Which fuel should I choose for my car?

It is very difficult to give an unequivocal answer to the choice of fuel because of course several factors can play a role. In this article, we provide some considerations that you can use to make a comparison for your new car, whether you order it new or buy it used.

General frameworks

You can of course choose a fuel in different ways. It is of course known that diesel and LPG are more attractive to people who drive more when you compare it to cars that run on petrol. You can also see this in the table below. Nowadays you also have electric and plug-in hybrid cars. Plug-in hybrids in particular make it difficult to estimate costs because you can also drive more or less often on electricity. If you are considering such a car, you have to do some extra calculations. Or ‘means’ between the data of electric and petrol cars so that you get an overview of which fuel is best for your situation.

Here you will find an example calculation based on an average car that weighs 1,300 kg. The average consumption of cars is as follows:

• Gasoline: 1:15
• Petrol hybrid (without plug): 1:17
• Diesel: 1:21
• LPG: 1:12.5 (the latter can be more favorable in practice)
• Electricity: 15 kWh/100 km (6.67 km/kWh)

The prices for the fuels are based on the suggested retail prices in February 2022 (but you can save money):

• Petrol: €2.15/l
• Diesel: €1.84/l
• LPG: €1.14/l
• Electricity: €0.35/kWh (average for a public charging station)

The road tax (or: motor vehicle tax) for a car of such weight is based on an average of the provinces:

• Petrol: €700/yr (plug-in hybrid between 1 and 50 g CO2 emissions: €350)
• Diesel: €1,420/yr (assuming a reasonably new car, so no pollution surcharge)
• LPG-g3: €1,020/yr.
• Electric: €0.00/yr

Cost per fuel type

We add the results for the costs per fuel type together for several numbers of kilometers per year. On average, people in the Netherlands drive 12,500 km/year. You will find an overview for different annual kilometers to make it easier.

You see here that electric cars are very cheap to drive, but keep in mind higher fixed costs due to the higher purchase price (if you buy new) and a relatively more expensive insurance due to the higher weight and the higher list price. Private individuals can apply for a subsidy for a new or used electric car. A diesel car will also have a higher insurance due to the higher weight and higher price. Depending on your bonus-malus discount, this may be easier in your situation if you have a favorable claims history. We have therefore excluded the item ‘insurance’ from the calculation.

Which fuel for your car? Our conclusion

If you look at this data, diesel is quickly cheaper for a mid-range car. With a modern diesel you can certainly make good progress in the first few years. However, it is certainly worth looking at LPG. Even with fewer kilometers you save a few hundred euros per year, but with the average Dutch mileage of 12,500 km or more, the difference quickly increases in favor of LPG. An electric car is certainly also interesting, if you take the higher purchase price for granted. Or you are going to privately lease an electric car with which you spread the investment.