Editorial Policy — United States
Last updated: 20 September 2026
What this page covers
This policy explains who is responsible for the content on KnowCarCost, where the figures come from, how pages are written and reviewed, how we handle corrections, and how the site is funded. It applies to every page on knowcarcost.com, in all eleven markets we cover.
Who is responsible for the content
KnowCarCost is an independent publisher. Every page is published under the KnowCarCost editorial team's name, and that team is accountable for what appears here, including the programme-generated pages described below. No third party has the right to place content on this site, and we do not accept guest posts, sponsored articles or paid links.
Where the numbers come from
Vehicle specifications come from official government datasets, and the dataset is named on every page that uses it: the United States Environmental Protection Agency fuel-economy database, Natural Resources Canada's fuel consumption ratings, and the United Kingdom Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) current and historical files. Market prices come from official sources too: the European Commission's weekly Oil Bulletin for EU fuel prices, Eurostat for household electricity prices, national regulators and tax authorities for road tax and inspection fees, and the AA, GOV.UK, the US Energy Information Administration and the Canadian Automobile Association for fuel and charging prices. Every default figure on a results page shows its source and the date the data was captured. Where no verified source exists, the figure is marked unverified and labelled illustrative. It is never presented as fact.
How pages are produced
KnowCarCost publishes two kinds of page. The first are written guides, comparisons and market explainers, produced by the editorial team and checked before publication. The second are the model-by-model running-cost pages, roughly 45,000 of them, which are generated programmatically from the official datasets above. On those pages the data is the content: the consumption figure, the CO2 figure, the test cycle, the number of configurations in the source data, and the cost calculation derived from them, with the dataset named and the working shown. The generation is deterministic, so the same source row always produces the same page, and every build is checked by an internal link and page guard so no page can ship with a broken link or a missing figure. We do not use generative tools to invent vehicle specifications, prices or financial figures. Where a figure has no official source it is omitted or shown as illustrative.
How we handle corrections
Accuracy is the reason this site exists, so corrections are the highest-priority messages we receive. If you believe a figure is wrong, use the Contact page and include the calculator and market, the figure you believe is wrong, what you believe the correct figure is, and a link to your source. We check it against the official source, correct the page if we agree, and update the date shown on it. If a correction affects a generated page, the fix is made in the source data or in the calculation, so the same error cannot reappear on other pages.
Independence and how the site is funded
KnowCarCost is funded by advertising served through Google AdSense. Advertisers have no influence over our calculators, our data sources, our rankings or our editorial content, and they do not see or approve anything before it is published. Advertising is kept visually separate from content, and no advertiser can buy a place in a calculation, a comparison, our running-cost index or a recommendation. If we ever use an affiliate link, it is disclosed on the page where it appears.
Estimates, not advice
Every calculator returns an estimate based on the figures you enter and the market defaults shown alongside the result. It is not financial, legal, tax or professional advice. Prices, tax rules, incentives and resale values change. Verify anything important against current official sources, and take professional advice, before you act on it.
Review and updates
Guide and policy pages carry the date they were last reviewed. Market defaults are refreshed when their official source publishes a new figure, and the date shown on the results page moves with it. A page that has become out of date in a way we can see, such as a superseded tax year or a withdrawn incentive, is updated or removed rather than left standing.
Contact
Questions about this policy, or about anything published here, can be sent through the Contact page. We read everything, and we publish corrections rather than quietly deleting pages.