How much can you save going from a gas car to an EV? Depends on vehicle type

Charging an EV or PHEV typically costs less than stopping at a gas station, particularly if you charge at home. But how much you’ll save depends entirely on the type of gas vehicle you’re switching from. Energy.gov’s most recent Fact of the Week (FOTW) shows that some gas owners see significant savings when going electric, while others see little to no difference.

Most vehicle types see fuel cost reductions of 50 percent or more, with electric pickup trucks and SUVs saving the most over their gas counterparts. Electric vans saved around 27 percent, while electrified sports cars broke even with gas models.

Though the data lump EVs and PHEVs together, it’s important to point out that plug-in hybrids still require fuel and must be charged to deliver their full benefits. Energy.gov noted that the greater the level of electrification, the better the savings, so this study would look significantly different if EVs were isolated.

It’s also worth talking about location-related gas prices, as the fuel savings for drivers in California look drastically different from those in South Carolina. Gas prices play a role, but electricity pricing also impacts charging costs, so the cost to charge an EV might not be that much less than fuel stops for some drivers.

While saving money on fuel is an understandable incentive to go electric, EVs are generally more expensive to purchase than comparable gas models, and the time it takes to recoup that money in fuel savings can be significant. We’re mentioning savings of more than 50 percent for some vehicle types, but that only adds up to a few cents per mile.

For comparison purposes, the study placed the cost of gasoline conservatively at 10 cents per mile, and electricity at 4 cents. If you compare the $27,500 base price of a Hyundai Sonata to the $37,500 base price of the comparable Ioniq 6, it would take 166,667 miles to recover the extra $10,000 in fuel savings. As the data above show, the payout could be faster for a larger pickup truck or SUV, so buyers will need to do some math to figure out their actual savings.