Data Shows EVs Cost Less Than Gasoline-Powered Vehicles
Mile for mile, it’s cheaper to recharge an electric vehicle (EV) than it is to refuel one with an internal-combustion engine.

Tesla Model Y
Tesla
Mile for mile, it’s cheaper to recharge an electric vehicle (EV) than it is to refuel one with an internal-combustion engine.
Tesla and other EV makers have used this to their advantage, particularly when gas prices soar. But while gas prices have soared in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, so have electricity prices.
So, is it still true that it’s much cheaper to “refuel” an EV? The answer is yes, reported CNBC. It is still quite a bit more expensive to fill your gas tank than it is to charge your EV’s battery.
Electricity rates have kept pace with gas price increases in Boston and San Francisco. But on average across the U.S., adding 100 miles of range in your internal-combustion vehicle has become more expensive, relative to charging an EV an equivalent amount, over the last few months.
While oil prices will fall in the coming months as producers increase output, it’s unlikely that electricity prices will increase enough to make EVs less affordable over their life cycles than internal-combustion alternatives.
Jeffries analyst David Kelley recently calculated that the total lifetime cost of ownership of an EV is about $4,700 less than that of an internal-combustion vehicle. He believes this figure will increase increase as more EVs come to market — and as battery prices continue to fall — over the next few years.
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