Buying
Hybrid, plug-in hybrid or electric: what each costs to run in Pakistan
Hybrid, plug-in hybrid, range extender or fully electric: what the names mean, what each costs per 100 km in Pakistan today, and which one fits how you drive.
Four kinds of car now carry a battery in Pakistan, and the showroom names for them are easy to mix up. The differences are not small: one of them never visits a charger, one never visits a petrol pump, and the two in between do a bit of both. This guide explains each in a paragraph and then puts a rupee figure on 100 km in all four, worked out from the cars actually on sale here as of November 2026.
The four kinds, in one table
| Hybrid | Plug-in hybrid | Range extender | Electric | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short name | HEV | PHEV | REEV | EV or BEV |
| Plugs in | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Petrol engine | Yes, drives the wheels | Yes, drives the wheels | Yes, only makes electricity | None |
| Runs on electricity alone | A few hundred metres | A day's driving | A day's driving and more | Always |
| Needs a charger | Never | To get the saving | To get the saving | Yes |
| On sale here | 14 listed | 16 | 6 | 71 |
A hybrid is a petrol car with a small battery that it charges itself, from the engine and from braking. It uses less petrol than the same car without one, and that is all it does. There is nothing to plug in. Hybrids on sale in Pakistan.
A plug-in hybrid has a much bigger battery that you charge from a socket. It drives on electricity until that battery is used up, usually somewhere between 47 and 165 km in real conditions for the cars on sale here, and then carries on as a hybrid.
A range extender is driven by its electric motor all the time. It has a petrol engine too, but the engine never turns the wheels; it runs a generator to keep the battery going on a long trip. Day to day it behaves like an electric car, and on the motorway it fills up like a petrol one. Both are listed on the plug-in hybrids page.
An electric car has only a battery and a motor. It is the cheapest of the four to run and the only one that depends entirely on charging. Electric cars on sale in Pakistan.
What 100 km costs in each
| Kind of car | 100 km costs | On what |
|---|---|---|
| Petrol car, 12 km per litre | about Rs 2,792 | Petrol at Rs 335.00 a litre |
| Hybrid | about Rs 1,396 to 2,577 | Petrol, for the 12 of the 14 hybrids listed here that publish fuel economy |
| Plug-in hybrid or range extender, on its battery | about Rs 482 to 1,105 | Electricity at home, off-peak |
| Plug-in hybrid or range extender, battery empty | about what a hybrid costs | Petrol |
| Electric car, charged at home | about Rs 285 to 918 | Electricity at Rs 34.53 per kWh |
| Electric car, public DC chargers only | about Rs 1,955 | Electricity at about PKR 115 per kWh |
The hybrid row is worked out from the fuel economy published for each car. The electric rows are worked out from each car's battery and the range to plan around in Pakistani conditions. The home rate is the off-peak residential one.
Two things stand out. A hybrid saves perhaps a third of a petrol bill. A car charged at home removes most of it. And the last row matters as much as the others: an electric car that never charges at home costs several times more to run than one that does.
The same month, four ways
At 1,500 km a month:
| A month costs | |
|---|---|
| Petrol car | about Rs 41,900 |
| Hybrid, at the middle of the range above | about Rs 29,800 |
| Plug-in hybrid, charged nightly, short days | about Rs 11,900 |
| Electric car, four fifths charged at home | about Rs 12,900 |
The plug-in hybrid figure assumes every kilometre is driven on the battery and charged at home, which is true only if your days are shorter than its electric range and you plug in every night. The electric car's figure includes a fifth of its charging at public prices, which is why the two land close together. On a long drive it burns petrol like a hybrid. Work out your own month.
Which one fits how you drive
You can charge at home, and most days are under 150 km. An electric car. It costs the least to run by a wide margin, and every battery on sale covers that day with room to spare.
You can charge at home, but you drive long distances every week on roads with few chargers. A plug-in hybrid or a range extender. Electric for the commute, petrol for the trip. Check your route first, though: the main motorways are better covered than most people assume.
You cannot charge where you park. A hybrid. Without a socket a plug-in hybrid is a heavy petrol car, and an electric car depends on public chargers at public prices.
You are not sure. Compare one of each at your budget in the comparison tool, or filter all 107 cars by kind in the car finder.
What it costs to buy
Tax treats the four kinds differently, and it shows in showroom prices. A fully electric car made or assembled in Pakistan carries 1 percent sales tax, extended to 30 June 2027 in the 2026-27 budget, with the Auto Policy 2026-31 proposing to keep it to 2031. An imported electric car does not get that rate. A locally assembled hybrid carries 18 percent. That gap is why, in a model sold both ways, the electric version can be the cheaper one. The Jaecoo J5 is the clearest example.
As of November 2026 the cheapest of each kind is:
- Electric: Alektra Metro 2-Door, PKR 10.45 lakh to 11.45 lakh
- Plug-in hybrid or range extender: Chery Tiggo 7 PHEV, PKR 94.99 lakh to 1.035 crore
- Hybrid: Jaecoo J5 HEV, PKR 69.99 lakh to 79.99 lakh
Sources
- US Department of Energy, How do hybrid electric cars work?
- US Department of Energy, How do plug-in hybrid electric cars work?: including series plug-ins, the range extenders.
- Profit, 12 June 2026: Budget 2026-27 auto sector breakdown: evading the 18% GST bullet, luxury EV taxes and the awaited NEV policy: the 1 percent rate kept for locally assembled EVs.
- ProPakistani, 14 September 2026: FBR finally cuts sales tax on locally manufactured hybrid vehicles: 18 percent up to 2,000cc.
- The Express Tribune, 21 October 2026: PM okays 1% sales tax on battery EVs: the rates proposed in the 2026-31 auto policy, subject to the IMF.