TCO (total cost of ownership)
Total cost of ownership
What a car costs over your ownership period: depreciation, energy or fuel, insurance, maintenance, and financing interest, not just the purchase price.
The price tag is the loudest number in car shopping and rarely the decisive one. Total cost of ownership adds up what a car will cost you across your ownership period: the purchase price minus any incentive, minus the eventual resale value (the drop in value is depreciation, often one of the largest items), plus energy or fuel, insurance, maintenance, and financing interest. It then divides the total into a cost per year or per kilometer you can compare.
TCO is where electric-versus-gas verdicts can flip. An EV's higher list price can be repaid by cheap home charging and lower maintenance; whether it is depends on your annual distance, your electricity and fuel prices, and how each model holds its value.
CarPairly's TCO tool runs this calculation per market over a 60-month horizon with dated energy prices, and shows its inputs, because a cost estimate you cannot inspect is just another opinion. It does not discount or inflate future costs and has no recurring road tax term.