EV vs Petrol & Diesel Calculator Ireland

For most drivers, yes. An electric car charged mostly at home costs roughly €3–€4 of electricity per 100 km, against €10–€12 of petrol or diesel for the same distance. Add the lowest motor-tax band (€120 a year vs €200–€280), cheaper servicing and no NOx levy, and a typical Irish driver saves €1,200–€2,000 a year on running costs. Over five years that usually outweighs any difference in purchase price — exactly what this calculator works out for your mileage.

On a night or smart EV tariff of about €0.10 per kWh, a car using 18.5 kWh per 100 km costs roughly €1.85 to drive 100 km. A 60 kWh battery is about €6 to fill from empty overnight. Public fast charging is far dearer — typically €0.56–€0.68 per kWh — so the more of your charging you do at home, the lower your running costs. The home-vs-public slider in the calculator lets you model your own split.

It depends on the purchase price, your charging split and resale value, which is why we calculate it for your figures. Because an EV is cheaper per kilometre on energy and on motor tax, the more you drive the sooner it pays back. For a like-for-like price, an EV is usually cheaper at any realistic Irish annual mileage; the calculator shows the exact break-even point against diesel.

EVs depreciated sharply in 2023–2024 as prices fell and supply grew, but that has largely stabilised in 2026 — used-EV values have firmed up and the gap to diesel has closed. Depreciation is still the single biggest line in any car's cost of ownership, so the calculator lets you set your own expected resale percentage and applies it to each fuel so you can compare on your own assumptions.

Yes. In 2026 a used EV is now median-cheaper to run than an equivalent diesel in Ireland, once you account for energy, motor tax and servicing. A used EV does not get the SEAI grant or VRT relief, but it has already absorbed those costs and the steepest depreciation, so the up-front price is lower — and the day-to-day running costs are lower too.

This calculator stacks energy or fuel, motor tax, an insurance estimate, servicing, tyres, NCT, optional finance interest and depreciation, over a 3- or 5-year window. Depreciation and energy are usually the two biggest lines. Insurance is applied equally across the three fuels so it does not distort the comparison — adjust the inputs to match your own quotes for a precise figure.