Three years ago I drove my last tank of gas. At the time I was on a 44-mile round-trip commute in a 2019 Highlander that averaged 24 mpg, with gas running about $3.80/gallon in Denver. I've since corrected some of the figures I originally posted here — the early estimates had some meaningful errors, and I want the record to be accurate.
Here's what I found after 36 months and just over 41,000 miles of real data.
Energy cost: $1,620 total ($45/month)
I charge almost exclusively at home on a time-of-use rate (11 cents/kWh off-peak). Occasional Supercharger stops during road trips add about $120/year. At 41,000 miles, the Model Y's ~3.2 mi/kWh real-world efficiency with ~15% AC charging losses works out to roughly 14,700 kWh total — about $1,620 at my off-peak rate.
Fuel comparison: the honest math
41,000 miles ÷ 24 mpg × $3.80/gallon = $6,490 in gas for the same mileage. My original post said "$320/month" and "$11,520 total" — those numbers were wrong. At my actual mpg and fuel cost, the correct figure is closer to $180/month and roughly $6,490 over three years. My fuel savings are real and significant — about $4,870 over three years, or ~$135/month — but not $10,000+.
Maintenance: lower, but I overcounted the Highlander
No oil changes, no transmission fluid, no spark plugs, no serpentine belt. I've done tires (expected), one set of wipers, and one cabin air filter. Total EV maintenance over 3 years: $830. I initially estimated the Highlander's scheduled service at $1,200–1,600/year — that was too high. RepairPal puts the actual average for a 2019 Highlander at roughly $490/year, or about $1,470 over three years. EV advantage here: roughly $640, not the multi-thousand gap I implied before.
Insurance: the cost I got most wrong
My original post said my rate went up $18/month switching to the Model Y. The real number is closer to $80/month. The higher replacement value of the car is the main driver, and EV-specific repair costs — particularly anything involving HV battery exposure in a collision — are starting to factor into how insurers price these vehicles. If you're building an EV cost comparison, go get an actual quote from your insurer, not a number from a forum post. Depending on your profile, location, and carrier, I've seen everything from $40/month to $150+/month over a comparable ICE vehicle.
First-year hardware (unchanged)
The 240V outlet installation was $380 (licensed electrician, new 50A circuit). I also bought a used Grizzl-E for $180. One-time costs, well worth it.
Corrected 3-year operating cost comparison
The EV still wins on operating costs — but the margin is narrower than most EV vs. gas comparisons suggest. Fuel savings are meaningful and real. The insurance increase is also meaningful, and gets minimized or omitted in most posts I've read, including my own original version. And my Highlander maintenance estimate was inflated roughly 2–3×.
Payback on the vehicle price premium (Model Y vs. Highlander) based on these corrected operating savings: somewhere in the 12–15 year range. That math alone doesn't justify the switch — the case for EVs has to include driving experience, the simplicity of starting every day with a "full tank," and zero unscheduled maintenance visits in 3 years. Because the pure cost arbitrage, honestly calculated, is a slow payback at current prices.
I'll keep updating this thread as I hit year 4. What are your numbers looking like — especially on insurance by state?
Eleven years in with my 2013 Leaf and the TCO numbers track with this breakdown — with one wildcard the article underestimates for older EVs: battery replacement. I'm at 78% SOH after 62k miles, still fine for my 14-mile commute, but the writing is on the wall. A reconditioned pack from Greentec runs $3,000–4,500 installed, which changes the 10-year TCO picture meaningfully compared to a newer car still under warranty.
The insurance delta correction in this post is the most honest number I've seen published on a forum. Most EV cost comparisons I read still use pre-correction figures and it skews the operating-advantage conclusion significantly — the math is right here.
These numbers track really closely with mine. I have a 2022 Ioniq 5 RWD and I'm at 28,000 miles over 22 months. My electricity rate is higher (PG&E in California, ~14 cents off-peak on EV2-A rate), so my energy cost is closer to $55/month, but the gas savings are even bigger here because California gas prices are consistently $1.00–1.50 higher than the national average.
The one cost you didn't mention: depreciation. The Ioniq 5 has held value surprisingly well for an EV — I'd lose maybe $6,000 if I sold today vs. what I paid. But that's very model-dependent. Early Leafs were notoriously brutal on resale because of battery degradation concerns.
↩ replying to @SolarSarah
Ioniq 6 here. 231 Wh/mile over 22k miles. Depreciation has been brutal on 2023 model buyers — Hyundai price cuts and the refreshed model killed resale. I'd factor a 25–30% first-year depreciation into any EV cost comparison now, especially on Korean brands that have been aggressive on pricing.
↩ replying to @SolarSarah
The insurance number is what every TCO calculator buries or omits. My Y LR came in $91/month higher than my previous F-150 after accounting for replacement cost. Three years of fuel savings nearly canceled by three years of insurance delta. The EV is still better on cost — but the honest math is a lot less dramatic than most forum posts make it look.
↩ replying to @SolarSarah
California perspective: my SCE EV-2A rate has a 9-cent off-peak window that runs until noon, so my monthly charging cost is closer to $28 on about 1,400 miles. But California gas prices push the comparison harder the other way — I'm saving from a baseline of $5.10/gallon, not $3.80. The insurance jump was real here too though — $94/month to a Model 3 over my previous Accord.
Good write-up. I'd push back slightly on the insurance comment though. Repair costs for EVs with large battery packs — especially where the pack is the structural floor of the car — can be astronomically high in accidents. A Rivian R1T with moderate undercarriage damage was recently quoted at over $40k in repairs and written off because the battery replacement alone exceeded the vehicle's depreciated value.
That's starting to creep into insurance pricing for newer models. Some insurers have started flagging high-voltage vehicle repairs as a category. Worth checking specifically what your insurer's EV repair policy is before you assume it's a wash.
↩ replying to @EVengineer
R1T owner in Colorado here. The HV battery repair cost point you raised is where Rivian buyers feel the most exposure — the R1T's structural battery pack design makes any undercarriage damage essentially a total-loss event at current repair costs. My insurer added a specific line item for "high-voltage battery exposure risk." The $80/month insurance delta in the thread OP is conservative by Rivian standards; I'm at $127/month over my previous F-150.
Running even better numbers off-grid. I generate my own solar, so my effective electricity cost for charging is about 4 cents/kWh (amortized panel + battery cost). My Chevy Bolt has cost me maybe $18/month in "fuel" for 2 years. The Bolt is obviously much cheaper to buy than a Model Y which changes the math, but the operating cost per mile is genuinely pennies.
The thing I tell skeptics: the savings compound. Every year gas prices go up an average of 3–4%, and every year your electricity costs stay flat (or go down if you have solar). The gap gets bigger the longer you own.
↩ replying to @GridFreeGuy
PNW off-grid, similar experience. Solar-to-car ratio is about 87% annual average but drops to 68% November through January. The compounding savings point is real — my electricity cost for the house is fixed infrastructure cost, not variable fuel price. Three years in and I've felt zero of the gas price volatility I'd have paid on a commute in an ICE vehicle.
Stickying this one — EV vs. gas cost questions come up every week. Note that the original post has been corrected: the initial version significantly understated the insurance cost increase and overcounted the Highlander's maintenance by 2–3×. The corrected 3-year operating advantage is roughly $2,070, not $11,000+. @engineer's point about HV battery repair costs is exactly why the insurance delta matters more than people expect. Get a real quote for your specific car and profile before building a cost model — the gap between what you read in forum posts and what you'll actually pay can be $50–100+/month.
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