Celvari

Documentation

Understand how Celvari models EV vs ICE total cost of ownership, or integrate our TCO engine into your own application via the REST API.

Quickstart

Enter your vehicles and driving profile, get a TCO comparison in under 5 minutes.

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TCO Model

How we calculate total cost of ownership across fuel, maintenance, insurance, incentives, and depreciation.

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Monte Carlo Simulation

10,000 battery degradation and cost scenarios using DOE/Geotab data calibrated to your vehicle and climate.

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Incentive Engine

Federal 30D/25E credits plus state-level rebates. Income caps, MSRP limits, and battery sourcing rules checked automatically.

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Break-Even Analysis

The exact year when EV total cost drops below ICE, with sensitivity analysis on gas and electricity prices.

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Charging Cost Model

Home L1/L2, public charging networks, and time-of-use rate optimization based on NREL utility rate data.

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API Endpoints

POST/v1/calculate
GET/v1/vehicles/:year/:make
GET/v1/rates/:zip
GET/v1/incentives/:state
POST/v1/signup
POST/v1/login
GET/v1/account
POST/v1/checkout

Authentication

All API requests require an API key passed via the X-API-Key header.

curl https://celvari-api.smarttechinvest.com/v1/rates/90210 \
  -H "X-API-Key: cel_your_api_key_here"

Total Cost of Ownership Model

For each vehicle, we compute the total cost of ownership as:

TCO = Purchase Price - Incentives + Fuel/Charging + Maintenance + Insurance + Registration + EVSE Install - Resale Value

Fuel costs use EPA MPG/MPGe ratings multiplied by your annual miles and state-level energy prices from EIA. Maintenance costs apply a 40% reduction factor for EVs based on DOE studies (no engine oil changes, brake regeneration extends pad life, fewer moving parts). Insurance differentials are modeled from published rate comparisons.

The DOE AFLEET TCO methodology ensures our cost estimates are consistent with the framework used by fleet managers and energy economists for vehicle transition planning.

Monte Carlo Simulation

Rather than a single point estimate, Celvari runs 10,000 simulated ownership scenarios for each vehicle comparison. Battery degradation draws from DOE/Argonne research and the Geotab 22,700-vehicle dataset, using log-normal fade curves adjusted by climate zone and DCFC charging frequency.

The simulation produces a complete cost distribution:

  • Expected (mean) cost difference -- average across all scenarios
  • Break-even year -- the median year EV total cost drops below ICE
  • 95th percentile cost -- worst-case planning number
  • Full histogram -- see the entire distribution of possible outcomes

This lets you choose based on your risk tolerance: a conservative buyer might focus on worst-case cost, while an aggressive optimizer focuses on expected savings.

Incentive Eligibility Engine

The federal EV tax credit landscape is complex: IRS Section 30D offers up to $7,500 for new EVs and Section 25E offers up to $4,000 for used EVs, but eligibility depends on MSRP caps, income limits, battery component sourcing requirements, and final assembly location.

Celvari checks each vehicle against the DOE/IRS qualified vehicle list, verifies your income and filing status against the caps, and calculates the net purchase price after all applicable federal and state incentives. State incentives are sourced from the AFDC Laws and Incentives database and refreshed quarterly.

Break-Even Analysis

The break-even calculation finds the ownership year where cumulative EV costs cross below cumulative ICE costs. We model this as a time series with gas price volatility (EIA historical standard deviation), electricity rate trajectory (EIA projections), and battery cost decline curves (BNEF: $80/kWh in 2026, projected $69/kWh by 2030).

Sensitivity analysis shows how the break-even year shifts if gas prices rise or fall by 20%, if electricity rates change, or if you drive more or fewer miles than average. This gives you the full decision space, not just a single number.

Charging Cost Model

EV charging costs vary dramatically based on where and when you charge. Home Level 2 charging on off-peak time-of-use rates can cost $0.08/kWh, while DC fast charging on Electrify America can exceed $0.40/kWh.

Celvari models your charging mix (home vs. public percentage), applies your utility's time-of-use rate structure from the NREL OpenEI database, and calculates the EVSE installation cost ($500-$2,500) for home Level 2 setups. The result is a personalized annual charging cost that replaces the generic "electricity costs less than gas" claim with an actual dollar figure.