Electric car maintenance cost: what EVs really cost to keep running

If you are weighing an electric car, the question behind the question is usually “will it cost me less to keep on the road?” The honest answer is yes, by a clear margin, but the size of the margin depends on who measured it and what they counted. This guide lays out the figures from two sources we could read in full, explains where the savings come from, and shows how to track your own costs. For what actually changes on the service schedule, see our guide to hybrid and EV maintenance; for the cost of electricity, see EV charging cost.

What the studies found

Two sources are worth knowing, and they measure different things.

The first is a report from Argonne National Laboratory, a US Department of Energy lab, highlighted by the department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in June 2021. As summarized by Yale Environment 360, it put maintenance at about 10 cents per mile for a gasoline car, about 9 cents for a hybrid and about 6 cents for a battery-electric car, roughly 40% less than gas.

The second is Consumer Reports. Its October 2020 fact sheet analyzed thousands of 2019 and 2020 reliability survey reports from its members and found that repair and maintenance for battery-electric vehicles cost about half as much as for gas cars. Because it comes from what owners say they paid, it includes unplanned repairs, not just scheduled service.

Two things stand out. The electric car is cheaper in every band, and the cost per mile rises with age for both kinds of car, so the early years are the cheapest. The two sources do not agree on absolute numbers (6 cents per mile in one, 3.1 cents in the other), because they use different data and methods. Treat both as averages, not as a quote for your car.

What that means in dollars

Per-mile figures are easier to compare than to feel, so here is a simple illustration. If you drive 12,000 miles a year (an assumption for the example, not an average from these sources), 6 cents per mile is about $720 a year and 10 cents per mile is about $1,200 a year. The saving is the difference, around $480 a year on those numbers.

Consumer Reports also reports a headline figure: buyers of electric and plug-in hybrid cars can expect to save an average of $4,600 in repair and maintenance over the life of the vehicle. A separate figure cited in the same article, from the repair-cost site RepairPal, is about $900 a year for an EV by year five against about $1,200 a year for a comparable gas car. All of these are averages across many models, so a luxury EV and a small commuter EV will land far apart.

Where the savings come from

The US Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center explains the logic: all-electric vehicles need less maintenance because they have fewer moving parts and fluids to change. In practice that means:

• No regular engine oil changes
• Far less brake wear, because regenerative braking does much of the slowing down
• A battery, motor and electronics that need little to no regular maintenance

Hybrids sit in between. The same DOE page notes that hybrids and plug-in hybrids have maintenance needs similar to conventional vehicles because they still carry a combustion engine, although their brakes generally last longer.

What can still cost you

An EV is not maintenance-free. The things that remain are ordinary but they add up:

• Tires. They are a typical EV maintenance item, and Consumer Reports describes them wearing out around the fifth year of ownership. Our guide to when to replace tires covers the signs.
• Brake pads and fluid. Pads see less use, but they still need inspection.
• Coolant, cabin filter, wipers and suspension. Routine items that every car has.
• Out-of-warranty repairs. Consumer Reports cites an average battery pack replacement of about $5,500 and a motor replacement of $6,000 to $9,000. These are rare compared with routine costs, but they are the reason the warranty matters.

On the warranty, the DOE page says a typical EV battery warranty from many manufacturers is 8 years or 100,000 miles, and that replacing a battery outside warranty is expected to be a significant expense. Check the exact terms for the car you are looking at, because they vary by maker and model.

Older, higher-mileage EVs

Consumer Reports points out that costs could rise in higher-mileage electric cars, and that most of the EVs past 100,000 miles in its data were early Tesla Model S and Nissan Leaf cars. Those were first-generation designs, so the numbers may not describe a newer car. If you are buying a used EV, ask for the service record and read the battery warranty terms before you compare it with a gas car.

How to find your own number

Averages are a starting point. The figure that matters is what your own car costs. A simple way to get it:

1. Record every service, tire, repair and part as an expense with the odometer reading on that day.
2. Keep charging costs separate from maintenance, so you can see each on its own.
3. After 12 months, divide the maintenance and repair total by the miles driven to get your cost per mile.
4. Compare it with the per-mile figures above, and with what a similar gas car would have cost you.

In Badger you can log each visit under expenses with its mileage, and the totals show spending split by category; Pro adds the true cost per year and per mile. Our guide to car maintenance cost per year shows how to read those numbers for any kind of car.

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