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Electric Car vs Gas Car: Cost Per Mile Compared
MPGe tells you how efficiently a car uses energy, but your wallet cares about cost per mile. Here is how electric and gasoline running costs really compare, what tips the balance, and how to work out the break-even for your own driving.
Bottom line: for most drivers charging at home, an electric car costs noticeably less per mile than a comparable gas car. The margin depends on three prices you control or can look up — your electricity rate, the local gas price, and how efficient each vehicle is.
Two small sums, side by side
Electric cost per mile is your electricity price divided by your effective miles per kWh. Gasoline cost per mile is the pump price divided by the car's miles per gallon. That is the whole comparison in two lines; everything else is choosing honest inputs. Take a home rate of $0.17 per kWh and an electric car doing 3.5 miles per kWh after charging losses, and you are paying just under 5 cents a mile. Take a 30-mpg gas car at $3.50 a gallon and you are paying nearly 12 cents a mile. Over a typical 12,000-mile year that is roughly $580 of electricity against about $1,400 of fuel.
What moves the needle
The electric advantage is not fixed; it breathes with prices. Cheap overnight EV tariffs can push electric running costs below 3 cents a mile, while relying on expensive public DC fast chargers can erase most of the gap or even reverse it. On the gasoline side, a small efficient hybrid at 50 mpg narrows the difference considerably, whereas a thirsty truck at 18 mpg makes electricity look almost free by comparison. The honest way to compare is to price the two specific vehicles you are choosing between, not a generic EV against a generic gas car.
Home charging versus public charging
Where you charge often matters more than which car you buy. Home charging at residential rates is what makes the electric numbers so attractive, and it is how the majority of EV miles are actually driven. Public Level 2 charging is usually still competitive with gasoline. DC fast charging, priced for convenience on road trips, is the one scenario where an electric mile can cost as much as a gasoline mile. If you cannot charge at home, run your real expected mix of charging prices through the calculator before assuming savings.
A worked comparison table
The figures below assume $0.17 per kWh electricity and $3.50 per gallon gasoline, using rounded typical efficiencies. Swap in your own prices on the home page to personalise them.
| Vehicle | Efficiency | Cost per mile | Per 12,000 mi |
|---|---|---|---|
| Efficient EV | 4.2 mi/kWh | ~4.0¢ | ~$485 |
| Mainstream EV | 3.5 mi/kWh | ~4.9¢ | ~$583 |
| Electric SUV | 2.6 mi/kWh | ~6.5¢ | ~$785 |
| 50 mpg hybrid | 50 mpg | ~7.0¢ | ~$840 |
| 30 mpg sedan | 30 mpg | ~11.7¢ | ~$1,400 |
| 18 mpg truck | 18 mpg | ~19.4¢ | ~$2,333 |
Finding your own break-even
There is a price of electricity at which an electric mile costs exactly the same as a gasoline mile. To find it, take the gas cost per mile and multiply it by your effective miles per kWh; the result is the electricity price where the two are level. If your real rate is below that number, electric wins; if it is above, gasoline is cheaper. For the mainstream examples above, the break-even electricity price sits around 40 cents per kWh — far higher than most home rates, which is why home-charged EVs win so comfortably on running cost.
What this comparison does not include
Cost per mile is only the fuel line of the budget. Purchase price, incentives, insurance, depreciation, maintenance, and battery longevity all belong in a full ownership picture, and they can move the total either way. Electric cars tend to be cheaper to maintain because they have far fewer moving parts and no oil changes, but they can carry a higher sticker price. Treat the per-mile fuel figure as one important input, not the entire decision, and pair it with the other ownership costs before you commit.
Run your exact numbers in the EV cost-per-mile calculator, and if any of the efficiency units are unfamiliar, the efficiency and MPGe guide explains each one.