Launched by the EU-funded I-CVUE project, the tool has been developed to provide a TCO for EV and ICE vehicles in different EU markets – currently reference data sets for Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Austria and Spain are available, with data for Norway and France due to be implemented soon.

Dr. rer. nat. Christoph Schimeczek of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), which developed the tool, commented: “The tool allows policy makers and fleet managers to identify effective incentives for the uptake of electric mobility in their country.”

Available to try here, the tool has been designed to differ from other TCO tools due to its comprehensiveness and flexibility and covers vehicles ranging from superminis to LCVs. Leasing vehicles are also available in the webtool.

The tool incorporates purchase cost, motor taxes, maintenance and repair cost, insurance premiums, fuel and or energy cost and leasing cost. It also includes tax reliefs, monetary incentives as well resale values.

Several different types of fleets are considered, e.g. taxi fleets, logistic fleets or company car fleets (including private car usage of employees) where the tool also calculates the cost for benefit in kind taxes of privately used company cars.

The tool also enables comparison with respect to non-monetary aspects, such as total Well-to-Wheel CO2 emissions.

For plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, the share of electric and conventional driving is calculated based on the user’s charging behaviour and daily mileage distribution.

Users may also edit the tool with their own data to adapt the calculations to the specific situation of his or her fleet.