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EV Road Trip Cost Calculator — Charging vs Gas

Worked example — a Tesla Model Y Long Range from Los Angeles to Las Vegas on I-15 (270 miles): at 27 kWh per 100 miles the trip needs 72.9 kWh. Leaving home at 90% carries 60 usable kWh (after a 10% reserve), leaving just 12.9 kWh to buy on the road — one short Supercharger stop in Barstow or Baker (30 minutes) at the Tesla Supercharging average of $0.35/kWh. Total: $9.60 of home electricity + $4.52 of DC charging = $14.12, versus $33.19 for a 24-mpg gas SUV at $2.95/gal — a $19 (~57%) saving — while a 50-mpg hybrid costs $15.93 and ties the EV with zero stops. Verdict: in 2026 DC charging clearly beats gas when you start from home, and only converges with the hybrid if you lean entirely on premium networks like Electrify America ($0.48/kWh → $15.79 for this trip).

Model Y — energy needed72.9 kWh (270 mi)
Charging stops (90% home start)1 × 30 min
EV total (home + Supercharging)$14.12
Gas SUV total$33.19
Hybrid total$15.93
Saving vs gas$19.07 (≈ 72 SAR)

EV Road Trip Cost Calculator — Charging vs Gas

Inputs

America's best-selling EV — ~270 mi real range, native Supercharger access.

US residential average ≈ $0.16/kWh in 2026 — leaving home at 90–100% is the cheapest energy of the whole trip.

$0.35/kWh 2026 average (site spread ~$0.25–0.50); most non-Tesla EVs now tap it via NACS ports or adapters.

Default scenario: Model Y · LA→Vegas · 90% home start — edit inputs
EV trip energy cost
$14.12
Los Angeles → Las Vegas (I-15) · 270 mi · Tesla Model Y Long Range
≈ 55 SAR (pegged rate) — 1$ = 3.75 SAR
Energy needed72.9 kWh
From home charge (90% → 10% reserve)60.0 kWh · $9.60
DC charging (Cheapest DC mix (Tesla Supercharging))12.9 kWh · $4.52
Charging stops1 × 30 min
Gas SUV (24 mpg @ $2.95/gal)$33.19
Hybrid (50 mpg)$15.93
The EV beats both. Tesla Model Y Long Range saves $19.07 vs the gas SUV and $1.81 even vs the 50-mpg hybrid — for 1 charging stop and a 30 min time penalty.
Per 100 miles — Tesla Model Y Long Range
Public Level 2 (destination)$5.40
Hybrid (50 mpg)$5.90
Tesla Supercharging (selected)$9.45
EVgo$11.34
Gas SUV (24 mpg)$12.29
Electrify America$12.96

Below ~20°F (-7°C) expect 20–30% more kWh per mile: heater load plus battery chemistry. A 1-stop summer route can become 2 stops in January.

Planning apps honesty: ABRP, PlugShare and the in-car/Tesla trip planners are good but not gospel — stall outages and per-site pricing change weekly, so carry ~15% buffer and one fallback charger per leg.

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How the EV road-trip cost calculator works

Enter your trip details to get travel figures based on current, -specific numbers.

  1. 1

    Step 1

    Pick one of 8 popular routes and one of 10 models (Tesla, Korean, American, plus the Prius Prime PHEV as the honest gas-side benchmark), then set your home-charge start percentage and network — or let the cheapest mix pick for you.

  2. 2

    Step 2

    The calculator derives kWh needed from real consumption, charging stops from usable battery minus a 10% reserve (10→80/90% windows), cost per network, and the 30-minute-per-stop DC time penalty.

  3. 3

    Step 3

    Compare instantly against the 24-mpg gas SUV and 50-mpg hybrid rows with per-100-mile costs, and read the verdict on when the EV wins and when gas still does.

Use Cases

Plan travel for

Get exact, current figures for travel in instead of vague averages.

Compare destinations

Weigh against other cities before booking flights or hotels.

Budget before you book

Know the expected spend in so surprises don't derail the trip.

Tips

  • 1

    Prices for move with season — re-check near your travel dates.

  • 2

    Use local currency figures for ; card rates add conversion fees.

  • 3

    Book ahead when visiting in peak season.

Common Mistakes

  • Budgeting with peak-season averages.

  • Ignoring visa lead times before booking.

FAQs

Is an EV road trip cheaper than gas in 2026?

Usually yes, but the margin depends on where the energy comes from. At the 2026 US average of $2.95/gallon, a 24-mpg SUV costs about $12.29 per 100 miles. A Model Y at the $0.35/kWh Supercharger average costs about $9.45 per 100 miles — roughly 23% cheaper — while the same car on $0.48/kWh Electrify America stalls costs $12.96 and actually loses to the SUV. Leave home at 90–100% on a $0.16/kWh residential rate and the blended trip cost drops toward $5–7 per 100 miles, where even a 50-mpg hybrid ($5.90/100 mi) cannot follow.

How many charging stops do I need from LA to Las Vegas?

The 270-mile I-15 run works as a one-stop trip in most modern long-range EVs. Worked example: a Model Y Long Range (75 kWh usable, 27 kWh/100 mi) needs about 72.9 kWh for the distance; leaving LA at 90% carries ~60 usable kWh after a 10% reserve, so only ~13 kWh remains for the road — one short Supercharger stop in Barstow or Baker covers it with 30 minutes of time penalty. A Lucid Air can skip charging entirely; a Bolt EV will want two slower stops.

What does Tesla Supercharging cost versus gas?

The 2026 Supercharger average is about $0.35/kWh (sites range roughly $0.25–0.50). For a Model Y at 27 kWh/100 mi that is ~$9.45 per 100 miles, versus ~$12.29 per 100 miles for a 24-mpg SUV at $2.95/gal — the EV saves about $2.84 per 100 miles on pure DC charging. On a 1,000-mile week that is roughly $28, and the gap widens sharply whenever you start each day from a $0.16/kWh home plug instead of a Supercharger.

Can non-Tesla EVs use those networks, and what do EA and EVgo cost?

Yes — most 2026 EVs either ship with a NACS port or run a validated adapter, so Superchargers are increasingly brand-agnostic. The legacy CCS networks stay relevant for older cars: Electrify America averages ~$0.48/kWh and EVgo ~$0.42/kWh, both with membership tiers that knock 15–25% off. The honest caveat: per-site pricing varies far more than gas stations do, and a single off-interstate charger priced at $0.56 can flip the math on a short leg.

Which planning apps should I trust for an EV road trip?

Use them, but do not worship them. A Better Routeplan (ABRP) is the best for energy modeling, PlugShare for crowdsourced stall health and photos, and the car's built-in planner (Tesla's especially) for real-time battery conditioning — yet all three lag real-world outages, and prices refresh weekly at best. The honest habit: plan with a ~15% range buffer, note one fallback charger per leg, and treat any single-stall desert location as a risk, not a plan.

How much range do EVs lose in winter?

Plan for a 20–30% penalty below roughly 20°F (-7°C): cabin heating is pure battery drain and cold cells both deliver and accept charge worse. Practical numbers: a Model Y rated for 270 real summer miles becomes a 190–215 mile car in a January blizzard, and charging stops stretch from 20 to 35+ minutes because the pack must be preconditioned first. The calculator's consumption fields are EPA-like — add the winter factor on top for cold-season trips.

How much does starting each day at 100% from home save?

A lot — it is the single biggest lever. The 2026 US residential average is about $0.16/kWh versus $0.35 at a Supercharger and $0.48 at Electrify America, so every mile driven on home electrons costs less than half a Supercharger mile. Leaving at 90–100% instead of 60% adds 30–40 kWh of cheap energy on a 75 kWh pack — worth $4.80–6.40 at home rates versus $10.50–16.80 if you had to buy it mid-route on DC.

When does gas still win an American road trip?

Five honest cases: very long remote desert stretches (Denver→Vegas on US-93) where the only 350 kW stall is broken or priced at $0.56/kWh; cheap-gas states like Texas (~$2.50/gal) with a 50-mpg hybrid; trips in an efficiency-poor EV like a pickup at 45+ kWh/100 mi on $0.48 pricing; winter trips that inflate consumption 20–30%; and any itinerary too time-pressed for 30–45 minute charge stops. A Prius Prime at 50 mpg beats a Mach-E on Electrify America pricing — that row in the calculator shows exactly when.

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