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News › Fuel price rises added $442 a year to running a small petrol SUV, about $48 for an EV, says new analysisNews · 10 November 2026

Fuel price rises added $442 a year to running a small petrol SUV, about $48 for an EV, says new analysis

Why it matters: The gap comes mostly from charging at home: the analysis assumes 80% home charging on an EV tariff at 8c per kWh and 20% public charging at 70c per kWh.

Charging and power

An electric car plugged into a charger
Photo: Tom Ackroyd, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Petrol and diesel prices rose 23.6% in the year to September and electricity prices rose 12.8%, according to ABS figures cited in new analysis by Endgame Analytics for the Electric Vehicle Council. It estimates the fuel rise added about $442 a year to running a small petrol SUV over 15,000 km, while the power price rise added about $48 to charging an electric car for the same distance, and that fuel alone contributed 0.77 percentage points of Australia's 4.3% annual inflation. The EVC also modelled a what-if in which all household driving had been electric: inflation would have been about 0.6 percentage points lower, which it calls an illustrative scenario, not a forecast.

Extra running cost per year from price rises in the 12 months to September, small SUV, 15,000 km ($)
  1. Petrol SUV442
  2. Electric car48
EV running costs, car by car ›EV vs hybrid vs plug-in hybrid: which is cheaper? ›

Source: Electric Vehicle Council: EVs are helping fight fuel-driven inflation, new analysis finds (10 Nov 2026); also reported by GoAuto

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How we work it out, and our sources

Weekly cost = the car's energy use × 250 km × your electricity or fuel price, with 90% of charging at home. Prices are list prices at November 2026; check with the dealer.

  • Electricity: 2026–27 default rates (AER, Victorian Default Offer, state retailers). Public charging: Sydney network prices, July 2026.
  • Petrol and diesel: capital-city daily averages from state government price feeds, via FuelRadar, 12 November 2026. Diesel for Hobart, Canberra and Darwin is estimated from the national fall.
  • Cars: maker figures via CarExpert, Drive, CarsGuide and EV Central. Plug-in electric range is taken as 80% of the claim.
  • Servicing: published capped prices; marked as an estimate where not yet published (CarExpert comparison).
  • Tyres: an EV set lasts about 35,000 km, a petrol or hybrid set 50,000 km (RACV); prices from Gridly.
  • Home charger: about $2,000 installed ($1,000–$3,000). Novated leases: PwC summary.

Printed from EV Pick Australia · evpick.com.au. Prices and costs are estimates; check with the dealer. © 2026 EV Pick (T. Crouch). For personal use only; not to be copied, republished or sold without permission.

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