Interactive Tool · Live Cayman Prices

EV vs Petrol Cost Calculator

Compare your petrol or diesel vehicle's running cost against an equivalent electric vehicle in the Cayman Islands. Numbers update live from OfReg fuel prices and the current CUC residential electricity rate. Pick from the 100 most-registered vehicles on the island, or enter your own MPG and kWh values.

At current Cayman fuel and CUC electricity prices, a typical EV costs roughly CI$450 to CI$530 a year to charge versus about CI$700 in petrol for a comparable Honda Fit.

Don't see your vehicle? Enter custom values

Values entered here override the pickers above. Common ranges: petrol/diesel 18–50 MPG combined · EVs 25–50 kWh per 100 mi.

Calculator assumptions and sources
  • Annual mileage: default 5,000 mi (slider 3,000–7,500). Cayman doesn't publish a direct VMT figure, but the ESO Cayman Compendium of Statistics 2024 gives us enough to back-calculate: gasoline/diesel duty revenue of CI$16.9M at roughly CI$0.70/Imperial gallon implies ~24M Imp gal sold; subtracting the commercial-vehicle share (trucks, taxis, rentals, buses) leaves ~7M Imp gal across ~34,600 private cars, or ~200 gal each. At a fleet-average ~30 MPG (Imperial), that's about 6,000 mi/year. The slider spans the ±30% uncertainty band.
  • Fuel price: median across all open Grand Cayman stations, scraped daily from OfReg. Cayman sells fuel by Imperial gallon; EPA MPG is in US gallons (1 US gal = 0.8327 Imperial gal).
  • Electricity rate: CUC all-in tariff (energy charge + fuel cost + fuel duty + renewables + regulatory fee), updated monthly.
  • Vehicle efficiency: EPA fueleconomy.gov (typically 2020 model year for older models) for ~70 of the top-100; manufacturer WLTC/EPA-equivalent figures for ~30 JDM-only models (Toyota Voxy, Noah, Vezel, Ist, etc.).
  • Fuel grade: inferred from EPA fuel-type metadata (Regular / Premium / Diesel). Most petrol vehicles in Cayman use Regular; a handful (BMW, Audi, some Mercedes) recommend Premium.
  • Hybrids: HEV vehicles burn petrol, just more efficiently. Cayman has 1,321 HEVs (Honda Fit Hybrid, Toyota Aqua, RAV4 Hybrid, etc.) and only 5 plug-in hybrids (PHEVs).
  • EV efficiency over time: battery capacity (and therefore range per charge) degrades roughly 10–15% over 8 years, but kWh-per-mile efficiency stays nearly constant, so the per-mile electricity cost shown here remains accurate over the vehicle's life.
  • What the calculator does NOT include: vehicle purchase price, import duty differences, insurance, maintenance, depreciation, battery replacement at end of warranty. Operating cost only.

Source: DVDL FOI · EPA fueleconomy.gov · OfReg fuel prices · CUC electricity rate

For the full picture on owning an EV in Cayman, including local dealers, import duty rates, charging infrastructure, and how clean an EV actually is on a diesel-heavy grid, read the companion guide: Electric Vehicles in the Cayman Islands.

Frequently Asked Questions: Cayman Islands

How many electric vehicles are in the Cayman Islands?

As of mid-2026 the DVDL register lists 812 fully electric vehicles, 1,321 hybrids, and 5 plug-in hybrids out of a total fleet of 51,874, so battery-electric vehicles are about 1.6 percent of vehicles. The Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, the Audi e-tron family, and the Hyundai Kona Electric make up most of the EV fleet.

What is the import duty on an electric vehicle in the Cayman Islands?

Cayman's tariff favours EVs. For personal imports, fully electric vehicles pay 0 percent duty up to a CIF value of CI$29,999, then 5 percent to CI$60,999, 10 percent to CI$99,999, and 15 percent above that. Hybrids start at 10 percent and petrol or diesel cars pay roughly 29.5 to 42 percent. Since 1 October 2025 a separate environmental import fee of CI$1,000 (or CI$2,000 on vehicles at CI$80,000 or more) applies to all vehicles regardless of fuel type.

How much does it cost to charge an electric vehicle in the Cayman Islands?

At CUC's mid-2026 residential rate of about CI$0.35 per kWh, a typical EV driven 5,000 miles a year costs roughly CI$450 to CI$530 a year in electricity, versus about CI$700 in petrol for a comparable Honda Fit. Daily.ky's EV vs Petrol Cost Calculator runs your specific vehicle against live fuel and electricity prices.

Where can you charge an electric vehicle in Grand Cayman?

Most charging happens at home on a Level 2 (240V) charger, which adds roughly 30 miles of range per hour; installation typically runs CI$300 to CI$1,500. Public charging is all Level 2: a scattered set of free legacy chargers (around 19 to 23 stations, best checked on PlugShare or Electromaps) plus CUC's paid networked stations run with ZEF Energy. There is no public DC fast-charging network, which is fine on an island where no trip exceeds about 45 miles.

Is there a Tesla dealer in the Cayman Islands?

There is no authorised Tesla dealer in Cayman. Teslas are brought in as independent imports, and LJM Energy Automotive is the closest thing to local Tesla support, handling high-voltage service, software diagnostics, and battery health checks. Tesla software updates do work in Cayman.

Are electric vehicles actually cleaner in the Cayman Islands?

Yes, but the margin today is modest because the grid is about 97 percent diesel. Even so, an EV uses roughly 15 to 20 percent less primary energy per mile than a petrol car, so a Nissan Leaf emits about 13 percent less CO2 than a Honda Fit today. The advantage grows automatically as CUC's grid greens toward its 70 percent renewable target for 2037 and 100 percent for 2045.