The "$10,000 in savings over 5 years!" headlines you see on EV brand landing pages are usually true — but they bury critical assumptions. Here's the math you can actually trust.
At 3.5 mi/kWh (typical modern EV) and $0.17/kWh, an EV costs $0.049/mi. A 28-MPG gas car at $3.50/gal costs $0.125/mi. Over 12,000 mi/yr, that's ~$900/yr saved just on fuel.
Home time-of-use rates often cut this further — Southern California Edison's EV-TOU-5 plan lets you charge at $0.08/kWh overnight, dropping EV fuel cost to $0.023/mi.
EVs have ~200 fewer moving parts. No oil changes, no timing belts, no spark plugs, no transmission service. Regenerative braking means brake pads last 2-3x as long. Published data from Consumer Reports and the DOE puts EV maintenance at roughly 40% of gas-car equivalent.
Rough rule: $1,200/yr gas vs $500/yr EV = $700/yr saved.
This was the hidden killer 2019-2023. It's flipped. Pre-2020 EVs lost 50-60% value in 5 years. 2026 EVs with proven batteries (Tesla, Hyundai Ioniq 5/6, Kia EV6, Ford Mustang Mach-E) now track within 3-5% of gas-car depreciation.
The federal $7,500 EV tax credit fully ended after December 31, 2025. What's left in 2026:
A typical commuter household (12,000 mi/yr, 28-MPG gas vs 3.5 mi/kWh EV):
Home charging = gas station you own. No more gas station stops. That's ~40 hours/year you get back.