Real-World Fleet TCO Calculator
Calculate true total cost of ownership including operational constraints, fleet sizing and driver costs. If you are still deciding whether the fleet is ready for detailed modelling, start with the Fleet Readiness Score and then come back here when the operating model is clear enough to test.
Real-world fleet TCO, not a marketing graphic. This model is built to behave like a fleet planner’s spreadsheet, not a sales tool. It starts from your required annual workload (miles and operating days), applies UK/EU-style driving rules (9 hours driving per day with a 45-minute break after 4.5 hours), and then asks a simple question: how many vehicles of each drivetrain do you actually need to deliver that work once you include charging/refuelling time and payload limits.
Fleet sizing logic. The calculator first works out the maximum daily miles a single vehicle can realistically cover under tachograph rules and your chosen duty cycle. For battery trucks, it assumes public rapid charging using a 2026 UK rapid price benchmark of around 76p/kWh. It explicitly deducts time for rapid charging events (typically around 45 minutes for an 80% charge). Diesel and hydrogen vehicles are modelled with short 10-15 minute refuels. The model then converts battery weight penalties into extra route work, assuming more trips are required to move the same total tonnage over the year.
Real-world data, not brochure claims. Efficiency and range assumptions are anchored in independent tests of current long-haul eHGVs such as Volvo FH Electric and Mercedes eActros 600, which report consumption around 1.0-1.1 kWh/km and practical ranges in the 300-350 km bracket when fully loaded. The tool deliberately uses a conservative approximately 200-mile real-world BEV range once you allow for weather, topography and ageing.
Complete, transparent TCO stack. Capital expenditure is calculated from your per-vehicle prices multiplied by the number of units required. Energy cost is derived from annual miles, realistic energy consumption per km, and your chosen fuel or electricity prices. Maintenance is applied on a per-mile basis, and driver costs scale with the number of vehicles. Residual values are modelled with different end-of-period percentages for diesel, battery and hydrogen.
Subsidies. The model takes no account of subsidies or grants for vehicles or for fuel. This may be included in future iterations.
This model is a starting point, not a final investment case. Real-world fleet economics depend on duty cycle, utilisation, downtime, payload, depot constraints, residual values, finance costs and infrastructure timing.
What to do with these numbers
If the result depends heavily on mileage, energy price or ownership assumptions, move over to the Break-Even Analysis tool. It shows where diesel, BEV and hydrogen actually cross over on total cost of ownership.
If the limiting issue is structural rather than numerical, the next step is usually advisory rather than another spreadsheet. You can send me your assumptions or book time via the Advisory page and we will pressure-test the strategy with your board or investors.
Fleet Strategy Advisory
The numbers are a starting point.
The hard part is what you do with them.
This calculator will tell you where diesel, electric and hydrogen land on cost. It will not tell you which contracts justify the switch, how to structure a pilot that protects your downside, or how to make the case to your board. That is usually where I come in.