If you drive around 12,000 km a year and can charge at home, an electric car is now genuinely cheaper to own over 5 years in most Indian metros — by roughly ₹0.5–1.5 lakh on a Tata Nexon EV versus an equivalent Nexon petrol, at July 2026 prices. Home charging costs about ₹1.1–1.3 per km against ₹7.5–8.5 per km for petrol, and that gap does most of the work. But the maths flips if you live in an apartment without a charging point, drive under 8,000 km a year, or plan to sell within three years. Here is the full calculation, without the evangelism.
The comparison: Nexon petrol vs Nexon EV
No pair makes this comparison cleaner than Tata's own siblings. The Tata Nexon petrol spans ₹7.37–14.22 lakh ex-showroom, while the Tata Nexon EV runs roughly ₹12–17 lakh. Same body, same size class, same dealer — the only variable is what's under the floor.
To keep it fair, we've compared well-equipped mid-to-top variants: a Nexon petrol automatic at about ₹11.5 lakh ex-showroom versus a Nexon EV 45 kWh at about ₹15.5 lakh ex-showroom. Assumptions: Delhi registration, 5 years, 60,000 km (12,000 km/year), petrol at ₹102/litre, home electricity at ₹8/unit, DC fast charging at ₹22/unit — all as of July 2026.
5-year / 60,000 km cost table (Delhi, as of July 2026)
| Cost head | Nexon petrol (auto, ~₹11.5 lakh) | Nexon EV 45 kWh (~₹15.5 lakh) |
|---|---|---|
| Ex-showroom price | ₹11.5 lakh | ₹15.5 lakh |
| Road tax + registration (Delhi) | ~₹1.15 lakh (10%) | ₹0 (100% exempt for EVs under ₹30 lakh till Mar 2030) |
| Home charger + installation | — | ~₹0.50 lakh (7.2 kW wallbox + wiring) |
| Fuel / energy for 60,000 km | ~₹4.70 lakh (13 km/l real-world) | ~₹0.70 lakh home-only; ~₹1.10 lakh at 80:20 home:fast |
| Scheduled service (5 years) | ~₹0.45 lakh | ~₹0.20 lakh |
| Insurance (5 years, comprehensive) | ~₹1.80 lakh | ~₹2.40 lakh (higher IDV) |
| Battery / powertrain warranty | Standard 3-yr (extendable) | 15-year, unlimited-km battery warranty (first owner) |
| Estimated resale after 5 years | ~₹6.30 lakh (~55% of ex-showroom, fairly predictable) | ~₹6.20–7.00 lakh (40–45%, genuinely uncertain) |
| Net 5-year cost of ownership | ~₹13.3 lakh | ~₹12.4–12.9 lakh (home charging) |
The EV wins by roughly ₹0.5–1 lakh in this scenario — real money, but not the "EVs cost nothing to run" fantasy either. Notice how the win is built: ₹4 lakh saved on fuel, ₹1.15 lakh saved on Delhi road tax, partially eaten by a ₹4 lakh higher sticker price, ₹0.6 lakh extra insurance, and a wallbox.
The per-km numbers that decide everything
| Energy source | Effective cost | Cost per km (Nexon EV / Nexon petrol) |
|---|---|---|
| Home charging (metro domestic tariff) | ₹7–9 per unit | ₹1.0–1.3/km |
| Public DC fast charging | ₹18–25 per unit | ₹2.8–3.6/km |
| Petrol | ₹102–111 per litre (Delhi–Mumbai) | ₹7.5–8.5/km |
Rates as of July 2026. The Nexon EV's 45 kWh pack delivers around 350 km in real-world mixed use, which works out to roughly 145 Wh/km from the wall after charging losses. Note the tariff fine print: in Delhi, an EV adds about 145 units a month at 12,000 km/year, which can push a household past the subsidised 200/400-unit slabs into the ₹6.50/unit band plus a 16–18% PPAC surcharge. In Mumbai, upper-slab domestic rates of ₹9–12/unit mean home charging costs closer to ₹1.4–1.7/km. Still a fraction of petrol — but not the ₹0.80/km some brochures imply.
The fast-charging row is the one EV buyers skip at their peril. At ₹22/unit plus app convenience fees, DC charging costs 2.5–3x home rates. If more than half your charging happens at public chargers, your energy saving over petrol shrinks from ~₹4 lakh to ~₹2.5 lakh over 60,000 km — and the 5-year TCO gap between the two Nexons nearly closes.
The honest caveats
The apartment problem. This remains the single biggest filter in 2026. If your housing society won't sanction a charging point — and many older buildings still resist, citing load and liability — you are a fast-charging-dependent owner, and the economics above degrade sharply. Get written society approval and a DISCOM feasibility check before booking, not after. A separate EV meter connection typically takes 2–6 weeks in metros.
Highway range in an Indian summer. ARAI says 489 km for the Nexon EV 45; real-world mixed driving delivers about 350 km. Sustain 100–110 km/h on an expressway in 42°C May heat with the AC working hard, and plan for 260–290 km usable. That's a Delhi–Jaipur run with margin, but Delhi–Lucknow means a 40-minute fast-charging halt (10–80% on a 60 kW charger) — and a queue if you arrive behind two other EVs on a long weekend. If your life involves monthly 500 km+ highway runs, weigh this honestly rather than optimistically.
Resale is the genuine unknown. A 5-year-old petrol Nexon has a deep, liquid used market and predictable 55–60% retention. Five-year-old EVs are still thinly traded; retention estimates of 40–45% are exactly that — estimates. Rapid new-model progress (bigger batteries, faster charging on cars like the Mahindra BE 6) can age today's EVs faster than petrol equivalents. Tata's transferability limits on the battery warranty (first owner only for the "lifetime" cover) also soften second-hand demand. If you churn cars every 3 years, this uncertainty may erase your fuel savings.
Battery degradation. Expect roughly 2–3% capacity loss per year with sensible charging habits — that's 85–90% health at year five, or about 30–50 km of lost real-world range on the Nexon EV. Not a crisis, but budget for it mentally. The 15-year unlimited-km battery warranty on the 45 kWh Nexon EV is the strongest risk-cover in the segment and a genuine reason to prefer it over EVs with 8-year/1.6 lakh km terms.
State taxes are diverging. Delhi, Maharashtra and UP still waive road tax and registration entirely. Karnataka broke ranks in April 2026: a Nexon EV registered in Bengaluru now attracts 8% lifetime tax — about ₹1.25 lakh — which single-handedly wipes out a year's worth of fuel savings. Check your state's current policy and your city's on-road price for the Nexon EV before you extrapolate from this Delhi-based table.
So who should buy which?
The EV case is strongest if: you drive 1,000+ km a month, have a covered parking spot with society-approved charging, keep cars 5+ years, and most trips are city or sub-300 km. At 20,000 km/year, the Nexon EV's advantage stretches past ₹2.5 lakh over five years, and higher-mileage users (cab-adjacent duty cycles) see it even sooner. Budget buyers should also look at the Tata Punch EV and the space-focused MG Windsor EV, which repeat this arithmetic at lower price points — our best electric cars guide ranks the current field.
Petrol still wins if: you drive under 8,000 km a year (the fuel saving never recovers the price gap), you can't charge at home, you resell within 3 years, or your usage is dominated by long, time-sensitive highway runs. A well-specced petrol Nexon at ₹11–12 lakh also leaves ₹3–4 lakh in your pocket on day one — money that earns returns while an EV's savings trickle in monthly. Plenty of strong petrol and hybrid options live in our best cars under ₹15 lakh list.
The 2026 verdict, then: the EV-vs-petrol question in India is no longer ideological — it's a home-charging and annual-mileage question. Answer those two honestly, and the spreadsheet answers itself.