About ElectricVsPetrol.co.uk

What this is

ElectricVsPetrol.co.uk is a free, browser-based calculator that compares the running costs of electric vehicles and petrol cars for UK drivers. It uses your actual mileage, local fuel prices, and electricity tariff to produce a personalised comparison — not a generic national average.

The site also publishes guides and methodology documentation so you can understand exactly how the numbers are calculated and where the data comes from.

Independent and unaffiliated

This tool has no commercial relationship with any car manufacturer, energy company, dealership, charging network, or financial services provider. We do not receive referral fees, affiliate commissions, or advertising revenue related to EV purchases or energy products.

The goal is simple: to give UK drivers a transparent, data-led answer to the EV vs petrol question, without the spin that tends to come from parties with a financial interest in the outcome.

Data sources

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  Local petrol and diesel prices

  Live forecourt prices are fetched via the CMA Fuel Finder API when you enter your postcode. This uses data from the UK Competition and Markets Authority, which requires fuel retailers to publish their prices publicly. If no local data is available, we fall back to national averages from BEIS and RAC Fuel Watch.

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  Postcode geolocation

  Your postcode is sent to postcodes.io — a free, open-source UK postcode lookup service — to retrieve your geographic coordinates. The postcode is not stored on our servers.

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  Electricity tariffs

  Home electricity rates are entered by you directly. Default values are based on the Ofgem price cap standard variable unit rate. We do not integrate with energy suppliers or attempt to retrieve your actual tariff — you know your bill better than any API does.

Full details of all formulas, assumptions, and data sources are in our methodology page.

Privacy

All calculations run in your browser. We do not store your postcode, mileage, vehicle details, or any other inputs. The only data that leaves your browser is your postcode (for the geocoding lookup) and anonymous page view statistics via Vercel Analytics — no cookies, no tracking. See our privacy policy for full details.