I always knew it is a bit cheaper to drive an EV as opposed to a gasoline car (not the owning part, which deserve a separate calculation, but just the day-to-day cost of using it) in New England where I live, but I never bothered to quantify that saving. That is, until today.
As you can see from the above, it is a straightforward comparison that relies on just a few parameters:
- Monthly driving: In my case, I drive about 1000 miles a month, which is slightly less than the national average (of about 1200 miles a month)
- EV efficiency: You can get from the web. In my case, it is about 3.3 miles per Kilowatt hour (Kwh). To compare to a gas car, I choose a very efficient one with 33 miles per gallon.
- Electricity cost: This is where I needed to dig in my electricity bill. In May of 2022, I paid $334.5 for a total usage of 1112 Kwh. That is $0.30 per Kwh, which is very high compared to the $0.14 per Kwh national average. For comparison, I remembered my neighborhood gas station posted its gas price of $4.95 per gallon.
The result is that I paid about $90 to charge my EV a month. Had a had a comparable gasoline car, it would have cost me $160. Therefore I save about $70 a month.
What is more, I sleep better knowing that I am doing my part minimizing my carbon footprint.