How to use CarPairly
A short, step-by-step guide to choosing your market, finding cars with filters, reading a car page and prices, and comparing two or three cars.
CarPairly is built to show what a new car really costs, with electric and gas cars side by side. The catalog has electric cars from OpenEV Data and gas and diesel cars entered by hand from manufacturer pages, each with its source and check date. This page walks you through the tools. It takes about two minutes.
1. Choose your market
Use the "Market" menu in the header. It lists the markets we support, each with its currency.
When you pick a market, prices switch to that currency and measurements switch to that market's units, such as miles in the US and UK and kilometers elsewhere. The page does not reload. Your choice is saved in your browser only. We do not store it on our side.
If you have not chosen, we guess your market from your browser's language and region setting, such as German (Germany), and otherwise start with the United States. Without JavaScript the menu is hidden and you see United States prices.
2. Pick light or dark
The "Dark mode" button in the header switches themes. By default the site follows your device setting. If you pick the same theme as your device, the site goes back to following it.
3. Find a car
Open Cars to see cars in one list. The list holds electric cars and gas and diesel cars. You can also start from the Electric cars, Gas cars or Brands links in the header, or use the search box.
On the car list, narrow the results with these filters:
- Search by name for a brand or model.
- Type to show electric cars, gas cars or both.
- Prices in and From and To to set a market and a price range in its currency.
- Minimum range for electric and plug-in hybrid cars.
- Seats, Sort by and, under "More filters", Powertrain, Body type and Brand.
Press "Show results". "Clear filters" starts again. The address in your browser always matches your filters, so you can bookmark or share a search.
4. Read a car page
Each car page starts with a summary and the price in your market. Below it you will find:
- Prices by country: the list price in each market, in that market's own currency, with a tax column, the date we checked it and a link to the source.
- Energy cost: what the energy for 100 km (or 100 miles) costs, shown only when we have every input.
- Specifications: grouped tables, with where the figures come from.
- Safety ratings, strengths and trade-offs: shown when we have the data.
The "Prices by country" button opens a page where you can sort the markets and, where we have an exchange rate, see approximate amounts in your own currency. Those amounts carry "≈" and the date of the rate. Treat them as approximate conversions, not as prices you can pay.
A tax column tells you whether a price includes VAT or sales tax. Nothing is adjusted, so compare prices between countries with that in mind. If a number is missing, we hide it or say that no price is listed. We never show a missing value as zero.
5. Compare cars
Open Compare, choose a first and second car, and add a third if you like. Press "Compare". The result is a page you can share. On a car page you can also press "Compare with" beside a suggested car.
A comparison shows key differences in words, then a table of specifications. A check mark shows the better value in a row. A price row is not marked when the two prices have a different tax treatment. At the bottom, the "Change cars" form lets you pick different cars without starting again.
Cost tools
Two tools are live: the total cost of ownership calculator and the charging cost tool. A third, the real-world range tool, is not available yet: it opens once sourced temperature and speed factors exist. Any value that is an assumption rather than a sourced price carries an "Estimate" label, and an electric energy use that is worked out from the battery and the rated range carries a "Derived" label. The methodology page explains the calculations.
Where the numbers come from
Every price and specification names its source. Our data sources and methodology pages give the detail, and the about page explains who we are. If you spot a mistake, tell us by e-mail at admin@carpairly.tech or on the contact page.