Is boating cheaper than driving? An honest cost comparison

It is a question owners ask half in jest: surely running a boat is cheaper than running a car? The honest answer is that it depends on what you compare. Cars are measured in litres per 100 kilometres, motor boats in litres per hour. Put both on the same distance and the motor boat usually comes as a shock, while the sailing yacht and the electric boat often come off well. This piece works through sourced figures and then looks at what to check in the contract before a long fuel run.

Start with consumption. The German Federal Environment Agency puts the average car at 7.4 litres per 100 km (2024 figure). A 5.9 metre trailer boat with a 115 hp outboard burns about 12.5 litres an hour at a cruising speed of 34 km/h according to the builder's test sheet, and about 40 litres flat out. A 6.3 metre motor boat with 150 hp uses about 20 litres an hour at cruise. Per 100 km that is roughly 37 and 60 litres, five to eight times a car. A 41 metre motor yacht was quoted by its yard at under 230 litres an hour at 12 knots (a 2011 figure), well over a thousand litres per 100 km.

The sailing yacht is the opposite case: under sail it burns nothing, and the engine runs for harbour manoeuvres, calms and the last mile. The electric boat is the third column. A 6 kW electric outboard covers 66 km on a 5 kWh battery at slow speed, according to the maker. At the average German household price of 37.3 cents per kWh (BDEW, October 2026) a full charge costs about 1.87 euros, roughly 2.80 euros per 100 km. At half throttle the range drops to 18 km and the cost rises to about 10 euros per 100 km. An electric car averages 19.7 kWh per 100 km (ADAC test, 2023), about 7.35 euros at the same price.

Then the price per litre. On German roads, E10 petrol averaged 2.258 euros and diesel 2.409 euros at the end of September 2026, according to the ADAC motoring club. Germany grants no discount to leisure skippers: section 27 of the Energy Tax Act lets fuel be used tax free in shipping, but expressly excludes private non-commercial boating, so a privately used motor boat pays the full rate. Ashore in Palma de Mallorca, diesel cost between 1.85 and 2.05 euros and 98 octane about 1.93 euros on 31 October 2026 (apalmet.es). A current, sourced price from a marina fuel dock could not be found, so none is given here.

For large yachts the price per litre turns into a route. Back in 2013 trade reports said more superyachts were refuelling outside the EU, and that yacht numbers in Tunisia and Algeria had nearly doubled in one summer, with Tunisian prices around 0.65 to 0.70 euros a litre against 1.60 to 1.65 in Italy. Those are 2013 figures and no longer current. In November 2025 a bunker supplier announced marine gas oil deliveries to yachts in Bizerte, Tunis, Gabès and Sfax. In Ceuta, sailors reported diesel at about one euro between 2015 and 2018, also dated. Customs and tax on returning to the EU are a matter for the skipper and a tax adviser, and this article gives no advice on them.

For the insurance side the first question is the cruising area. Hull and liability wordings define where the boat may go, and North Africa is often treated coast by coast. Before a fuel run from the Balearics, Sardinia or Sicily to Tunisia or Algeria, read the cruising area clause in the contract and ask in writing if the destination is not named. A harbour outside the agreed area can leave the boat without hull cover and the skipper without liability cover exactly where a collision at a busy fuel dock is most likely. A broader cruising area usually costs more, which belongs in the fuel sum.

Fixed costs are where the comparison usually tips. The ADAC prices a VW Golf 1.5 TSI at about 704 euros a month, 349 of it depreciation, over five years and 75,000 km. A boat adds berth, winter storage, crane and maintenance. Two German municipal examples for 2026: Loitz on the river Peene charges 50 euros per metre and season for a permanent berth, Strande on the Kiel Fjord 10 euros per square metre of footprint for outdoor winter storage and 60 euros per half hour of crane time up to 5 tonnes. Commercial marinas, in the Mediterranean especially, set their own rates. A boatyard hour in Germany cost between 77.75 and 86.02 euros in 2026 according to the VMWD trade body.

Insurance is the smaller item for a boat. German motor insurers saw average liability premiums rise 18 percent between 2017 and 2025, and an average car damage claim now costs about 4,600 euros, according to the GDV. The verdict: per kilometre a motor boat is almost always dearer than a car, while a sailing yacht or an electric boat at slow speed is often cheaper. But nobody goes boating to get from A to B. The honest sum is per season: hours afloat, boat type, berth, winter storage, maintenance and insurance together, divided by the days actually spent on the water.