Car Running Cost Calculator
See what a car costs to run. Pick a car for its mileage, or enter your own, then set how far you drive and the fuel price to get the cost a kilometre, a month and over five years.
About 1,200 km a month.
A typical figure. Change it to your car's.
Servicing, tyres and wear items. An estimate for a car at this price; your workshop sets the real bill.
How the running cost is worked out
A car's running cost is what you spend on fuel and upkeep for every kilometre you drive, and it comes to this for each kilometre. Multiply it by the distance and you have the cost for a month, a year or five years.
Fuel
The price of a litre, a kg of CNG or a unit of electricity, divided by the kilometres each one takes you. A car that gives 15 kmpl on ₹102 petrol costs ₹6.80 a km.
Service & upkeep
Servicing, tyres and wear items, which grow with the car's price and fall for an electric car.
Distance
How far you drive in a day, taken as 30 days a month. City traffic lowers the mileage.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to run a car every month?
It depends on how far you drive, the car's mileage and the fuel price. Driving 40 km a day (about 1,200 km a month) in a petrol car that gives 15 kmpl, with petrol at ₹102 a litre, burns about 80 litres, or roughly ₹8,200 a month, which is about ₹6.80 a km before servicing. Enter your own distance, mileage and price above to see your figure.
Which is cheapest to run: petrol, diesel, CNG or electric?
Per kilometre, electric is cheapest, then CNG, diesel and petrol. At Delhi prices a petrol car at 15 kmpl costs about ₹6.80 a km, a diesel at 20 kmpl about ₹4.75, a CNG car at 25 km/kg about ₹3.50 and an electric car charged at home about ₹1.10 (about ₹2.90 on a public fast charger). Cheaper fuel usually means a dearer car, so compare the saving a month against the extra price you pay.
Why is the mileage I get lower than the company's figure?
The claimed figure is measured on a test cycle (ARAI). Traffic, the air conditioner, load, speed, tyre pressure and driving style all lower it. Where owners have reported a mileage for the car we use that; otherwise we use 80% of the claimed figure. Type your own mileage if you know it.
Which fuel price should I use?
Your own city's. Prices differ between cities and states, and they change. The calculator starts from Delhi's price (petrol ₹102.12, diesel ₹95.20 and CNG ₹86.98 in October 2026), so change it to what you pay at the pump.
How is the running cost of an electric car worked out?
From the battery size and the range you can expect. We take 75% of the claimed range as real-world range and add about 10% for energy lost while charging. The cost is then the electricity rate for the units drawn. Home charging at about ₹8 a unit is far cheaper than a public DC fast charger at ₹18–22.
What does service and upkeep include?
Regular servicing, tyres, brake pads, wipers and other wear items. We estimate it a kilometre from the car's price, since dearer cars have dearer parts and workshops, and take about a third off for an electric car, which has fewer moving parts. Your workshop's bill will differ, and free services under warranty will lower it, so change the figure if you know better.
What is left out of the running cost?
Insurance, the loan EMI, parking, tolls, depreciation and big repairs. For the loan, use the EMI calculator, and for the price you pay up front, the on-road price calculator.