Average cost per mile to drive a car in the UK
About 89p a mile all in for a typical UK petrol car driven the English average of 7,100 miles a year (DfT, 2025), of which only 21p is petrol. The rest is depreciation, insurance, servicing, tyres and road tax, paid whether the car moves or not: £6,299 a year in total. A diesel car comes to 88p a mile and an electric car charged at home to 75p. Below: every item in pence per mile, how the figure falls as your mileage rises, fuel alone by mpg and pump price, and the HMRC mileage rate against the real cost. All computed by the same code as the calculator.
Open the cost per mile calculator
1. Pence per mile by car type
The typical UK car of the cost per mile calculator: petrol 35.8 mpg at 168.1p a litre, diesel 41.1 mpg at 190.7p, electric 3.47 miles per kWh charged at home at 26.32p per kWh, all driven 7,100 miles a year. “All in” adds depreciation, insurance, servicing, tyres and road tax; the other costs are the same for the three cars, so only the fuel differs.
| Car | Fuel per mile | All in per mile | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petrol | 21.3p | 88.7p | £6,299 |
| Diesel | 21.1p | 88.5p | £6,281 |
| Electric | 7.6p | 75.0p | £5,322 |
2. Item by item, in pence per mile
Cost per mile = the year's cost of each item / miles driven that year. Depreciation is the car's value x the share it loses in a year (20% with the starting values).
| Item | Petrol | Diesel | Electric |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel or energy | 21.3p | 21.1p | 7.6p |
| Depreciation | 48.3p | 48.3p | 48.3p |
| Insurance | 8.0p | 8.0p | 8.0p |
| Maintenance and repairs | 7.1p | 7.1p | 7.1p |
| Tyres | 1.2p | 1.2p | 1.2p |
| Tax, registration, inspection | 2.8p | 2.8p | 2.8p |
| Parking and tolls | 0.0p | 0.0p | 0.0p |
| Loan interest | 0.0p | 0.0p | 0.0p |
| Total | 88.7p | 88.5p | 75.0p |
Parking, tolls and loan interest start at zero because they depend on where you drive and how the car was bought; add yours in the calculator.
3. Cost per mile by yearly mileage
The same petrol car driven more or fewer miles. Fuel, servicing and tyres grow with every mile, so their share per mile stays the same; depreciation, insurance and tax are spread thinner the more you drive.
| Miles a year | Fixed per mile | Running per mile | All in per mile | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3,000 | 139.7p | 29.7p | 169.4p | £5,082 |
| 5,000 | 83.8p | 29.7p | 113.5p | £5,676 |
| 7,100* | 59.0p | 29.7p | 88.7p | £6,299 |
| 10,000 | 41.9p | 29.7p | 71.6p | £7,159 |
| 15,000 | 27.9p | 29.7p | 57.6p | £8,643 |
| 20,000 | 21.0p | 29.7p | 50.6p | £10,126 |
* DfT National Travel Survey, table NTS0901 (updated 2026-09-10): average annual mileage per car in England, 2025: 7,100 miles (petrol 6,200, diesel 8,000).
4. Fuel only: pence per mile by mpg and pump price
Pence per mile = pence per litre x 4.54609 / mpg (UK mpg is on the imperial gallon of 4.54609 litres). The figure is also the fuel cost of 100 miles in pounds. The 100 miles of fuel guide has the same table in litres and pounds per trip.
| Fuel economy (mpg UK) | 140p/L | 150p/L | 160p/L | 168.1p/L* | 170p/L | 180p/L | 190p/L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | 21.2p | 22.7p | 24.2p | 25.5p | 25.8p | 27.3p | 28.8p |
| 35.8* | 17.8p | 19.0p | 20.3p | 21.3p | 21.6p | 22.9p | 24.1p |
| 40 | 15.9p | 17.0p | 18.2p | 19.1p | 19.3p | 20.5p | 21.6p |
| 45 | 14.1p | 15.2p | 16.2p | 17.0p | 17.2p | 18.2p | 19.2p |
| 50 | 12.7p | 13.6p | 14.5p | 15.3p | 15.5p | 16.4p | 17.3p |
| 60 | 10.6p | 11.4p | 12.1p | 12.7p | 12.9p | 13.6p | 14.4p |
* Starting values: European Commission COM(2024) 122, real-world fuel consumption from on-board monitoring, petrol cars registered 2021: 7.89 L/100 km (type-approval 6.38); DESNZ Weekly road fuel prices: ULSP (unleaded) 168.14 p/litre, week of 2026-09-14.
5. The HMRC mileage rate against the real cost
HMRC approved mileage rate, cars (2026/27): £0.550 per mile up to 10,000 miles, then £0.250 (HMRC approved mileage allowance payments, cars and vans: 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year from 6 April 2026 (45p before), 25p per mile above that). On the typical petrol car's 7,100 miles it comes to £3,905 a year, against a real cost of £6,299. The first-tier rate is 2.6 times the fuel cost per mile, but it does not cover the fixed costs of a car driven this few miles. Anyone paid or claiming a mileage rate should compare it with their own figure from the calculator: the rideshare driver cost calculator does it for a week of work, and the guide on how much to charge per mile sets the two HMRC tiers against the real cost at several mileages. Information, not tax advice.
6. Your own figure
Type your mpg, pump price, insurance, servicing, road tax, the car's value and your yearly miles into the cost per mile calculator with the region set to UK. The guide on the cost to own a car per year has the same items per year and per month, and the cost to drive 100 miles the figure per trip.
Sources of the UK starting values: yearly miles, DfT National Travel Survey, table NTS0901 (updated 2026-09-10): average annual mileage per car in England, 2025: 7,100 miles (petrol 6,200, diesel 8,000); fuel economy, European Commission COM(2024) 122, real-world fuel consumption from on-board monitoring, petrol cars registered 2021: 7.89 L/100 km (type-approval 6.38); EU figure used for the UK (about 35.8 mpg UK), no UK real-world average is published; diesel, European Commission COM(2024) 122, real-world fuel consumption from on-board monitoring, diesel cars registered 2021: 6.88 L/100 km (type-approval 5.82); EU figure used for the UK (about 41 mpg UK), no UK real-world average is published; petrol price, DESNZ Weekly road fuel prices: ULSP (unleaded) 168.14 p/litre, week of 2026-09-14; diesel price, DESNZ Weekly road fuel prices: ULSD (diesel) 190.72 p/litre, week of 2026-09-14; electric efficiency, EPA Automotive Trends Report (MY2024): Tesla fleet 117.1 MPGe = 117.1 / 33.7 kWh per gallon-equivalent = 3.47 mi/kWh (17.9 kWh/100 km), used as the typical EV; home electricity, Ofgem energy price cap: electricity unit rate 26.32 p/kWh, Direct Debit, average across England, Scotland and Wales, 1 October to 31 December 2026 (was 26.11 p for 1 July to 30 September 2026; read 2026-10-01); public charging, Zapmap Price Index, August 2026: 77 p/kWh weighted average pay-as-you-go price on rapid and ultra-rapid (50 kW+) chargers; car value, Auto Trader Retail Price Index: average used car asking price £17,131, August 2026 (press release 2026-09-08); depreciation, The AA: an average new car keeps about 40 % of its price after three years, i.e. loses about 20 % a year; insurance, ABI Motor Insurance Premium Tracker: average comprehensive premium paid £566, Q2 2026; servicing and repairs, NimbleFins, cost of running a car in the UK: repairs and servicing average £503 a year (2025); tyres, Derived: Kwik Fit (Nov 2023) prices a Corsa tyre at £50 budget to £115 premium, midpoint £82.50; RAC: front tyres last about 20,000 miles, rear 40,000; at 7,100 miles a year that is about £88 (second source); road tax, GOV.UK vehicle tax rate tables: standard rate for petrol and diesel cars registered on or after 1 April 2017, £200 a year (from April 2026). All read 2026-09-18.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the average cost per mile to drive a car in the UK?
- 88.7p per mile all in for a typical petrol car at 7,100 miles a year, using public UK averages: a £17,131 used car (Auto Trader), £566 insurance (ABI), £503 servicing and repairs, £200 road tax, 35.8 mpg and 168.1p a litre. Fuel alone is 21.3p a mile, 24% of the total. Your own figure depends on your car and your miles.
- How many pence per mile is petrol?
- Pence per mile = pump price in pence per litre x 4.54609 / mpg. At 35.8 mpg and 168.1p a litre it is 21.3p; diesel at 41.1 mpg and 190.7p a litre is 21.1p. Table 4 has every mpg and price pair.
- What does an electric car cost per mile in the UK?
- 7.6p a mile for electricity at home at 26.32p per kWh (Ofgem cap) and 3.47 miles per kWh, 22.2p a mile on public rapid chargers at 77p per kWh (Zapmap). All in, with the same other costs as the petrol car, 75.0p a mile.
- Does the HMRC rate of 55p a mile cover the cost of driving?
- HMRC approved mileage rate, cars (2026/27): £0.550 per mile up to 10,000 miles, then £0.250. It is above the fuel cost of a typical car (21.3p a mile) and below its all-in cost of 88.7p at 7,100 miles a year, where the fixed costs are spread over few miles. At 20,000 miles a year the same car costs 50.6p a mile. Information, not tax advice.
- Why is my cost per mile higher if I drive less?
- Depreciation, insurance and road tax are paid per year, not per mile. The typical petrol car costs 169.4p a mile at 3,000 miles a year and 50.6p at 20,000, while the yearly bill rises from £5,082 to £10,126. Table 3 has the steps in between.
More guides
- How much does it cost to drive 100 miles?
Fuel alone and the all-in cost of 100, 200 and 1,000 miles in a typical gas, diesel and electric car, US and UK, by mpg and fuel price, plus 100 miles line by line.
- How much should I charge per mile? Your real cost, US and UK
Charge at least your cost per mile: diesel and petrol fuel by mpg and price, the all-in figure by miles a year, and the IRS and HMRC rates against it. US and UK.
- How much does it cost to own a car per year?
Yearly and monthly cost of a typical gas, diesel and electric car, item by item: fuel, depreciation, insurance, maintenance, tyres and tax. US, UK and EU.
- How much does it cost to drive 100 km?
Fuel for 100 km by L/100 km and price per litre, 100 to 1,000 km all in for petrol, diesel and electric, and km per litre to L/100 km and mpg.
Last updated 2026-09-29. Cost estimates from published starting values (EPA, EIA, AAA, DESNZ, Ofgem, IRS/HMRC), each with its source and date, put through the same arithmetic as the calculators. Your car, prices and mileage move every figure. Information for planning, not financial or tax advice.