The problem
A vehicle-cost figure is only useful when the driver can explain where it came from.
Fuel prices, charging tariffs, efficiency, traffic and route mix can all change. A number copied from another driver may not describe your vehicle or your working pattern.
The safest starting point is a transparent fuel or energy benchmark based on your own spend and miles over a representative period.
Why it matters
FareWorth can use the driver’s configured vehicle and fuel or energy settings to add estimated running-cost context to an offer.
Keeping those settings realistic helps the estimate reflect the vehicle more closely. It also makes it easier to see when the cost assumption has become stale.
Fuel or energy is still only one part of running a private-hire business. A fuel or energy cost per mile is not a complete all-in operating cost and is not net profit.
How to work it out
Use one consistent period and one consistent scope.
- Choose a representative period, such as four normal working weeks.
- Record the miles driven in that period using the same odometer or trip-record method throughout.
- Add the actual fuel or vehicle-charging spend that belongs to the same period.
- Divide that spend by the recorded miles.
- Multiply by 100 if you want the result in pence per mile.
The arithmetic is:
Fuel or energy spend ÷ miles driven = fuel or energy cost per mile
For pence per mile:
Cost per mile in pounds × 100 = pence per mile
For petrol or diesel, refuelling timing can distort a very short period if the tank starts full and ends nearly empty, or the reverse. A longer representative period or a consistent full-to-full method can reduce that distortion.
For an electric vehicle, use the charging spend attributable to the vehicle for the period. Keep home and public charging in the same calculation, but do not mix unrelated household electricity into the total.
Simple worked example
Illustrative example — fuel or energy component only
Over four representative weeks, a driver records:
- Miles driven: 800 miles
- Fuel or vehicle-charging spend: £128
Cost per mile:
£128 ÷ 800 = £0.16 per mile
In pence:
£0.16 × 100 = 16p per mile
If an offer has an analysed distance of 12 miles, the same benchmark gives an illustrative fuel or energy estimate of:
12 × £0.16 = £1.92
This is reproducible arithmetic using the driver’s own recorded inputs. It is not a universal rate and it does not prove what another vehicle costs.
What to watch out for
Keep the time period aligned
Do not divide one month of spend by one week of miles. The numerator and denominator must cover the same period.
Separate the fuel or energy component from wider business costs
Insurance, finance, depreciation, maintenance, tyres, tax, licensing, cleaning and accounting costs may matter to the driver’s wider records. FareWorth does not currently claim to calculate all of them, and this Guide does not provide tax, legal, insurance or licensing advice.
Update the benchmark
Recalculate when fuel prices, charging tariffs, vehicle efficiency or the mix of driving changes materially. Avoid false precision: a rounded benchmark such as 16p per mile is usually clearer than many decimal places.
Do not invent a universal good rate
There is no single pence-per-mile figure or minimum fare that is right for every driver, vehicle and working pattern.
How FareWorth helps
FareWorth can use the driver’s configured vehicle and fuel or energy settings to estimate the fuel or energy component for the analysed distance.
The driver’s own cost-per-mile calculation is a useful benchmark for reviewing whether those settings still reflect real-world experience.
Where the required information is available, FareWorth can show an After Fuel Est.. That means the fare after the estimated fuel or energy component. It does not mean complete net profit or money left after every business cost.
The separate Guide about vehicle costs and ride offers explains how that known component can change the economic view of a specific offer.
Practical takeaway
- Use your own spend and mileage from the same representative period.
- Show the division so the figure can be checked.
- Keep fuel or energy separate from wider business costs.
- Refresh the benchmark when prices or driving conditions change materially.
- Treat After Fuel Est. as one useful layer, not complete net profit.