By Zutobi Drivers Ed

(February 23, 2022) Many of us are currently planning our next car purchase as attractions open up and road trips become more viable. A key consideration for many is our vehicles’ cost and environmental friendliness, with many of us turning to EVs to reduce our carbon footprint on the planet. Having an electric vehicle that will get you through your whole trip without needing to make frequent stops to recharge could be a big help in reducing your carbon footprint during your trip.

Also, if you have just passed your driving test and want to be environmentally conscious while saving money, knowing which EV is the cheapest to run is great for the planet and your pocket. So to save you hunting around for the answer, we’ve taken a look at which EVs are the cheapest to charge per mile, as well as revealing the difference in cost to charge your EV by state, to crown the cheapest and most expensive states to run an EV in.

Taking the top three positions in our research are the various models of the Tesla Model 3 (Standard Range Plus, Standard Range Plus LFP, and Long Range Dual Motor), all of which could allow you to travel over 3,000 miles on $100 worth of electricity, making a green trip from one side of the United States to the other completely possible.

The cheapest EV to charge in the United States is the Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus which comes in the top spot. With an estimated cost of $3.02 per 100 miles to charge, it is nearly $2.50 cheaper per 100 miles to charge than the Audi e-Tron S 55 Quattro which comes last on our list.



Midwest states will get you the most mileage out of $100

We then took the United States’ most popular electric vehicle, the Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus, to see which states were the cheapest and most expensive to run an EV in to get an average indication of these factors overall.

1. Oklahoma
Average price of electricity (per kWh): $0.0892Estimated cost to fully charge: $4.46Estimated cost per mile: $0.021Estimated cost per 100 miles: $2.12Miles per $100: 4,709

2. Missouri
Average price of electricity (per kWh): $0.0938Estimated cost to fully charge: $4.69Estimated cost per mile: $0.022Estimated cost per 100 miles: $2.23Miles per $100: 4,478

3. Nebraska
Average price of electricity (per kWh): $0.0941Estimated cost to fully charge: $4.71Estimated cost per mile: $0.022Estimated cost per 100 miles: $2.24Miles per $100: 4,463

We found that in  Oklahoma you could travel for 4,709 miles per $100 of electricity in the Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus. On the other hand, if you were looking to travel far on a charge from Hawaii, you would only be able to travel 1,375 miles per $100 worth of electricity. Hawaii would also be the most expensive state to charge this Tesla in, with an estimated cost to charge at $15.28.

Methodology

The cost of electricity in each US state and the US as a whole was sourced from the US Energy Information Administration.

To calculate the estimated cost to charge each car we took the useable battery capacity (kWh) and the real range (miles), which were sourced from the EV Database, to calculate the estimated cost to charge, the estimated cost per mile, the estimated cost per 100 miles and miles per $100 for each car and state in the United States.

About Zutobi

Zutobi is an online driver’s education company with the goal to make the roads a safer place. Instead of just helping students prepare for the permit test, our top priority is to teach about driving safety practices and driver safety to create better, and safer, drivers.