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How much money can you save by switching to an electric car? That depends on a lot of different factors — the car you’re going to buy, the gas car you’re not going to buy, the price of gas over time where you would fill up, the price of electricity/charging over time where you would charge your car, maintenance costs, insurance costs, depreciation of the respective cars, and probably more I’m forgetting at the moment.
Well, a company called Payless Power hasn’t gone into that depth for you — no one can do it for everyone at once, or even a large number of people, since it’s such a personalized matter. However, we can at least use some averages and norms to come to some conclusions, and that’s what Payless Power has done.
First of all, let’s look at some basics Payless Power shared for the US as a whole:
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In the US, driving 1 mile on regular gas costs an estimated average of 15.23 cents – nearly 4x the costs of charging an EV at home (4.21 cents/mile)
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In the US, charging an EV at a public station (8.7 cents/mile) is more than twice as expensive as charging at home (4.21 cents/mile)
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Over 10 years, driving a gas-powered vehicle could cost Americans approximately $11,053 more than driving an EV charged at home, on average
Indeed. The fact of the matter is — electric cars are more efficient, and charging them with electricity is cheaper than fueling a gas car with fossil fuel.
What Payless Power teased out to provide a little more guidance is which states provide the most savings to EV buyers — but just comparing charging costs versus gas fueling costs (not those other factors I mentioned above). I’m always a sucker for these kinds of state-by-state comparisons, so I was curious to see what they found.
Washington, Nevada, and Oregon offered the most savings over 10 years — $18,055, $15,726, and $14,481, respectively. Interestingly, in 4th place was Alaska, with $13,933 in estimated savings.
Then we get to the big dog of the US EV market, California, which accounts for 31% of US EV sales. California ranked 5th in this examination, providing an estimated $13,549 in savings over the course of the decade. (Maybe that’s one reason why almost one out of every four Californians buying a new car now buy an electric one.)
When you look at those numbers, though, who wouldn’t want to save over $1,000 a year? Add in the convenience of home charging, the benefits of instant torque, and the quiet power of an electric motor, and an electric car seems like a no-brainer.
Alas, people are hesitant to change. They know what they know, they know the habits they’ve become accustomed to, and they find it hard to think about doing things differently.
How about the states with the lowest estimated savings, though? Those would be Connecticut, Alabama, and Nebraska. However, even there, you’re looking at average savings of $5,407, $6,132, and $6,331, respectively.
Now, perhaps the EV you’d buy costs more than the gas car you’d buy. However, there’s a strong chance the EV has a bundle of extra features and tech. That’s been common with EV models compared to their gas competitors. Additionally, some models are eligible for the US federal EV tax credit, and there are extra EV rebates and tax credits available in some states as well. So, don’t just compare MSRP without a little bit of research.
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