5 min read · November 24, 2026
EV vs. Gas: Comparing the Real Cost Per Mile
A typical gas car costs roughly $0.10–$0.15 per mile in fuel alone at current prices, while an EV charged at home typically costs $0.03–$0.06 per mile — often less than half. The gap narrows or disappears if you rely on public fast charging instead of home charging, which usually costs several times more per kWh.
The gas side of the comparison
Cost per mile for a gas car is simply price per gallon divided by miles per gallon. At $3.60 a gallon and 30 mpg, that's $3.60 ÷ 30 = $0.12 per mile — exactly the number this calculator's 'cost per mile' figure gives directly once you enter your own price and mpg.
That figure only covers fuel. Maintenance adds roughly another $0.08–$0.10 per mile on average for a gas car over its lifetime (oil changes, brakes, more frequent wear from a more complex drivetrain), which matters for a true apples-to-apples comparison with an EV.
The electric side of the comparison
Cost per mile for an EV is home electricity price divided by the car's efficiency (miles per kWh). At the roughly 15¢/kWh US average and a typical 3–4 miles per kWh, that works out to about $0.04–$0.05 per mile — before counting the lower maintenance cost EVs also tend to carry, commonly cited around $0.06 per mile versus $0.10 for gas.
Public fast charging changes this significantly: it commonly runs 3–5x the price per kWh of home charging, which can push an EV's cost per mile close to or even above a gas car's on trips that rely heavily on public chargers rather than charging at home overnight.
Putting the full comparison together
Fuel/energy alone: gas around $0.12–$0.14/mile, home-charged EV around $0.04–$0.06/mile — the EV usually wins by a wide margin. Add typical maintenance (gas ≈$0.10/mile, EV ≈$0.06/mile) and the gap widens further in the EV's favor for anyone who charges mostly at home.
The comparison flips for a driver who does most of their charging at public fast chargers rather than at home — at that point it's worth running both numbers with your actual charging mix rather than assuming the home-charging benchmark applies, since that's the single biggest variable in whether an EV is actually cheaper per mile for a specific driver.
Put it into practice
The fastest way to learn the math is to play with the numbers.
Open the Gas Price Travel Estimator