Car cost comparison

How the calculator works

Each option gets a true cost per month: everything it costs you, spread evenly over the time you keep it.

Cost a month = (price − value when sold) ÷ months kept + energy + insurance + Kfz-Steuer + servicing

• Loss in value. The price you pay minus what you get when you sell, divided by the months you keep the car. Unless you enter it, the sale value comes from a depreciation curve calibrated to DAT’s values for three-year-old cars (petrol keeps about 63 %, diesel 62 %, electric cars about half). Cars driven less than 20,000 km a year keep a little more value, and a private sale fetches about 93 % of the dealer price.
• Energy. Kilometres × consumption × price. For an electric car the price is a mix of home charging (€0.37 per kWh, the BDEW 2026 average) and public charging (€0.59). Petrol starts at €2.110 per litre, the ADAC average of 21 October 2026.
• Kfz-Steuer follows the KraftStG rules from Unterm Strich, our separate car-cost app, which are tested against ADAC’s figures: engine size plus CO₂ bands, or the EV exemption and the weight-based tax after it, averaged over the years you keep the car.
• No car costs the Deutschlandticket (€66.80 a month from January 2027, €63 until then) plus a monthly budget for car sharing, taxis and rentals.

The per-km figure divides the monthly cost by the kilometres driven. The total is the monthly cost times the months kept.

The difference at 67

The second view asks what the cheaper option’s saving could become. The monthly difference is invested at the end of each month from your age until 67, at your return after inflation, so the result is in today’s money. This is an investment view, not a cost. The monthly costs above contain no interest and no lost returns. That is deliberate. The FIRE calculator, or a full Zenarios plan, grows your savings itself; if lost returns were also added to the car’s monthly cost, the same money would be counted twice. So the next step to FIRE passes only the cash difference as extra spending.

Example: an electric car or a petrol car

Lena and Jonas, both 34, need a car for the next 8 years and 15,000 km a year. They compare a new electric car for €38,000 with a petrol car for €32,000.

	Electric	Petrol
Loss in value a month	€245	€177
Energy a month	€98	€171
Insurance, tax, servicing	€125	€146
True cost a month	€468	€495
Per km	€0.37	€0.40

The electric car loses more value, but its energy costs are much lower, it pays no Kfz-Steuer until 2035 and it needs less servicing. It ends up €27 a month cheaper. Invested from 34 to 67 at 6% with 2% inflation, that is about €21,231 in today’s money. Small differences add up over decades, but they also swing with the price gap and the charging mix.

New or used? Car or no car?

The other two presets answer the questions that move the result much more.

New or three years old. The same petrol car bought at three years old for €21,000 costs €414 a month against €495 new, even with higher repair costs. The first owner carries the steepest part of the depreciation. Over 33 years the €81 a month is worth about €64,838 in today’s money.

No car. A Deutschlandticket and a budget of €150 a month for sharing and taxis cost €217, against €495 for the petrol car. That is the biggest lever: €278 a month, worth around €222,000 by 67. Whether it fits depends on where you live and how you get to work, which only you can judge.

What it can’t see

It holds prices still: fuel, the CO₂ price, electricity and insurance will change over the years. It spreads the purchase price evenly, although a purchase takes the whole price on day one. It does not model financing; the lease, finance or cash calculator does. For both options in full detail, with repairs by age, insurance classes and financing, use the “Detailed comparison in Unterm Strich” link under the result. It opens the same two options in Unterm Strich, our separate car-cost app. And the car is one decision among many. Zenarios puts it next to your home, children, work and retirement in one plan, as described in the guide car costs and future net worth.

Common questions

What does a car cost per month in Germany?

Far more than fuel. In the calculator's example a new €32,000 petrol car kept for 8 years at 15,000 km a year costs about €495 a month, or €0.40 per km: €177 loss in value, €171 petrol, €71 insurance, €67 servicing and tyres and €9 Kfz-Steuer.

Is an electric car cheaper than a petrol car?

It depends on the price gap, how much you drive and where you charge. In the example a €38,000 EV costs €468 a month against €495 for a €32,000 petrol car: it loses more value, but saves on energy, tax and servicing. Without a home charger the EV's energy cost rises by about a third.

What is the monthly difference worth at retirement?

The calculator invests the monthly difference from your age until 67 at your return minus inflation and shows it in today's money. €27 a month from 34 at 6 % return and 2 % inflation grows to about €21,000. It assumes you keep making the same choice whenever a car is replaced.

Why not add the lost interest to the monthly cost?

Because the monthly cost is passed on to other calculators that grow your savings themselves. Adding lost returns there and again in a FIRE or retirement forecast would count the same money twice. The cash view and the investment view are kept apart for that reason.

How is the Kfz-Steuer worked out?

From the drive, engine size, CO₂ and the first registration under the KraftStG, using the rules of Unterm Strich. Electric cars registered until the end of 2030 are exempt for ten years, until 31 December 2035 at the latest. You can switch on your own figure instead.

Sources

• ADAC: weekly fuel price comparison (21 Oct 2026)
• BDEW: electricity price analysis (Aug 2026)
• ADAC: charging tariffs for electric cars
• Deutsche Bahn: Deutschland-Ticket price from 1 January 2027
• Zoll: Kfz-Steuer rates for passenger cars
• § 3d KraftStG: tax exemption for electric cars
• autohaus.de: DAT residual values of three-year-old cars (July 2025)

By Constantin Metz, the maker of Zenarios · Reviewed 25 October 2026. Results are estimates from your inputs and simplified rules, not financial, tax or legal advice. How Zenarios calculates