"EVs are cheaper to run" is a slogan, not a number. The only way to know if switching pays off for your driving is to compare real cost-per-kilometer on both cars — energy plus maintenance, over the distance you actually drive.
Log both cars the same way
FinMan supports multiple vehicles, so add your petrol car and the EV (or a friend's you can borrow figures from) side by side. For each one, record two things consistently:
- Energy in: refuels (litres, price, total, station) for petrol; charging sessions logged as a refuel entry for the EV.
- Odometer readings: so FinMan knows how far you drove between fill-ups or charges.
From that, FinMan calculates fuel consumption and, more importantly, real cost-per-kilometer — combining energy, repairs/maintenance and other car costs. That last part is where the comparison gets honest.
Don't forget maintenance and repairs
Petrol cars carry oil changes, filters, exhaust and clutch work; EVs skip most of that but bring tyre wear from instant torque and eventual battery concerns. Add these as car costs on each vehicle. Because FinMan folds maintenance into cost-per-km, you see the full picture, not just the price at the pump or plug.
Tip: Snap a photo of your fuel receipt and dashboard — FinMan's AI reads litres, price, total, station and mileage and fills the entry for you, so logging both cars stays effortless.
Give it real distance before judging
One tank or one charge tells you almost nothing. Track a few months so seasonal effects show up: cold weather cuts EV range and raises consumption, summer AC hits both. After a full cycle you can read each car's cost-per-km directly and compare like for like.
What the numbers reveal
A few patterns usually emerge once the data is in:
- High-mileage drivers see the EV's lower energy cost per km add up fastest.
- Low-mileage drivers may find the petrol car's cheaper upkeep-per-km hard to beat.
- A single big repair on either car can swing cost-per-km sharply — which is exactly why you want it in the calculation.
FinMan tracks running costs; it won't factor in purchase price or depreciation for you, so weigh those separately. But for the day-to-day question — which car costs less per kilometer I actually drive? — logging both and letting FinMan compute it beats any online estimate. Start with your next fill-up and your next charge.