EV Savings vs Gas Calculator

With federal credits gone, the EV question is finally a clean spreadsheet: electricity-vs-gasoline at your rates, a real maintenance gap, a purchase premium, and your annual miles. The answer varies honestly — a 15,000-mile driver with cheap overnight power saves thousands; a low-mileage driver relying on public fast-charging in a cheap-gas state may not. This calculator runs your version, with the public-charging slider most comparisons hide.

The Per-Mile Core

The pattern that decides everything: EVs are cheap where you sleep. Homeowners with garages and off-peak plans get the 60–75% fuel savings; apartment dwellers on public DC fast-charging get roughly gas prices with extra steps. The slider models your real mix.

Beyond Fuel: the Rest of the Ledger

• Maintenance: no oil changes, plugs, belts, or transmission service, and regen braking doubles pad life — studies put the gap at ~3–4¢/mile (~$400–500/yr), partially offset by tires (EVs eat them ~20% faster).
• Insurance: +$200–300/yr typical (repair costs, battery exposure) — see the Car Insurance tool.
• Depreciation: the wildcard — early EVs depreciated brutally (bad for new buyers, a gift for used ones: 3-year-old EVs at 45–55% off are the strongest value play in the market; run the Depreciation tool).
• Home charger install: $500–1,500 once (Level 2), often utility-rebated.
• State incentives survive the federal sunset — CO/MA/NY-style rebates of $2,000–3,500 belong in your premium field (details in the EV Credit tool).

Who the Math Favors (2026 Edition)

1. Clear EV win: home charging + 12k+ miles/yr + average-or-expensive gas — payback in 2–4 years, then $1,200–2,000/yr of pure savings.
2. Toss-up: moderate miles, average rates, meaningful public-charging share — the verdict card earns its keep here.
3. Gas (or hybrid) win: no home charging, cheap-gas states, low annual miles, or frequent 500-mile days where charging time is a real cost this calculator doesn't price.
4. The unpriced factors, named: EV — quiet, instant torque, home "refueling"; gas — 5-minute fills anywhere, no route planning. Weigh them after the arithmetic, not instead of it.

How to Use the Calculator

1. Enter your miles, local gas price and the gas car's real MPG (the Gas Mileage tool measures it).
2. Enter your electricity rate (your bill's ¢/kWh — check for EV/off-peak plans), the EV's mi/kWh, and the honest purchase premium after state incentives.
3. Set the public-charging slider truthfully — it's the input that flips verdicts.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's a realistic mi/kWh for EVs?

Efficient sedans: 3.5-4.2; crossovers: 3.0-3.5; trucks: 2.0-2.6. Winter cuts 20-30% (cabin heat); highway speeds cut more. Use 3.0-3.3 for honest planning unless you know your model.

How much does home charging really add to my bill?

12,000 miles at 3.3 mi/kWh ≈ 3,600 kWh/yr — about $45/mo at $0.15, or $24/mo on an off-peak plan. It typically shows up as a 25-40% bill increase that replaces a $130/mo gas habit.

Is public fast-charging really that expensive?

$0.35-0.55/kWh at major networks — 2.5-3.5× home rates, putting per-mile cost at or above gasoline. It's road-trip infrastructure, not a fuel strategy; the apartment-dweller math has to be honest about this.

What about battery replacement costs?

Modern packs are warrantied 8yr/100k and degrade ~1-2%/yr — replacement before 150-200k miles is rare, and prices are falling. It's a real tail risk priced into used-EV depreciation, not an expected line item.

Do EVs still make sense without the federal credit?

For home-charging, normal-mileage drivers: usually yes — the fuel/maintenance gap carries it in 2-5 years. The credit used to make marginal cases easy; now the marginal cases genuinely depend on your inputs, which is what this tool is for.

Hybrid instead?

The unglamorous winner for no-home-charging drivers: 45-55 MPG with zero infrastructure and no premium anxiety. Run this calculator with the hybrid's MPG as the 'gas car' — if the EV can't beat it at your inputs, the hybrid is your answer.

Is my information private?

Yes — every figure computes locally in your browser.

Sleep-charging drivers with normal mileage: the EV pays for itself and then keeps paying. Everyone else: run your honest slider and let the verdict card, not the discourse, pick your drivetrain.