EV vs Gas Cost Calculator
The short answer: at typical prices, driving on electricity costs roughly half to a third of driving on gasoline per mile — but the honest answer depends on your prices, your miles, and the EV's purchase premium. This calculator shows the annual and five-year running costs side by side and, if you enter a price premium, how many years the savings take to earn it back.
Price the insurance before you decide
EV premiums often run higher than gas equivalents — get real quotes for both cars you're comparing so this comparison is complete. Insurance quote partners (Insurify / Compare.com) are the planned partners for this slot.
How this is calculated
Gas cost per year = miles ÷ MPG × gas price. Electricity cost per year = miles × (kWh per 100 miles ÷ 100) × price per kWh. Annual running cost adds each side's maintenance; the saving is the difference; five-year saving is five times the annual figure (prices held flat — change the inputs to model your own guess). Payback = EV premium ÷ annual saving. Check it by hand: 12,000 miles at 30 MPG and $3.50 is 400 gallons = $1,400 a year; an EV at 30 kWh/100 mi and $0.16/kWh uses 3,600 kWh = $576. This calculator returns exactly those figures before maintenance.
The full reasoning — including what this leaves out — is in our blog post on EV vs gas total cost. For a single-car view of everything a vehicle costs, use the cost-per-mile calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find an EV's kWh per 100 miles?
It's on the car's window sticker and EPA listing, typically 24–35 kWh per 100 miles for current models (lower is more efficient). You may also see it as MPGe or as miles per kWh — 33.7 kWh equals one gallon-equivalent, so a car rated at 3.5 miles per kWh uses about 28.6 kWh per 100 miles.
Does this assume home charging?
Yes — the electricity price field defaults to a typical home rate. Public DC fast charging commonly costs two to three times more per kWh. If you'd charge mostly in public, enter that higher rate; the calculator stays honest and the savings shrink accordingly.
What running costs are not counted here?
Insurance (EVs often cost somewhat more to insure), tires (EVs can wear them faster), home charger installation, and battery replacement outside warranty — federal rules require at least 8 years/100,000 miles of battery warranty, which covers most ownership spans. Enter insurance differences into the maintenance fields if you want them counted.
Why include a maintenance difference?
Because it's real money in the EV's favor on average: no oil, fewer brake jobs (regenerative braking), no exhaust or transmission service — offset partly by tires. Department of Energy estimates have put scheduled maintenance for EVs at roughly half the per-mile cost of gas cars; the defaults here are deliberately more conservative than that.