Electric vs petrol: what a Chandigarh commute actually costs to run

Petrol-versus-EV comparisons online usually arrive at an absurd number by charging the electricity at ₹2 per unit and the petrol at nothing. Do it properly and the saving is smaller — still large enough that the argument does not need exaggerating.

The assumptions, stated up front

• Commute: 40 km a day, 25 days a month, 300 days a year.
• Petrol scooter: realistically 40–45 km per litre in city traffic; we will use 42.
• Electric scooter: about 30 km per kWh of energy drawn from the wall on a small commuter; we will use 30.
• Petrol: ₹105 per litre, a rough Chandigarh figure that will not age perfectly.
• Home electricity: ₹7.50 per unit. If you are on a lower domestic slab this improves; public DC fast charging makes the electric case much worse and is not what most owners use.

Year one, fuel only

1. 1Petrol: 12,000 km a year ÷ 42 km per litre ≈ 286 litres ≈ ₹30,000 a year.
2. 2Electric: 12,000 km ÷ 30 km per kWh ≈ 400 units ≈ ₹3,000 a year.
3. 3Difference on energy alone: roughly ₹27,000 a year, or about ₹2,250 a month.

The ratio is the honest part: not “free to run”, but close to one-tenth the per-kilometre energy cost of a petrol scooter ridden the same way.

Servicing, and why it is smaller than people claim

An EV has no engine oil, no spark plug, no clutch, no exhaust, few belts and no conventional gearbox. It still has brakes, tyres, bearings, suspension bushes and a drivetrain that needs looking at, and it still has a battery that is a capital item at the end of its life.

Expect genuinely lower routine servicing — often a third to a half of the petrol schedule. Do not expect zero. If a dealer tells you an EV costs nothing to maintain, they have never opened one.

The number people leave out

• Up-front price. A comparable electric scooter still costs more than the petrol it replaces. The fuel saving pays that back over roughly 2–4 years of regular commuting, depending on the pair you compare.
• Battery replacement at end of life. Under warranty this is the manufacturer’s problem; after it, it is a real number and lithium is not cheap.
• Financing cost, if you are on EMI. The interest on the higher price partly offsets the early fuel saving.
• Depreciation. This is the one where EVs are still less predictable, because the used market is young.

So when does it make sense?

High daily distance plus home charging: the maths is decisive, and it is decisive for commercial three-wheelers for exactly the same reason — kilometres per day is the variable everything else hangs off. Low annual distance, no place to charge, and a purchase price stretch: a petrol scooter remains defensible, and we will say so rather than sell you something you will resent.