EV vs Gas Savings Calculator

Choosing between an electric vehicle and a gas car comes down to what each one costs to run over time, not just the sticker price. The tool estimates the savings an EV could deliver across a period you define, weighing both the immediate operating costs and the way they accumulate over the years you plan to keep the car.

Under the hood, it compares the yearly running costs of the two vehicles. Annual fuel cost is miles ÷ MPG × gas price for the gas car and miles ÷ miles per kWh × electricity rate for the EV; the maintenance costs you enter (defaults $1,200 and $600 a year) are compared the same way, and the combined yearly saving is multiplied by 5 and by 10. If you enter both purchase prices, the price gap minus any incentive you enter is divided by the yearly saving to give a payback period in months. The federal clean vehicle credit of up to $7,500 is not available for vehicles acquired after September 30, 2025, so enter only a state or local incentive you actually qualify for. About 40 states also charge electric cars an extra registration fee each year in place of gas tax, from $50 in Hawaii to $270 in New Jersey in 2026; enter yours under the advanced options (state pages fill it in) and it comes off the yearly saving.

Several moving parts deserve attention: electricity and gas prices both shift over time, and an EV may eventually face a battery replacement. Home charging tends to cost far less than public charging, and the difference is easy to underestimate, just as available government incentives are easy to overlook when they could meaningfully change the outcome.