The relatively high cost of gasoline makes electric vehicles less expensive to keep fueled than their gas-powered cousins. Yet how much you’ll spend to go electric ranges widely, mostly depending on gas and electricity costs where you live.
“Figuring out how much an EV will cost can be complex, but it’s worth doing the math before making such a major purchase,” says Jake Fisher, senior director of auto testing at the nonprofit Consumer Reports.
That’s because you might not save as much as you expect on owning such a vehicle, especially when compared with hybrid cars that run on both electric and gas power. A number of factors that affect the cost of owning an EV are changing — and not in favor of their affordability. For one, EVs remain more expensive to buy than gas vehicles — with an average price of $55,544, they cost about 5% more than the typical tab for all new cars, according to Kelley Blue Book.
That price gap could even widen soon. Here’s more on that development, along with other things to know about the comparative cost of driving electric versus staying with gas power.
New laws could hike EV costs
If they become law, two bills introduced last week by Republican senators could increase the current cost of getting an EV by thousands of dollars.
The first bill seeks to eliminate a federal tax credit for EVs and a subsidy for the cost of installing charging stations for the vehicles. President Donald Trump campaigned on eliminating the credit, which allows instant tax rebates of $7,500 when buying a new EV and up to $4,000 on used ones.
A second bill proposes adding a $1,000 flat fee to the price of EVs. With about 1 million EVs currently sold annually in the U.S., the bill’s sponsors say the $1 billion or so the measure could raise would compensate the federal government for the additional wear and tear on interstate highways due to the greater weight of EVs (mostly attributed to their batteries, which typically weigh between 500 and 2,000 pounds).
Of course, many EV buyers aren’t solely motivated by the financial savings of owning an electric car — they care more about the environmental advantage of emitting fewer pollutants. Still, if you’re weighing an EV purchase, it pays to consider the factors that will affect the relative cost of owning such a vehicle.
Gas prices and electrical rates
For an EV to be a lot cheaper to run than an internal combustion engine (ICE) or hybrid vehicle depends on gas being relatively expensive where you live — and electricity relatively inexpensive. But that isn’t the case everywhere in the country, especially given recent trends in the comparative prices of the two energy sources.
The average cost of gasoline has been declining since it hit a peak of $4.54 a gallon in July 2022. As of this past January, it stood at $3.08, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
EVs run on electricity and are usually recharged using equipment connected to your home electrical system. In contrast to dropping gas prices, electrical rates in the U.S. have been rising, albeit modestly, and now average 16.54 cents per kilowatt-hour, according to ElectricChoice.com, a site that tracks electric rates.
By state, both gas prices and electricity rates vary as widely as 50% above and below the national average. In combination, the respective costs of the two energy sources can significantly impact just how much money you save by driving an EV.
The best financial case for EV ownership comes if you live in a state with high gas prices and low electrical rates. In Nevada, for example, gas cost an average of $3.66 a gallon in January, according to the AAA; that’s more than 15% above the national average. Nevada’s electrical rates, on the other hand, were below the national average, at 11.67 cents per kWh.
By contrast, Massachusetts has fairly low gas prices ($3.01 a gallon) and high electrical rates ($21.01 per kWh).
Money calculated the comparative cost of running a car on gas vs. electric using the numbers above and an online tool from ChargEVC, a not-for-profit trade and research organization. Driving a typical EV for a typical number of miles per year in Nevada would cost nearly $1,400 less in energy costs than going with gas — $1,721 compared with $321.
In Massachusetts, however, the savings would be far more modest — around $850, or more than $500 less than the annual cost advantage of fueling an EV in Nevada.
Electrics are pricier to insure
Another major running cost for a car — insurance — is generally higher for EVs over gas-powered cars. According to estimates by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, drivers pay an average of $44 more per month to insure an EV compared to an ICE car.
Higher repair costs for EVs may help explain the gap in premiums. The average repair bill for an EV in the third quarter of 2024 was nearly $1,000 more than for gas-powered vehicles — $5,560 compared with $4,471, according to Mitchell, a claims and repair data company.
Also, if an EV needs to be written off after an accident, those higher EV prices make such write-offs pricier for the insurance firm, which also drives up prices.
EVs remain less reliable overall
Since they have fewer moving parts than vehicles with an internal combustion engine, you might expect EVs to be more reliable than gas-powered vehicles.
But that isn’t the case, at least yet. Manufacturers are still working the bugs out of the relatively new EV technology, according to Consumer Reports. The testing organization’s 2025 reliability data reveals that EVs had 42% more problems than vehicles with internal combustion engines. (That was actually an improvement from the previous year, when EVs had 79% more problems.)
When it comes to maintenance, however, EVs have an edge. AAA estimates that, when serviced according to the automakers’ recommendations, electric vehicles cost about $950 a year to maintain. That’s $330 less than a gas-powered car.
Gas vs. electric vs. hybrid
Buyers wrestling with the choice between an EV and an ICE vehicle can also consider a hybrid car, which combines an electric motor with an internal combustion engine.
Consumer Reports estimates you’ll pay up to $3,000 more for a hybrid compared to a gas-powered equivalent vehicle, compared with a $5,000-to-$15,000 premium for an EV. Hybrids are also more reliable than EVs overall.
It’s true that hybrids are less “green” than EVs, due to their sometime use of an ICE. But they’re also more dependable in their range. If the battery on a hybrid car runs down before the end of a trip, you can switch over entirely to gas power and refuel at any gas station rather than having to find an EV charging station, which are sometimes scarce.
“An EV may make financial sense for many buyers, but some might be better off with a fuel-efficient hybrid,” says Fisher of Consumer Reports.
Whatever vehicle type you choose, it’s sensible to base your buying decision not only on the purchase price, with any credits and rebates, but its cost to own, including fuel or electrical cost. Online tools such as the U.S. Department of Energy calculator of fuel costs for EVs and regular cars can help with those calculations.
