Cost to Own an EV vs. Gasoline Vehicle

Ever tried to calculate the diff in cost? I used a AAA analysis & Car & Driver article to help with the numbers.

EV is $8,600 cheaper per 8 years. Details below. After that, you've got money saved to replace a battery at around 10 years or so, or a new transmission in a gas car would be similar in cost. EV wins.

I just got a '20 SV Leaf, and was impressed by Nissan rebates, plus state & federal tax credits to get the purchase price way way down. Leaf was about the same to buy as you might pay for a new Hyundai Elantra. The Leaf is comfy & quieter, intangibles though.

Just comparing cost-to-own based on maintenance and energy costs, the EV looks great.

15k miles per year assumed. 13 cents per kWH, $2.80 for gas.

.3kWH/mile x 15000miles x .13 dollars/kWH = $585 for electricity to go 15k miles, round to $600
(15000/30mpg) x 2.80 $/gallon = $1,400 for gas, + $100 time+trouble hunting down gas stations, gassing up = $1,500
$600 x 8 yrs = $4,800, and $1,500 x 8 yrs = $12,000
In eight years, maintenance costs are cheaper by $2400 for an EV according to a AAA study.
You might spend $1,000 in eight years for home charge cords, so include that in maintenance so the EV is only $1,400 better than a gas car.

This out of pocket money thing has been rehashed so many times it feels like it almost matches the number of EVs sold. A reasonable comparison comes down to an estimate of 4 things:

Purchase cost
Running costs
Fuel costs
Depreciation

OP is a good example of sort of considering the first three and neglecting depreciation.
The LEAF in particular is tricky because of battery degradation for one; and then the high cost of repairs in part related to dependency on Nissan dealerships and in part the high cost of parts for a low volume model.

This has played out in a very sorrowful way for the 24 kWh LEAFs. Even though the entire fleet is under 10 years old and the vast majority of the cars are in good mechanical shape with under 100k (often under 50k) miles on their odometers, they are +/- junk cars with values under $5k due to battery degradation and its replacement cost.

OTOH, the degradation issue seems to be solved, at least for Leafs in reasonably mild climates. Battery replacement after 10 years for a Plus, or for a 40kwh used locally, will likely now be an option, not essential...

SageBrush said:

This has played out in a very sorrowful way for the 24 kWh LEAFs. Even though the entire fleet is under 10 years old and the vast majority of the cars are in good mechanical shape with under 100k (often under 50k) miles on their odometers, they are +/- junk cars with values under $5k due to battery degradation and its replacement cost.

Click to expand...

I've got almost 70 k miles with almost 90% battery left on my 2014.

I wouldn't trade any gas vehicle with a leaf. My 2011 with 5 remaining bars and 38,000 miles is worth about $.75 a pound. Would be lucky to get $3000 for it. A battery here is $10,000. I cant get to the other side of the island on a good day.
OP also forgets that long road trips are arduous at best in the west coast states.
I am done with ex's. Love my ZR2 and soon to be corvette.

Glad to hear the battery degradation issue might be gone now with the 40 kWH Leafs. Hope you folks are right about the brainiacs at Ghosn's old company figuring out how to solve that. I've only had my Leaf a week and a half, & am already trying

I didn't get into purchase price and trade-in or used car value later since people sell at all different ages anyway & I don't know what residual value would be in 8 years...

That said, with Colorado's $4,000 and the usual Fed $7,500, combined with Nissan and dealer discounts of about $9k as year-end sales & pandemic specials, seems like price is looking quite good up front. That's why I said it's a little like buying a new Elantra gas car, although it's probably several thousand cheaper than an Elantra. ...... Depreciation? Hard to predict. Pick your favorite $$ number for 8 years from now on the used car market. I guess gasoline cars (or small CUV hatchback type bodies Leaf's) will still be sought-after 8 years from now.

Given the $8,600 advantage in maintenance & energy costs alone a Leaf has over a Kia Soul for example, that means you can replace a battery in 10 years on the Leaf and call it even, although, to be fair, the Soul might need a new automatic transmission in 11 years to keep the Leaf ahead of the game. The bell curve for tranny failure in gas cars/CUVs is probably centered at 11 years with a 2 year sigma (educated guess?).

I will never go back to a gas (or diesel) vehicle for local driving. I like the convenience of not stopping at gas stations every few days and not changing engine oil every 2 to 4 months. My off-peak power costs are low so my fuel costs are minimal. Out of pocket maintenance/repair costs have been minimal--a few sets of wiper refills, one 12V battery for the 2011, one 12V battery for the 2015, and several sets of tires. Also, I replaced a small relay in the 2011 that powers the electric shift control module which monitors the shift lever and engages/disengages the park pawl that was intermittently failing. I think I paid about $20 or $30 for the relay which would have been covered by warranty if I could have arrived at the dealer with it in failed position. I chose to replace it before getting stranded somewhere.

Edited to correct terminology for electric shift control module to match service manual section that covers it. The error message associated with the relay was T/M (for transmission control), but the appropriate section of the 2011 service manual calls it the electric shift control module.

GerryAZ said:

I like the convenience of not stopping at gas stations every few days and not changing engine oil every 2 to 4 months.

Click to expand...

That's overlooked by a lot of people. Nobody likes gas stations, unless you're into those hot dogs inside that have been rolling around for days.... Gas stations are unsafe, strictly speaking. Crime, fires, covid19, etc., usually not too awful, depending on the neighborhood, but we do like to protect our loved ones.
Gas station perks we EV owners see less of (sad):


As for oil changes, most gas cars only need an oil change once or twice a year, not 2 to 4 months, but good point anyway. EV's r better for the environment since DIYers sometimes dump used motor oil down the drain or on the ground, it's been a real problem for years. Gas cars also leak engine oil too often, making streets slicker and polluting, etc.

voltamps said:

Given the $8,600 advantage in maintenance & energy costs alone a Leaf has over a Kia Soul for example, that means you can replace a battery in 10 years on the Leaf and call it even, although, to be fair, the Soul might need a new automatic transmission in 11 years to keep the Leaf ahead of the game. The bell curve for tranny failure in gas cars/CUVs is probably centered at 11 years with a 2 year sigma (educated guess?).

Click to expand...

^^ This is good thinking. My main objection though is that LEAFs are usually second and third cars, and should not be compared to a car that people routinely buy as an only car. Put another way, cars should be compared by mileage and not time in general; and second, if a person or family also owns another car to make up for the use case scenarios that a LEAF cannot fill then the cost comparison should take that into account.

My somewhat lazy approximation of the above is to call the LEAF a 1/2 car. Since I paid $7,3000 for our LEAF, in my mind an ICE or a Tesla that costs $14,600 has about similar value. It also then would follow (in my world, anyway) that a $20K LEAF is about the same value as a $40k Tesla. So I bought a $7,300 LEAF and then a $40k Tesla and I own 1.5 cars.

Since Thanksgiving weekend, 2003, I have tracked the cost of EVERY mile I have driven which included a F-150, A Corolla, 3 Priuses and a half dozen EVs.

The Priuses suffered thru record high gas prices but also several periods of sub $2 gas. As far as cost to drive; I used fuel/tab fees only to tilt the balance to gassers. I took the best of the gasser cost ($1.80 gas) and the worst possible EV scenario which in my case would be all home charging at tier 2 rates which "almost" happened in November

and after all that, it boils down to how much one drives since there is a fixed cost (for me) of $225 a year to drive an EV but at my average of just over 16,000 miles a year, I am still seeing a 60% reduction in the cost per mile.

Now remember this is best case gasser verses worst case EV. The reality is my EV driving is over 400% cheaper than my 53 mpg Prius sipping $1.80 gas.

DaveinOlyWa, wish I was as good at tracking expenses as you are. Many random variables, situations different etc., but we can say EVs are best for local stuff. Gas vehicles & hybrids still very useful of course for long trips etc.

SageBrush, certainly the missions & roles an EV fills best has to be considered.
To cover it all, a family with 2 or more vehicles should own an EV for one of them for all those local trips (commuting, errands), and then have a comfy F-150 Hybrid for those trips to the Grand Canyon or granny's house, towing trailers & unlimited range with a few stops on the way.

I've got a '19 Tiguan with the Leaf, but now I'm thinking I wish the Tiguan was a Honda Ridgeline or Chevy Colorado. New F150 Hybrid sounds cool too. A hauler PU can do it all. An EV would get the most use every day.

voltamps said:

DaveinOlyWa, wish I was as good at tracking expenses as you are. Many random variables, situations different etc., but we can say EVs are best for local stuff. Gas vehicles & hybrids still very useful of course for long trips etc.

SageBrush, certainly the missions & roles an EV fills best has to be considered.
To cover it all, a family with 2 or more vehicles should own an EV for one of them for all those local trips (commuting, errands), and then have a comfy F-150 Hybrid for those trips to the Grand Canyon or granny's house, towing trailers & unlimited range with a few stops on the way.

I've got a '19 Tiguan with the Leaf, but now I'm thinking I wish the Tiguan was a Honda Ridgeline or Chevy Colorado. New F150 Hybrid sounds cool too. A hauler PU can do it all. An EV would get the most use every day.

Click to expand...

Well, I am down to one car since April 2018 and I have had no issues. Only a forced move required additional wheels and it was under $60 to rent. Either way, a truck "could" have covered the job but it would have been a LOT more work. As far as simply getting somewhere? If its that far, I fly. My shortest flight has been Vegas which is a place I would never drive to. A car in Vegas is not worth the headache.

I'm completely EV-hooked! The 2016 is my primary car. It was a trade-in, so it had already done much of its depreciating. I use it for practically everything, including camping (I enjoy the exploration opportunities of level-2 charging stops). The utility here offers off-peak energy at $0.055 per kWh. It's been averaging 4.7 mi/kWh, and it's practically free to drive (about $0.014/mile for energy). No noticeable degradation, and the only maintenance in almost two years has been wipers, washer fluid, and a tire.

I sure hope I never have to go back to a combustion car (even though the previous one was a Prius).

PrairieLEAF said:

It's been averaging 4.7 mi/kWh, and it's practically free to drive (about $0.014/mile for energy).

Click to expand...

When I lived in Colorado I built my own PV array. That worked out to ~ 0.5 cents a mile to fuel our EVs. Even though I tend to track money carefully, I gave up tracking fuel costs. I draw the line at counting pennies

By the time we traded in the Prius PHEV it seemed like a relic of the last century. We'd both hate to have to drive anything like that again, much less a non-hybrid ICE, or even a hybrid with no EV mode.

We drove VW diesels for years, averaging close to 50 MPG. At $3/ gallon, cost about $.06 per mile. Our Leaf averages about 4.2 m/kw, which costs us $.17, or about 2/3 the cost per mile for fuel alone so it saves $$. Add in oil changes every 5K miles and the Leaf is getting even better in comparison...... but the biggest factor is initial cost: we always bought older models and never paid more than $3500 even for the best TDI we ever owned, and they lasted us well into the 250K mile range even with the worst abuse imaginable. Not complaining, I love the Leafs, but do not expect to see the same number of miles per dollar that the old VWs gave us.

Yeah, it's possible to save more money on an ICE. Old VW diesels running on donated waste vegetable oil, or home heating oil, would be one way. Getting a "new" $200 4 cylinder beater every few years would also work.

LeftieBiker said:

Yeah, it's possible to save more money on an ICE. Old VW diesels running on donated waste vegetable oil, or home heating oil, would be one way. Getting a "new" $200 4 cylinder beater every few years would also work.

Click to expand...

To be absolutely fair, we have never bought a new car before and there is some advantage to knowing that it will (should) not require ANYTHING for a good long time! The old VWs never did not need something...... (forgive the tortured syntax please...)

dmacarthur said:

We drove VW diesels for years, averaging close to 50 MPG. At $3/ gallon, cost about $.06 per mile. Our Leaf averages about 4.2 m/kw, which costs us $.17, or about 2/3 the cost per mile for fuel alone so it saves $$. Add in oil changes every 5K miles and the Leaf is getting even better in comparison...... but the biggest factor is initial cost: we always bought older models and never paid more than $3500 even for the best TDI we ever owned, and they lasted us well into the 250K mile range even with the worst abuse imaginable. Not complaining, I love the Leafs, but do not expect to see the same number of miles per dollar that the old VWs gave us.

Click to expand...

Ok, my Corolla cost "all in" was under 20 cents/ mile. My best LEAF the 2016 S30 which was in the mid 20's (the only LEAF to hit the twenties but only due to favorable insurance payout which happened during the "Nissan discount bubble")

But it was a $2100 beater that had other issues. My Sister is a service advisor and my BiL is a tech so repairs were done cheaper than normal. But it became obvious to me that it wasn't worth the savings to drive old cars when a new car was only a bit cheaper. So the problem becomes the quality of the car verses the cost and that is where the value diverges considerably. Even a well kept used gasser 5 years old for $10,000 costs simply keep spiraling

DaveinOlyWA said:

dmacarthur said:

We drove VW diesels for years, averaging close to 50 MPG. At $3/ gallon, cost about $.06 per mile. Our Leaf averages about 4.2 m/kw, which costs us $.17, or about 2/3 the cost per mile for fuel alone so it saves $$. Add in oil changes every 5K miles and the Leaf is getting even better in comparison...... but the biggest factor is initial cost: we always bought older models and never paid more than $3500 even for the best TDI we ever owned, and they lasted us well into the 250K mile range even with the worst abuse imaginable. Not complaining, I love the Leafs, but do not expect to see the same number of miles per dollar that the old VWs gave us.

Click to expand...

Ok, my Corolla cost "all in" was under 20 cents/ mile. My best LEAF the 2016 S30 which was in the mid 20's (the only LEAF to hit the twenties but only due to favorable insurance payout which happened during the "Nissan discount bubble")

But it was a $2100 beater that had other issues. My Sister is a service advisor and my BiL is a tech so repairs were done cheaper than normal. But it became obvious to me that it wasn't worth the savings to drive old cars when a new car was only a bit cheaper. So the problem becomes the quality of the car verses the cost and that is where the value diverges considerably. Even a well kept used gasser 5 years old for $10,000 costs simply keep spiraling

Click to expand...

As the owner of a 2019 Plus I am always encouraged to see owners of much older Leafs stating that the only repairs they have made are wipers and tires- this sounds good! and I am also always looking for high mileage Leafs- do they hold up decently for 150K miles? (and corrolary; will the newer battery hold up better in northern US...) Only time will answer these questions.....