🚗⚖️ Cars: ownership, car sharing or PT — where is the break-even point?
And if you're not sure about buying a car, why not try car sharing or public transport (PT)? The answer to this depends on a few things: the mileage per month, the parking costs, the toll costs and the type of car (ICE/EV). Check out the awesome breakdown of TCO (total cost of ownership) components below! You'll find super-interactive calculations for 300/800/1200 km/month and a crystal-clear graph showing "km → cost/month". And best of all, there's a whole other section just on when an EV will pay for itself!
🧮 TCO components (what you actually pay)
● Depreciation/leasing. The difference between the purchase price and the expected sale price is divided by the ownership period (or fixed leasing payment).
● Insurance and taxes/fees. Monthly "fixed" portion.
● Fuel/electricity. Consumption × price per unit (litres/100 km or kWh/100 km).
● Maintenance and consumables. Regular payments (per month) + "per km" if desired.
● Parking. Resident/street/private parking (per month).
● Tolls/toll roads. It is convenient to calculate this as NOK/km or as a separate line for the "corridor" of trips.
● For car sharing: subscription fee (if any) + per km + per hour (estimate hours of driving per month) + possible parking/toll roads.
For PT: minimum of travel card/month and payment per trip (trips/week × 4.33 × ticket price).
| Mileage | Ownership | Carsharing | PT | Leader |
|---|
Demo prices; enter your own values. PT is nearly flat as it does not depend much on mileage.
🧭 Mileage cases: how the leader changes
● 300 km/month. PT or car sharing often wins, especially if parking is expensive and tolls are significant. Car ownership is justified if there is free/resident parking and regular trips out of town.
● 800 km/month. Often a turning point: with moderate parking and adequate energy/fuel prices, ownership (especially EV) begins to outperform car sharing.
- 1200 km/month. In most scenarios, ownership is cheaper than car sharing; PT remains competitive only if there are few actual trips and most of the mileage is not related to daily commuting.
EV vs ICE
— km/month — break-even point where EV and ICE cost the same.
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EV vs Carsharing
— km/month — break-even point where EV and carsharing cost the same.
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Method: solve (fixed EV − fixed ICE) + km×(var/km EV − var/km ICE) = 0.
All calculations are approximate. Tariffs, energy prices and parking rules are subject to change. This material is not financial advice; use your current data and the calculator on the page for an accurate comparison.
FAQ
Enter your km/month into the calculator: it will compare ownership (choose EV or ICE), car sharing and PT. Look not only at the "cost/month", but also at NOK/km to understand how the result will change as your mileage increases.
Significantly. Even a moderate resident fee adds a fixed payment to ownership. If parking is expensive, the "tipping point" shifts in favour of car sharing and PT, especially with low mileage (up to 300–400 km/month).
In your calculations, it is convenient to set NOK/km for bompenge so that it automatically scales with mileage. If you have fixed payment "corridors" (e.g., 2-3 trips to the centre per week), add them as a separate line to the monthly amount.
Not always. EVs often win on variable costs (energy/km and maintenance), but the bottom line depends on depreciation and parking. If electricity is expensive and petrol/diesel is cheaper than usual, the EV's break-even point shifts to the right.
Not necessarily. Conditions vary between operators: some include street parking and charging, while others do not. The calculator has "included/not included" flags to avoid underestimating costs.
Because PT depends not on mileage, but on the number of trips. In most cities, a monthly pass gives you a "ceiling" price. If you don't drive much, paying per trip is cheaper — the calculator will compare both options and take the minimum.
In the model — through "depreciation": either the actual loss in value or the equivalent of the monthly leasing payment. Substitute your payment for depreciation — the comparison will remain correct.
Fuel/electricity prices, parking, car sharing conditions, your driving style and the proportion of roads with tolls differ. The inserts are for initial orientation: substitute your values and get a relevant result.
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