Decarbonisation strategies

Decarbonisation strategies
7. Total cost of ownership
7.1. Total cost of ownership examples

7.1. Total cost of ownership examples

Here we have some examples showing how to calculate the total cost of ownership of vehicles.

Copied

In these examples we have calculated the TCO for lease and purchase of a handful of example vehicles. These examples are for illustration only, and do not constitute financial advice. All prices exclude VAT.

The list below shows the data inputs that we have used across all vehicles. Some figures have been assumed, and most will vary throughout the lifetime of the vehicle ownership. We have also not included any changes to future pricing within our analysis.

- Annual mileage – 10,000 miles per year
- Lease TCO length – 4 years
- Purchase TCO length – 8 years
- Depreciation fixed final – 20% of initial purchase
- Maintenance ICE – 2% of initial purchase
- Maintenance BEV – 2% of initial purchase
- Vehicle energy efficiency – WLTP average for vehicle (mpg or kWh/mile) from manfacturer information
- Petrol price – 1.16 £/L
- Diesel price – 1.22 £/L
- Electricity price – 0.24 £/kWh
- UK grid carbon intensity – 124 gCO₂/kWh
- Shadow carbon price – 260 £/tonne

Cars

The following three tables shows the TCO for hatchback cars, SUV cars, and estate cars, each using two examples in a petrol or diesel version, and a battery electric version. The vehicles used are for illustration only, and the costs have been obtained from a public sector framework.

In most cases, when following a purchase procurement, the BEV examples have a lower TCO than the ICE versions. For lease, the lower TCO varies, but it is also possible to find BEVs with a lower TCO.

Please note that at time of writing, VED rules for electric vehicles are due to change in April 2025 – this change has been included in the purchase TCO calculations, but not in the lease TCO calculations. Therefore, these tables do not serve to compare between purchase and lease pricing.

Hatchback cars TCO comparison

Vehicle	Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 Turbo GS	Vauxhall Corsa-e GS 50 kWh	Citroen C3 1.2 Turbo Plus	Citroen e-C3 Plus 44 kWh
Fuel type	Petrol	Electric	Petrol	Electric
Annual mileage (miles)	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
		*For lease*
Lease term	4 years	4 years	4 years	4 years
Monthly lease (£/month)	293	430	262	331
Monthly SMR (£/month)	52	22	42	26
Total lease (£)	16,560	21,696	14,592	17,136
		*For purchase*
Purchase term	8 years	8 years	8 years	8 years
Discounted purchase (£)	14,674	21,319	12,681	16,740
Resale value (£)	2,935	4,264	2,536	3,348
Lifetime SMR (£)	293	213	254	167
Lifetime VED (£)	1,585	1,375	1,585	1,375
Total purchase (£)	13,618	18,643	11,983	14,934
		*Annual running costs*
Energy/fuel price (£/L or £/kWh)	1.16	0.24	1.16	0.24
Energy/fuel cost (£/year)	1,056	504	1,056	528
		*Annual emissions*
CO₂e (t/year)	1.29	0.26	1.28	0.27
CO₂e cost (£/year)	335	68	333	71
		*Totals*
Lease TCO (£)	20,782	23,712	18,814	19,248
Lease TCO per mile (£/mile)	0.52	0.59	0.47	0.48
Purchase TCO (£)	22,062	22,675	20,428	19,158
Purchase TCO per mile (£/mile)	0.28	0.28	0.26	0.24

Sports utility vehicle (SUV) cars TCO comparison

Vehicle	Vauxhall Frontera 1.2 Hybrid Design	Vauxhall Frontera Design 44kWh	Hyundai Kona 1.6 N Line	Hyundai Kona Advance 65kWh
Fuel type	Petrol-hybrid	Electric	Petrol	Electric
Annual mileage (miles)	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
		*For lease*
Lease term	4 years	4 years	4 years	4 years
Monthly lease (£/month)	301	322	404	382
Monthly SMR (£/month)	49	37	47	28
Total lease (£)	16,800	17,232	21,648	19,680
		*For purchase*
Purchase term	8 years	8 years	8 years	8 years
Discounted purchase (£)	16,589	17,375	22,121	22,689
Resale value (£)	3,318	3,475	4,424	4,538
Lifetime SMR (£)	332	174	442	227
Lifetime VED (£)	1,585	1,375	1,635	1375
Total purchase (£)	15,188	15,449	19,774	19,753
		*Annual running costs*
Energy/fuel price (£/L or £/kWh)	1.16	0.24	1.16	0.24
Energy/fuel cost (£/year)	996	552	1,200	552
		*Annual emissions*
CO₂e (t/year)	1.19	0.29	1.45	0.29
CO₂e cost (£/year)	309	74	377	74
		*Totals*
Lease TCO (£)	20,783	19,440	26,446	21,888
Lease TCO per mile (£/mile)	0.52	0.49	0.66	0.55
Purchase TCO (£)	23,155	19,865	29,371	24,169
Purchase TCO per mile (£/mile)	0.29	0.25	0.37	0.30

Estate cars TCO comparison

Vehicle	Vauxhall Astra 1.2 Turbo GS	Vauxhall Astra-e Design 54kWh	Kia Ceed 1.5 Gdi	MG5 Trophy 61kWh
Fuel type	Petrol	Electric	Petrol	Electric
Annual mileage (miles)	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
		*For lease*
Lease term	4 years	4 years	4 years	4 years
Monthly lease (£/month)	399	467	290	349
Monthly SMR (£/month)	39	20	39	33
Total lease (£)	21,024	23,376	15,792	18,336
		*For purchase*
Total lease (£)	8 years	8 years	8 years	8 years
Discounted purchase (£)	20,579	27,565	15,470	18,201
Resale value (£)	4,116	5,513	3,094	3,640
Lifetime SMR (£)	412	276	309	182
Lifetime VED (£)	1,635	1,375	1,635	1,375
Total purchase (£)	18,510	23,703	14,320	16,118
		*Annual running costs*
Energy/fuel price (£/L or £/kWh)	1.16	0.24	1.16	0.24
Energy/fuel cost (£/year)	1,100	552	1,123	672
		*Annual emissions*
CO₂e (t/year)	1.38	0.29	1.36	0.35
CO₂e cost (£/year)	359	74	354	90
		*Totals*
Lease TCO (£)	25,422	25,584	20,284	21,024
Lease TCO per mile (£/mile)	0.64	0.64	0.51	0.53
Purchase TCO (£)	27,306	28,119	23,304	21,494
Purchase TCO per mile (£/mile)	0.34	0.35	0.29	0.27

Light commercial vehicles

The following three tables shows the TCO for small LCVs, medium LCVs, and large LCVs, each using two examples in a petrol or diesel version, and a battery electric version. The vehicles used are for illustration only, and the costs have been obtained from a public sector framework.

For small LCVs, the BEV versions have a lower TCO, for medium LCVs it varies, and the large LCVs have a higher TCO. The TCO for BEVs can be reduced by using EV energy tariffs, which provide cheaper off-peak electricity.

Small LCVs TCO comparison

Vehicle	Ford Transit Courier 1.5 EcoBlue Active	Ford e-Transit Courier Trend 43kWh	Citroen Berlingo M 1.5 BlueHDi Enterprise	Citroen e-Berlingo M Enterprise 52kWh
Fuel type	Diesel	Electric	Diesel	Electric
Annual mileage (miles)	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
		*For lease*
Lease term	4 years	4 years	4 years	4 years
Monthly lease (£/month)	361	388	372	388
Monthly SMR (£/month)	37	31	41	30
Total lease (£)	19,104	20,112	19,824	20,064
		*For purchase*
Purchase term	8 years	8 years	8 years	8 years
Discounted purchase (£)	19,181	22,302	18,793	22,504
Resale value (£)	3,836	4,460	3,759	4,501
Lifetime SMR (£)	384	223	376	225
Lifetime VED (£)	2,680	2,680	2,680	2,680
Total purchase (£)	18,408	20,745	18,090	20,908
		*Annual running costs*
Energy/fuel price (£/L or £/kWh)	1.22	0.24	1.22	0.24
Energy/fuel cost (£/year)	1,088	720	1,110	552
		*Annual emissions*
CO₂e (t/year)	1.43	0.37	1.20	0.29
CO₂e cost (£/year)	372	97	312	74
		*Totals*
Lease TCO (£)	23,458	22,992	24,265	22,272
Lease TCO per mile (£/mile)	0.59	0.57	0.61	0.56
Purchase TCO (£)	27,116	26,505	26,972	25,324
Purchase TCO per mile (£/mile)	0.34	0.33	0.34	0.32

Medium LCVs TCO comparison

Vehicle	Ford Transit Custom 2.0 EcoBlue L1H1 Trend	Ford e-Transit Custom L1H1 Trend 65kWh	Vauxhall Vivaro 2.0 Turbo H1 Prime	Vauxhall Vivaro-e H1 Prime 75kWh
Purchase TCO per mile (£/mile)	Diesel	Electric	Diesel	Electric
Annual mileage (miles)	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
		*For lease*
Lease term	4 years	4 years	4 years	4 years
Monthly lease (£/month)	433	483	445	486
Monthly SMR (£/month)	37	29	43	31
Total lease (£)	22,560	24,576	23,424	24,816
		*For purchase*
Purchase term	8 years	8 years	8 years	8 years
Discounted purchase (£)	25,521	32,969	23,003	30,910
Resale value (£)	5,104	6,594	4,601	6,182
Lifetime SMR (£)	510	330	460	309
Lifetime VED (£)	2,680	2,680	2,680	2,680
Total purchase (£)	23,607	29,385	21,542	27,717
		*Annual running costs*
Energy/fuel price (£/L or £/kWh)	1.22	0.24	1.22	0.24
Energy/fuel cost (£/year)	1,423	720	1,423	744
		*Annual emissions*
CO₂e (t/year)	1.89	0.37	1.91	0.38
CO₂e cost (£/year)	491	97	497	100
		*Totals*
Lease TCO (£)	28,253	27,456	29,117	27,792
Lease TCO per mile (£/mile)	0.71	0.69	0.73	0.69
Purchase TCO (£)	34,994	35,145	32,929	33,669
Purchase TCO per mile (£/mile)	0.44	0.44	0.41	0.42

Large LCVs TCO comparison

Vehicle	Ford Transit 350 2.0 EcoBlue L2H2 Leader Van	Ford e-Transit 350 L2H2 Leader Van 68kWh	Citroen Relay 2.2 BlueHDi L3H3 Enterprise	Citroen e-Relay L3H3 Enterprise 110kWh
Fuel type	Diesel	Electric	Diesel	Electric
Annual mileage (miles)	10,000	10,000	10,000	10,000
		*For lease*
Lease term	4 years	4 years	4 years	4 years
Monthly lease (£/month)	610	677	524	788
Monthly SMR (£/month)	45	29	44	55
Total lease (£)	31,440	33,888	27,264	40,464
		*For purchase*
Purchase term	8 years	8 years	8 years	8 years
Discounted purchase (£)	28,766	37,555	24,984	41,140
Resale value (£)	5,753	7,511	4,997	8,228
Lifetime SMR (£)	575	376	500	411
Lifetime VED (£)	2,680	2,680	2,680	2,680
Total purchase (£)	26,268	33,100	23,167	36,003
		*Annual running costs*
Energy/fuel price (£/L or £/kWh)	1.22	0.24	1.22	0.24
Energy/fuel cost (£/year)	1,542	960	1,500	936
		*Annual emissions*
CO₂e (t/year)	1.93	0.50	1.83	0.48
CO₂e cost (£/year)	502	129	476	126
		*Totals*
Lease TCO (£)	37,608	37,728	33,265	44,208
Lease TCO per mile (£/mile)	0.94	0.94	0.83	1.11
Purchase TCO (£)	38,604	40,780	35,169	43,491
Purchase TCO per mile (£/mile)	0.48	0.51	0.44	0.54