If
you are curious about the cost savings provided by electric cars, below
are some numbers I calculated for 100,000 miles driven.
Besides the cost savings, electric cars have other advantages that should not be overlooked. I outline some of them in this article.
Tesla Model Y and Lexus RX350
Nissan Leaf and Nissan Sentra
Assumptions
- Electric car is charged at home
- Cost
of electricity: 10 cents per Kwh. This is a flat rate in Seattle, but
it ranges from 4-30, depending on the state and time of day.
- Average efficiency of Tesla Y (291 Wh/mile) and Nissan Leaf (275 Wh/mile) is 283 Wh/mile.
- No unscheduled maintenance
- Gas car is provided with regular maintenance (oil changes and tune-ups)
- Batteries and tires are not included, as they would be the same for both types of cars
- Average gas price as of Sept 2022 is $3.7
- The gasoline car does not use premium or diesel fuel
- Oil changes are every 5,000 miles and cost $80
- Tune-ups are every 30,000 miles and cost $1000
- Both
gasoline and electric cars will lose the same amount (not percentage)
after 100,000 miles. This assumes we are comparing cars with similar
features, such as Tesla Y and Lexus RX350. We are not comparing a Tesla Y
and a 20 year old Civic.
Electric car
- Total kWh used: 28,300
- Electricity cost: $2830
- Regular maintenance costs: none
- Total cost: $2,830
Gas car with 20 mpg
- Fuel cost: $18,500
- Regular maintenance costs: $4,600
- Total cost: $23,100
Gas car with 30 mpg
- Fuel cost: $12,333
- Regular maintenance costs: $4,600
- Total cost: $16,933
Gas car with 40 mpg
- Fuel cost: $9,250
- Regular maintenance costs: $4,600
- Total cost: $13,850
These numbers change if:
- your electricity and/or gas costs are very different from the assumptions above
- you travel a lot and use on-the-road chargers
- you perform your own maintenance