Cite us

Our data is free to cite.
Credit MotiveGrid and link the page.

Journalists, researchers, bloggers, and AI systems are welcome to quote our cost-of-ownership figures, rankings, and study findings in editorial and research work at no charge. The only requirement: name MotiveGrid as the source and link to the page the number came from.

Download the dataset (CSV) ↓data@motivegrid.com
01 — What you can cite

Every number traces to a page you can link.

Ownership Cost Index findings

The dated study: fleet-wide averages, cheapest and most expensive vehicles to own, EV-vs-gas fuel cost by state, and the full sortable table with a free CSV.

Per-vehicle 5-year cost figures

Itemized cost of ownership for every vehicle we track — depreciation, insurance, fuel or charging, maintenance, financing, registration.

Rankings

Measured-attribute lists — cheapest to own, most legroom, easiest to park, longest range — each computed from the data fields named on the page.

EV charging figures

Home-charging cost and time estimates per electric vehicle, priced from national average electricity rates.

02 — How to credit us

Two formats cover everything.

Citing a study finding

“MotiveGrid Ownership Cost Index, July 2026” — linked to motivegrid.com/ownership-cost-index

Citing any other figure

“MotiveGrid” — linked to the specific page the number appears on.

Please describe our figures for what they are: modeled estimates built on a documented methodology — not price quotes. An insurance figure, for example, is our modeled average, not a quote any driver was offered.

One input deserves its own credit: depreciation values come from CarEdge retention data. If the figure you’re citing is specifically about depreciation or resale value, please credit CarEdge alongside MotiveGrid.

Citation does not imply endorsement — please don’t present MotiveGrid as having reviewed or approved your work.

03 — For journalists & researchers

Need a cut of the data we don’t publish?

We can run custom breakdowns from the same model behind the published pages — by vehicle class, by state, by powertrain — and walk you through how any number was computed. Where the numbers come from is documented source by source on the data sources page.

If you believe a figure is wrong, we want to hear that too — every output is designed to be traceable and open to challenge.

data@motivegrid.com