenance, or tires. This calculator therefore shows the fuel or electricity rate separately and builds the headline rate from every annual cost you enter.
The full formula is: annual fixed cost + annual running cost, divided by annual distance. Fixed cost contains depreciation, insurance, registration or road tax and inspection, and finance interest. Running cost contains fuel or electricity, maintenance and repairs, and tires. Keep each input on the same annual basis. Do not add a loan principal payment as a cost when purchase-price depreciation already represents the vehicle value consumed; only enter the annual interest you want counted.
How depreciation per mile is derived
Depreciation is the purchase price minus the resale value you expect to recover, divided by years kept. Depreciation per mile then divides that annual loss by annual miles. It is often the largest single line because buying a vehicle turns cash into an asset that usually loses value, and ignoring that loss makes driving look artificially cheap. The estimate is sensitive to resale value and holding period, so test a conservative resale value and more than one ownership length instead of treating one forecast as certain.
Why annual distance changes the answer
A vehicle driven 5,000 miles a year and the same vehicle driven 20,000 miles a year can have very different total costs per mile even when insurance, registration, and annual depreciation are unchanged. At 20,000 miles, those fixed dollars are spread over four times as many miles. Fuel or electricity still grows with distance, and real maintenance or resale may also change with use, but the fixed-cost contribution to each mile falls. The generated sentence above reports your current fixed-cost share so this effect is visible rather than buried in the total.
What changes for an electric vehicle
Electric mode replaces gallons and MPG with kWh per 100 miles or kilometers and price per kWh. Energy cost per distance is kWh per 100 distance multiplied by the electricity price, divided by 100. Purchase price, resale value, insurance, registration, finance, maintenance, and tires remain editable because an EV still has ownership costs. This page deliberately excludes parking, tolls, commute time, tax incentives, emissions, inflation, the opportunity cost of cash, charger installation, and battery replacement unless you deliberately include an expected amount in one of your own cost inputs.
Choose the calculator that matches the question
Use this page when the question is “what does this vehicle cost per mile?” It models one vehicle over a year and does not assume workdays or a particular trip. For the cost of getting to work—including workdays, parking, tolls, transit, rideshare, cycling, and optional time value—use the commute cost calculator. To compare two different vehicles across purchase price, incentives, resale, and a multi-year ownership period, use the EV vs gas total-cost calculator. Keeping those questions separate avoids counting a general ownership cost as if it were only a commuting expense.
Methodology
The calculator adds four annual fixed costs (depreciation, insurance, registration, finance interest) to three annual running costs (fuel or electricity, maintenance, tires), then divides the annual total by annual distance driven. Depreciation is purchase price minus expected resale value, divided by years kept. The energy rate is shown separately: imperial mode is fuel price divided by MPG, metric mode is L/100 km multiplied by price per liter and divided by 100, and electric mode is kWh per 100 miles or kilometers multiplied by price per kWh and divided by 100.
Assumptions
- Default imperial values of 12,000 miles a year, 30 MPG, 3.50 per gallon, 800 maintenance, 250 tires, 1,800 insurance, 250 registration, 0 finance interest, 32,000 purchase price, 14,000 resale value, and 6 years kept are example arithmetic, not typical prices for any vehicle.
- Finance interest should only capture the annual interest actually paid, not loan principal, because purchase-price depreciation already represents the vehicle value consumed.
- Switching between imperial and metric converts distance, fuel efficiency, fuel price, and energy use; it does not change any of the dollar-cost fields you already entered.
Example calculation
With the default inputs, annual depreciation is (32,000 − 14,000) ÷ 6 = 3,000, so fixed cost is 3,000 + 1,800 + 250 + 0 = 5,050. Fuel cost per mile is 3.50 ÷ 30 ≈ 0.117, giving an annual fuel cost of 1,400. Running cost is 1,400 + 800 + 250 = 2,450, and the annual total is 5,050 + 2,450 = 7,500. Divided by 12,000 miles, the total cost per mile is 0.625.
Limitations
- Parking, tolls, loan principal, the opportunity cost of cash, tax incentives, emissions costs, inflation, charger installation, and battery replacement are not modeled unless you fold an estimate into one of the existing fields.
- The result describes one vehicle’s modeled annual cost, not a specific trip, a commute, or a two-vehicle comparison; more annual distance lowers the fixed-cost contribution to each mile but does not reduce the energy rate itself.
Last updated: July 7, 2026
Estimate disclaimer: This tool provides estimates only. It is not financial advice. Results depend on the numbers you enter and the simplified assumptions listed here.
How this is calculated
Method
This page applies the visible inputs to the calculation shown on the page.
Sources
This page uses only arithmetic and the values you enter. It cites no outside figures.
Limits
- This is a calculation, not advice.
- Default values can go stale; confirm current figures before relying on them.
- Only the listed inputs are included; other costs, terms, taxes, and personal circumstances are outside this calculation.
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