New research reveals whether Tesla charging is really cheaper than gas as man shares shocking difference

New research has revealed whether owning an electric vehicle is actually cheaper in the long run compared to owning a motor.

If you've ever thought about making the switch from a gas to an electric car, you'll have mulled over whether you would be saving a pretty penny.

In fact, according to a CNET survey carried out last year, as many as 43 percent of American adults expressed their concerns over purchasing an electric vehicle (EV), with one in five stating that the cost of charging was a negative.

Well, we can reveal that here as the numbers have been broken down in a way that could come as a shock to some.

Using US averages from government and industry data, the report by CNET found that for someone driving 1,250 miles a month, it is much cheaper to go green.

Should we all be making the switch to electric, or are they really that cost affective? (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Cost per month of EV charging vs gas

The average power needed to run an electric vehicle is three miles per kilowatt-hour (kWh), with 417 kWh used per month at a cost of 17.5 cents per kWh - as per the average cost of electricity in US households - translates to an average energy cost per mile at 5.8 cents.

That means it costs around $73 per month to recharge an EV.

Now, as for the gas-ran cars, I'll break it down in the same format. The average cost of gas per gallon is $3.18 - with that much fuel taking you an average of 25 miles - with 50 gallons needed on average to drive 1,250 miles.

It costs 12.7 cents per mile, with an average monthly cost coming in at around $86 more per month for the same distance driven, at a total of $159.

Cost per year of EV charging vs gas

Using that same data, it would cost $1,908 to fuel a gas-powered motor - dwarfing the amount it would cost to recharge an electric vehicle for the same amount of time, costing $876.

That's a saving of $1,032 each year.

Victor Sanchez pumps gas into his truck at an Arco gas station in Mill Valley, California, as Labor Day gas prices were forecasted to be the lowest since 2020... but I'm sorry to say Victor, you'd actually save a fortune switching to EV! (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

YouTuber shares shocking difference in price

YouTuber EV Kiwi explained that he charges his Tesla Model 3 using off-peak rates and overnight, a simple way to cut costs when running an electric car.

In a year, he travelled 13,256km (8,237 miles), and did almost half of his total charging at home, with 93 per cent of it done during off-peak hours.

At the time he did his calculations in 2022, this worked out to an annual cost of just $170 USD by charging the car at home, just over 14 bucks a month to charge.

The YouTuber was understandably gobsmacked at this, and revealed that before getting his Tesla, he was paying around $41 a month on fuel.

In regard to the amount he spent using public chargers, he spent approximately $114 ($179 NZD) over the 12 months, making his total spending $285 ($448 NZD).

Looking at fuel rates when the video was made, gas cost around 2.77 cents per litre in New Zealand.

Using those figures to work out how much it would have cost him to travel 13,256km, he would have needed 1,233 litres of gas, which would have cost $3,416 NZD. Yikes.

Obviously, what he actually spent to run his Tesla was a far cry from that eye-watering figure, and the YouTuber saved an impressive $2,698 NZD that year.