EV vs Gas Car Calculator

How to compare an EV and a gas car honestly

The single most common mistake people make when comparing an EV to a gas car is anchoring on the sticker price. A $42,000 EV next to a $30,000 sedan looks like a $12,000 penalty, and that's where most conversations end. It's also where most conversations get the answer wrong. The right frame is total cost of ownership: every dollar that leaves your account from the day you sign to the day you sell, minus everything you get back at resale. Over 5 to 10 years the purchase price is just one of five components — and not always the largest.

The federal tax credit used to be the obvious first wedge — up to $7,500 off a qualifying new EV and $4,000 off a qualifying used one — but the One Big Beautiful Bill (July 2025) terminated §30D, §25E, and §45W for any vehicle acquired after September 30, 2025. If you had a binding written contract and a payment by that date, you can still claim the credit on your 2025 or 2026 return; otherwise it does not apply, and our default scenario reflects that with a $0 federal credit. State rebates remain available in many states — check your state's program before finalizing your numbers.

Fuel: where EVs do the heavy lifting

A reasonably efficient EV uses about 28 to 32 kWh per 100 miles. At the U.S. average residential rate of roughly $0.16/kWh, that works out to about 4.5 cents per mile. A 30 mpg gas car at $3.30/gallon is 11 cents per mile — about 2.4× as expensive. Over 12,000 miles a year, that's roughly $780 in annual fuel savings before you touch any other line item. The savings compound: more miles, higher gas prices, cheaper electricity, or off-peak utility rates all widen the gap. The savings shrink if you depend on $0.40–$0.55/kWh DC fast charging, which is why the home-charging share is one of the most consequential inputs in the calculator.

Maintenance: smaller than people think, but real

EV scheduled maintenance is roughly half of a comparable ICE, per Consumer Reports and AAA cost-of-ownership studies. There are no oil changes, no spark plugs, no transmission fluid, no exhaust system, no fuel filters. Regenerative braking does most of the stopping in normal driving, so brake pads regularly last 100,000+ miles. The honest counterweight: EVs are heavier and torquier, so tires wear faster. Net of all of that, the EV typically saves $500 to $900 a year on maintenance over a 7-year window. That's a line item, not a tiebreaker — but it's not trivial either.

Insurance and depreciation: the headwinds

Insurance generally runs slightly higher on EVs because parts and labor on damaged battery packs and high-voltage components are expensive, and total-loss thresholds get hit sooner after a collision. The premium varies wildly by carrier and model — get quotes for the specific car before deciding the delta is small.

Depreciation is the line item most people get wrong in both directions. EVs depreciated faster than ICE in 2023 and 2024, partly because new EV prices fell mid-cycle and dragged used values with them. That gap narrowed through 2025 as inventory normalized and the point-of-sale credit pulled forward demand. Now that the federal credit has sunset, new-EV transaction prices may settle higher, which tends to support better residuals on the used side. The calculator defaults to 45% residual for EVs and 50% for gas at 7 years, which roughly tracks the latest published data. Verify against current Edmunds and Kelley Blue Book figures for the specific models you're comparing before treating this as gospel.

When the EV loses

Three scenarios flip the math toward gas. The first is low annual miles — under about 6,000 — where fuel savings can't outrun the EV price premium over a 5-year window. The second is expensive electricity combined with cheap gas: a household paying $0.32/kWh and a 35 mpg hybrid competitor narrows fuel savings to a few hundred dollars a year. The third is no home charging, which forces public DC fast charging into the blended rate and can erase the per-mile advantage entirely. Run the inputs honestly and the calculator will tell you which side of the line you're on.

Defaults reflect U.S. national averages as of 2026 and are intended as a starting point, not a prediction. Tax credit eligibility, electricity rates, fuel prices, and resale values change frequently — verify with the IRS, your utility, EPA fueleconomy.gov, and the manufacturer before making a purchase decision.