EV owners in these 12 states reap the most savings on car expenses

Driving a battery electric vehicle can save you up to $2,200 each year, while driving a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle can put an extra $1,500 a year in your pocket when compared to an internal combustion engine vehicle of equivalent size, an Argonne National Laboratory study has found.

But residents in 12 states, where a combination of high gas prices and lower electricity costs prevail, can do much better than that national average, an analysis of the 2024 Argonne data by Axios shows.

Drivers in California, Nevada, Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, West Virginia and Alaska can save from $0.13 to $0.16 per mile by driving EVs. In Washington and Idaho those savings amount to as much as $0.27 per mile.

“The magnitude of fuel cost savings and emissions reduction vary by region due to various factors. Generally, regions with high gasoline prices, low electricity prices, preferences for larger vehicles, and high driving intensities tend to see relatively large fuel savings,” the authors of the Argonne study wrote in the abstract describing their results.

Xinyi Wu, Yan Zhou and David Gohlke of the Energy Systems and Infrastructure Analysis Division at  Argonne derived fuel cost savings and greenhouse gas emission reductions at the state and ZIP code levels by looking at local fuel prices, vehicle class preference, average vehicle model year, fuel efficiencies and driving intensities.

In addition to the annual savings on car costs, the study found that the adoption of EVs can yield substantial greenhouse gas emission reductions nationwide. Battery EVs have the potential to save 400 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per mile, while plug in hybrids can save 200 grams compared to a representative internal combustion engine vehicle of the same class.

The researchers also noted earlier U.S. Dept. of Energy research showing the lower overall maintenance costs associated with EVs, as much as 4 cents per mile add to the fuel-cost savings.

They proposed that additional studies on public charging prices and the percentage of home versus public charging by region over an increasing population of drivers over time could shed further light on EV savings.

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