Free · No login · 2026 fuel & electricity rates
Electric Vehicle Cost Savings Calculator — EV vs. Gas, Real Numbers
Plug in your driving habits, local electricity rate, and the two cars you're comparing. See the real 5-year cost difference — fuel, maintenance, tax credit, and resale — not just the sticker price.
What Actually Drives EV Savings (and What Doesn't)
The EV-vs-gas savings case rests on three pillars that move independently: per-mile energy cost, maintenance cost, and the upfront price gap after incentives. Per-mile energy cost almost always favors the EV — charging at home typically costs the equivalent of $1-1.50/gallon in most US electricity markets, even before counting that EVs use that energy more efficiently than gas engines burn fuel. Public/fast charging narrows or erases this gap, sometimes costing more per mile than gas in high-rate markets.
Maintenance savings are real but smaller than marketing suggests: no oil changes, no exhaust system, far fewer moving parts subject to wear, and regenerative braking that extends brake pad life significantly. Tires wear faster on some EVs due to added weight, partially offsetting the savings. Most independent studies put EV maintenance cost at roughly 30-50% lower than a comparable gas vehicle over 5 years, not the "almost zero" figure sometimes claimed.
The upfront price gap is the variable that swings hardest by vehicle and incentive timing. Federal and state EV tax credits have changed eligibility rules multiple times in recent years — confirm current eligibility for the specific model and your income bracket before assuming any credit applies, since rules tied to vehicle assembly location, battery sourcing, and price caps have shifted the qualifying-vehicle list repeatedly.
Is charging an EV at home actually cheaper than gas?
In most US states, yes — home charging at typical residential electricity rates works out to roughly $1-1.50 per gas-gallon-equivalent, well below most 2026 gas prices. The exception is states with unusually high residential electricity rates (parts of California, Hawaii, the Northeast), where the gap narrows substantially or can flip depending on the specific rate plan and time-of-use pricing.
Do EVs really need less maintenance?
Yes, meaningfully — no oil changes, no spark plugs, no exhaust or transmission fluid service, and brake pads that last longer due to regenerative braking handling most slowing. The main offsetting cost is tires, which can wear 10-20% faster on heavier EVs, and eventual battery degradation, which is usually covered under long manufacturer warranties (often 8 years/100,000 miles) for the ownership period most buyers care about.
How long does it take for EV savings to offset the higher price?
Depends heavily on annual mileage, local electricity/gas price gap, and whether a tax credit applies. High-mileage drivers (15,000+ miles/year) in states with a wide gas-vs-electricity cost gap can break even in 2-3 years. Low-mileage drivers in states with narrow cost gaps and no applicable tax credit may take 6+ years or never fully break even before trading in.
Does this calculator account for resale value?
Not as a separate explicit line item — EV resale value has been volatile and model-dependent in recent years (some EVs depreciate faster than comparable gas vehicles due to rapid tech improvement in newer model years; others hold value well). This calculator focuses on the more predictable ownership-period costs — energy, maintenance, upfront price, and incentives — rather than guessing at resale, which varies too much by specific model to estimate reliably here.
