
The Tesla Model 3. Credit: Official Tesla website
Due to rising gas prices, electric cars are now three to six times cheaper to drive in the US, says a report by the Zero Emission Transportation Association (ZETA).
Electric vehicles were always known to be less costly to operate than their gas-powered counterparts but this difference is becoming increasingly stark with the recent rise in gas prices.
Across the US, gas prices have risen to over $4.20 a gallon on average, and over $5 a gallon in many regions. ZETA has released a new paper that calculates how this increase is affecting the cost of operation of gas-powered vehicles in comparison with EVs. According to the paper, the gas price increase is now making electric vehicles between three to six times cheaper than gas-powered vehicles depending on the state.
“Overall, as of March 2022, driving an EV is dramatically cheaper per mile than driving a gas-powered vehicle. Nationally, EVs are 3-5 times cheaper to drive per mile than gas-powered vehicles. In Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, some EVs are 5–6 times cheaper to drive.”
The report arrives at the total cost per mile to operate gas-powered cars and EVs by comparing gas and electricity prices, the cost of a full tank of gas or a full charge of the battery pack, and the estimated mileage of the models compared, viz. Ford F150, Toyota RAV4, and Honda Civic versus Ford F150 Lightning, Rivian R1T/S, and Tesla Model 3.
Joe Britton, the Executive Director of ZETA, commented on the report: “EV charging costs are not dependent on global oil markets—and are therefore not subject to the same price shocks, disruptions, and supply shortages. Instead, EVs run on electricity, which is cheaper than gasoline and is produced domestically from increasingly renewable and locally derived resources. As Congress moves forward to pass new transformative clean energy investments to electrify the transportation sector and bolster domestic auto manufacturing, EVs’ sticker prices and total cost of ownership will only continue to come down, paving the way for electric vehicles to become the new—and affordable—normal in the United States.”
More on electric vehicles here.