General
EV vs gas break-even calculator.
An EV usually costs more up front and less per kilometre. Enter the price gap and your driving to see exactly how far — and how long — it takes the fuel savings to close that gap.
Defaults use Canada's national average pump price for regular gasoline, $1.856/L (Natural Resources Canada, daily price survey, 28 September 2026), and provincial residential electricity prices from Hydro-Québec's own inter-city comparison. Change any default to match your own vehicle and driving.
Inputs
Break-even point
Fill the form and press Calculate.
10-year running cost
Where the default prices come from
Gasoline — $1.856/L (185.6¢/L): Natural Resources Canada's daily retail fuel price survey, national average for regular gasoline, most recent complete day at time of writing (28 September 2026). NRCan tracks pump prices across Canadian cities daily; this default is the national average, so your local price may run higher or lower — swap in your own if you know it.
Electricity — by province, 15.06¢/kWh default (Toronto, Ontario): Hydro-Québec's Comparison of Electricity Prices in Major North American Cities, rates in effect 1 April 2024 — the most recent edition of this annual, publicly published report at the time of writing. It surveys the actual monthly bill for a 1,000 kWh residential customer in one representative city per province, before tax. Picking a province in the form swaps in that city's rate; if you're on a time-of-use plan or charge mostly overnight off-peak, your real average rate will likely be lower than this flat residential figure.
Vehicle purchase prices, annual distance, fuel efficiency, and energy consumption are all your own inputs — there is no single "typical" EV or gas car, so this tool doesn't guess at them. The defaults shown (8.0 L/100km, 18 kWh/100km, 20,000 km/year) are reasonable starting points to edit, not verified averages.
Frequently asked questions
Does this include maintenance, insurance, or depreciation?
No — this compares fuel/energy cost only, against the purchase-price gap. EVs typically cost less to maintain (no oil changes, fewer moving parts) and insurance can run either way depending on the vehicle, but neither is included here because there's no single verified Canadian figure for either that applies broadly. Treat the break-even point this gives you as a floor: real-world payback including lower maintenance is usually somewhat faster.
What if the EV is never cheaper to fuel?
If your electricity price and EV consumption combine to cost more per km than your gas price and gas efficiency, the tool tells you directly — there's no break-even distance because the EV never catches up on fuel cost alone.
Why does the electricity price change by province?
Canada's electricity prices vary enormously by province because each has its own utility, generation mix, and rate-setting process — from about 8¢/kWh in Quebec to over 20¢/kWh in Alberta on Hydro-Québec's own comparison. That's a bigger swing than gasoline prices see between provinces, so it matters more for this calculation than most fuel-cost tools.
Should I use my home charging rate or a public fast-charger rate?
Use whatever mix you'll actually charge on. The default here is a flat residential rate for home charging, which is the cheapest and most common way EV owners charge. If you'll rely heavily on public DC fast charging, your real per-kWh cost will be higher — enter that instead.
Estimate only
This compares purchase price and fuel/energy cost using the inputs you provide. It excludes maintenance, insurance, resale value, financing cost, and incentive programs you haven't entered yourself. Gasoline and electricity prices both move — the defaults are a real snapshot, not a forecast, so revisit this if prices shift meaningfully or before making a purchase decision.