EV calculator explained
How we calculate the cost savings in our salary sacrifice calculator
Wondering what data our EV calculator is based on? Here's the lowdown.
What’s the pricing based on?
First up, all the pricing is a guide and is subject to change. All of the examples, both electric and petrol cars, are based on a four year, 5,000 mile agreement.
For the salary sacrifice example, we've based the pricing on a 40 year old living in Devon (TQ8 8AA) - location and age affects the price of insurance.
For the tax brackets we have used the following gross annual salaries:
- 20% - £40,000
- 40% - £80,000
- 45% - £145,000
What sort of lease are you comparing with?
The EVs are based on our own salary sacrifice scheme. The petrol cars are based on personal leasing from leasing.com. Neither has admin fees added on order. For petrol cars we've added in just one month upfront. With our salary sacrifice scheme you don't pay anything in advance.
What are the fuel costs based on?
The fuel figures are based on the monthly cost of fuelling the car if you were to travel the full 5,000 miles in a year.
For the EV, we've used the Intelligent Octopus Go - EV Saver off-peak rate of 6p/kWh. We've added on VAT, too.
The petrol cars use the same mileage, but the price is guided by the petrol pump price average for 2025 so far (we've taken the average price up to the 15th September and we'll update this regularly).
What’s the insurance cost based on?
Insurance for petrol cars takes the average price for the insurance group of the petrol car for a 40 year old to keep it in line with the person profile we used for salary sacrifice.
How did you calculate the maintenance cost?
Maintenance costs for petrol cars are based on Nimblefins' average annual maintenance cost, spread across 12 months.
Where are breakdown costs from?
Breakdown cover costs for petrol cars are taken from Which?'s AA report.
How’s the cost for tyres figured out?
Last up, tyres. Tyres typically last 20,000 miles before needing a replacement, so we think there might be one change across the agreement. Based on that, we've assumed you'd put decent tyres on your car, which Checkatrade saying it would cost £400 for a set. We've then spread that cost over 48 months to create a monthly figure.