EV vs Petrol for Lagos — The Real Monthly Cost
8 scenario · 1,500km/month basis · maintenance · depreciation · payback period
The EV vs petrol math don change for Lagos. Petrol at ₦1,320 per litre dey put 1,500km monthly drive at around ₦198,000. Same distance for typical 60kWh EV charged for home solar dey cost ₦11,500 — that na 94% drop. Even charging from NEPA Band A at full price (₦209.50/kWh), the EV dey burn ₦52,500 — still 73% less. This page break down all 8 charging scenario by real cost.
| Scenario | ₦/kWh | Per month | Per year | vs petrol |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home charging (Solar — after install) | — | ₦0 | ₦0 | -100% |
| Home charging (Band A light) | ₦209.5 | ₦20,950 | ₦251.4K | -93% |
| Public AC charging | ₦275 | ₦27,500 | ₦330.0K | -90% |
| Public DC fast charging | ₦500 | ₦50,000 | ₦600.0K | -82% |
| Home charging (Solar — amortized cost) | — | ₦75,000 | ₦900.0K | -74% |
| Petrol motor (Toyota Corolla) | — | ₦158,400 | ₦1.9M | -44% |
| Petrol SUV (Toyota RAV4) | — | ₦217,800 | ₦2.6M | -24% |
| Generator (2.5kVA, 6hrs/day) | — | ₦285,120 | ₦3.4M | baseline |
1,500km na typical Lagos monthly drive. Petrol assumption: 10km/litre at ₦1,320/L. EV assumption: 60kWh battery, 5km/kWh, charged per scenario.
Maintenance, depreciation, total cost
Fuel na only part of the picture. EV maintenance dey run ₦80K-₦150K/year vs ₦300K-₦600K for comparable petrol car — no oil change, no spark plug, no timing belt, no fuel pump, no exhaust system. Brake pad dey last 3-4× longer because regen braking dey do most of the work.
Depreciation na the other quiet wins. EV with healthy battery dey hold value better than petrol equivalent — Lagos used EV market still na thin but recent BYD and Tesla resale dey retain 70-80% of new price after 3 years vs 50-60% for petrol SUV.
When EV go pay back the upfront extra
Take ₦25M EV vs ₦18M petrol equivalent (₦7M premium). At ₦145K/month fuel savings (NEPA Band A) the payback na 48 months. At ₦186K/month (home solar) e na 38 months. Add maintenance savings of around ₦35K/month and the payback drop reach 32-40 months — well within the typical Lagos ownership cycle.
BYD, MG, Tesla, Innoson. Price from ₦9M (used Leaf) reach ₦60M (Tesla).
Solar + EV go drop your transport cost reach 87% vs petrol.