by Rich Marcello ·
Friday, April 24, 2026
We have two cars in our family: a Mustang Mach-E EV and a 2015 BMW X1. We primarily use the X1 to take our large Newfoundland, Iaia (pronounced Yaya), to Delaney or Bowers Springs each day for her walk. Because we use the X1 sparingly, I rarely fill it up. However, last week I was low on gas when we arrived at Wegmans to do our weekly shopping and decided to visit a Burlington gas station, where a gallon of gas cost $5 for the 89-octane blend. The last time I filled up, the price per gallon was $3.75.
That got me thinking about the high cost of gas today and the uncertainty of what it will cost in the future. I decided to once again compare the cost of running an EV to the cost of running an internal combustion engine automobile. What follows is my analysis and the—unsurprising—conclusion that an EV is cheaper to run in almost all cases. See tables below.
- Battery size: 92 kWh
- Range: 300 miles
- Electricity price: $0.32/kWh
- Cost of one full charge: $29.44
- EV cost per mile: $0.0981
- EV cost per 100 miles: $9.81
- EV cost per 300 miles: $29.44
The EV savings per 100 miles is calculated as: Gas Cost per 100 Miles – EV cost per 100 miles. At $3 gas, a 40-mpg gas car is actually cheaper to run than the EV by about $2.31 per 100 miles.
Formula: Gas Price ÷ EV Cost per Mile ($0.0981)
- $3/gal: 30.6 mpg
- $4/gal: 40.8 mpg
- $5/gal: 51.0 mpg
- $6/gal: 61.1 mpg
At $3 per gallon, the EV is clearly cheaper to run than a 20-mpg or 25-mpg gas car, almost identical to a 30-mpg gas car, and more expensive than a 40-mpg gas car. At $4 per gallon, the EV is cheaper than almost everything, though only slightly better than a 40-mpg gas car. At $5 and $6 per gallon, the EV becomes clearly cheaper across all categories.
If I include the five-year maintenance cost, the total cost of ownership is even better for the EV. This is primarily because an EV has no oil and roughly 10 percent of the moving parts of a combustion engine vehicle. On my Mach-E, for example, I replaced the tires after 60,000 miles, rotated and balanced them along the way, and replaced some air filters. That’s it.
A combustion engine car also needs tires and filters, but you will also face at least five oil changes, brake replacements, transmission service, and new spark plugs and belts. Below are my estimates to maintain both types of cars. I might be off a little on these numbers, but I think they are directionally correct.
- EV five-year maintenance:
$1,500–$2,500
The EV total over five years (fuel and maintenance) is $7,388–$8,388. For the internal combustion engine automobile, the five-year costs range from $7,500 to $23,500.
In almost all cases, the EV is cheaper to run for five years, and the range of likely costs is much tighter than running a combustion engine automobile. Given all the uncertainty in the world these days, the best thing we can do to stabilize our transportation costs over the next five years is buy an electric car. Oh, and it’s good for the environment, too.
Keep the faith. And do what you can, where you are.
Rich Marcello is a member of the Climate Initiative Committee. In writing his latest novel, “The Means of Keeping,” he spent several years researching the climate crisis.