The short answer
Gas prices are high right now. AAA says pump prices are the highest they've ever been for this time of year, with the national average at about $4.31 a gallon on October 17, 2026. So it's a good moment to ask: how much cheaper is it to drive on electricity?
The short answer: charging at home costs less per mile than gas in every state we checked, usually about half to two-thirds less. Charging from your own solar panels costs even less. Here are the numbers.
Cost per mile in four places
Gas: AAA state averages for regular, October 17, 2026. Electricity: EIA average home prices, July 2026 (latest available). Gas car: 28 MPG. EV: 2024 Tesla Model Y Long Range, 29 kWh per 100 miles (EPA). Solar: see "How we worked out the solar number" below.
| State | Gas car (28 MPG) | EV charged at home from the grid | EV charged from home solar |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 22.1¢ a mile (gas $6.19) | 9.7¢ a mile (power 33.6¢/kWh) | about 2¢ a mile |
| New York | 15.8¢ a mile (gas $4.43) | 8.7¢ a mile (power 29.9¢/kWh) | about 2.7¢ a mile |
| Texas | 13.6¢ a mile (gas $3.80) | 4.6¢ a mile (power 15.9¢/kWh) | about 2.4¢ a mile |
| US average | 15.4¢ a mile (gas $4.31) | 5.3¢ a mile (power 18.3¢/kWh) | about 2.5¢ a mile |
What the numbers mean
The biggest saving is in Texas, where electricity is cheap. An EV costs about two-thirds less per mile than gas there. The smallest is in New York, where electricity is expensive, but you still save a little under half. California has the most expensive gas and pricey power too, and still comes out well ahead for the EV.
What that means over a year
Here's the same comparison for a driver who covers 12,000 miles a year, with the same prices and cars as above. This is fuel only: insurance, maintenance and purchase price aren't included.
| State | Gas car | EV on grid power | What you'd save with an EV |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | about $2,650 | about $1,170 | about $1,480 (56%) |
| New York | about $1,900 | about $1,040 | about $860 (45%) |
| Texas | about $1,630 | about $550 | about $1,080 (66%) |
| US average | about $1,850 | about $640 | about $1,210 (65%) |
How to work it out for yourself
You only need two numbers for each car, and both are on your receipts or your bill.
Gas car: price per gallon ÷ your car's MPG. At $4.31 a gallon and 28 MPG, that's about 15.4 cents a mile.
EV: your electricity price per kWh × your car's kWh per mile. A Model Y uses about 0.29 kWh a mile, so at 18.3 cents per kWh, that's about 5.3 cents a mile.
You'll find your car's official rating on fueleconomy.gov, and your electricity price on your bill. Use the total price per kWh, including delivery charges.
How we worked out the solar number
Solar power isn't free. You pay for the panels up front. To compare fairly, we spread that cost over the power the panels make.
We used the same assumptions as our calculator: $3.00 per watt installed with no tax credit (SolarReviews puts the 2026 average at about $3.03), 18% system losses, each state's average sunshine and 25 years of output, allowing for panels slowly losing about 0.5% of their output each year. With average US sunshine (about 4.98 peak sun hours a day), that works out to roughly 8.5 cents per kWh, or about 2.5 cents a mile for a Model Y. Sunny California comes in lower (about 7 cents per kWh) and New York higher (about 9.5 cents). Once the system has paid for itself, the cost of each extra mile is close to zero.
One important catch: this only works if your car actually uses your solar power. That means charging at home during the day, or having a utility that gives you full credit for the solar you export. Our guides on net metering and day vs. night charging explain how to check.
When an EV doesn't save as much
You mostly use public fast chargers: fast chargers, like Tesla Superchargers or Electrify America, often cost about 40 to 60 cents per kWh. In early 2026, the US average was about 53 cents (Paren). That's about 15 cents a mile in a Model Y, roughly the same as a 28 MPG gas car at today's national average, and more than a good hybrid. Most of an EV's savings come from charging at home.
You live somewhere very cold: EVs use more energy in freezing weather, mainly to heat the cabin and battery. In a place like Minnesota, your cost per mile will rise in January and February. Our winter guide has the details.
You're comparing with a very efficient car: we used a typical 28 MPG car. If you'd otherwise drive a 50 MPG hybrid, the gap is much smaller. On the other hand, if you're replacing a 15 MPG pickup with an electric truck like the F-150 Lightning, the savings get much bigger: about 29 cents a mile for gas at the national average, against about 9 cents a mile charging at home.
An example: Emily in upstate New York
Emily drives 45 miles each way to work, 90 miles a day, in a Honda Accord that gets about 32 MPG. With New York gas at about $4.43 a gallon, that's about $12.45 a day in fuel.
She switched to a Model Y. Her 90-mile round trip uses about 26 kWh. At New York's average home electricity price of about 30 cents per kWh, that's about $7.80 a day, which saves her about 37%. That's less than drivers in many other states, because New York power is pricey and her Accord was already efficient.
Then she looked at her utility's time-of-use plan. National Grid's, for example, has cheaper power overnight, from 11 PM to 7 AM. Exact prices vary by plan, so she checked hers. If overnight charging brought her price down to around 15 cents per kWh, her commute would cost about $3.90 a day, less than a third of what she paid for gas. All she had to do was set the car to charge after 11 PM.
(Emily is an example, not a real customer. The 15¢ overnight price is an illustration, not a quote; check your own utility's rates.)