A Canadian driver's detailed road-trip math is hitting the mark with electric vehicle owners who say charging savings can add up quickly, even on longer drives.
For one 2,728-mile (4,390-kilometer) trip from western Quebec to the Maritimes and back, the driver calculated that an EV was more than $116 cheaper than a highly efficient hybrid in a thread posted to r/electricvehicles.
Here's what to know
In a Reddit post, the original poster went through the calculations of how much their EV saved them.
"So I did a 4390 km road trip from western Quebec to Canada's maritime provinces and back," they wrote. "Calculating what it has cost me charging, it turns out to be $374.82."
Set against that total, the poster estimated that the same route in a Prius Prime getting about 42 mpg (5.6 liters per 100 kilometers), with gas at about 7.57 Canadian dollars per gallon ($2/L), would have cost roughly $491 in fuel.
The EV figure also included money still left in charging-network wallets, so the final real-world cost could end up slightly lower after they try to get that money back.
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Examples in the thread ranged from short drives to longer road trips. The original poster said a 62-mile (100-kilometer) cottage trip cost just $1.65 in electricity, compared with $12 in gas in a previous Hyundai Tucson, because of at-home charging.
Another commenter wrote that a typical drive from northeastern Ontario to Toronto or Hamilton costs "roughly 1/2 to 3/4 what the Prius would have cost us on a road trip."
More background
Rather than relying on manufacturer claims or lab-based estimates, drivers are comparing actual routes, real gas prices, and their own charging costs.
Savings aren't identical in every case. One commenter from the Prairies said Tesla Superchargers can be expensive enough that road-trip charging is "more expensive than gas for me unless I can charge at home."
Even with that example, the broader trend in the thread still favored EVs, particularly for drivers who combine public charging with lower-cost home charging.
"The cost difference can be even greater," a commenter wrote. "I drove my BMW iX over 7K miles in the U.S. this summer, and spent ~$400 on fast charging. I also took advantage of a few free chargers at hotels and rental homes. The cost to fuel a similar X5 ICE would've been around $1,200."
What can be done?
One commenter noted that charging-network memberships can quickly pay for themselves, writing that "all it takes is 3 Electrify Canada stops to completely make up the cost of the membership, everything after that is pure savings."
Home charging can shift the economics even further. Several commenters said their biggest savings do not come on road trips but in everyday driving, when they can avoid the gas station altogether and charge overnight.
"With even higher gas prices, it's no wonder European drivers are moving rapidly to EVs," the BMW iX driver said.
Where can I learn more?
In America, a variety of research has looked into the same cost questions raised in the Reddit thread.
• In the Bay Area, an EV still costs 7.9 times less even without home charging.
• A Yale comparison map shows charging costs far less than a fill-up for a gas car.
• Across the US, home EV charging costs about 5 to 6 cents a mile.
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