NEW: 2025 Update on Comparing the Total Cost of Ownership of the Most Popular Vehicles in America

Earlier this month, Atlas founder Nick Nigro and I released an updated look at what it costs to own today’s best-selling cars and trucks. In a new fact sheet, we compared the total cost of ownership (TCO) for five of the most popular gasoline vehicles sold in the United States in 2024 and their closest electric vehicle (EV) counterparts. This analysis was finalized before Congress ended the federal EV tax credit, more on that below.

Using the Fleet Procurement Analysis Tool (FPAT), our analysis found that four of the five EVs beat comparable gasoline vehicles on total cost savings over seven years:

• Nissan Leaf vs. Toyota Corolla – 5 percent cheaper

• Hyundai Ioniq 6 vs. Toyota Camry – 7 percent cheaper

• Chevrolet Equinox EV vs. Gas Equinox – 20 percent cheaper

• Tesla Model Y vs. Jeep Grand Cherokee – 15 percent cheaper

• Ford F-150 Lightning vs. Gas F-150 – 4 percent higher

The results reinforce what we found in our 2023 and 2022 analyses: while EVs may cost more up front, fuel and maintenance savings often overcome those higher costs resulting in a vehicle that’s cheaper to own. Lower electricity prices and fewer moving parts reduce daily operating costs to about half that of gasoline cars. Drivers who log above the national average of miles traveled or live in a state with higher gas prices stand to see their savings climb even higher.

While drafting the fact sheet, we checked two headline policy ideas that the One Big, Beautiful, Bill introduced: the early sunset of the consumer EV credit and a new $250 annual EV fee. While the annual fee was dropped from the final legislation, the $7,500 consumer credit now ends September 30th. For the Equinox EV, these changes would cut its seven-year savings over the gasoline Equinox from about $9,000 to under $200. The Model Y also showed savings compared to its gasoline comparison under that less favorable scenario for EVs. Why this matters Transportation is often the second-largest household expense for Americans, and over ninety percent of households have at least one car. According to the EV Market Dashboard and fuelconomy.gov, nearly half of this year’s EV sales as of April 2025 were ineligible for federal credits, meaning that while market momentum is moving beyond the need for incentives, policy can help realize these savings much faster for mainstream buyers. The Atlas team will keep a close eye on post-credit pricing and the first effects of the new legislation in this year’s sales data. We’ll play close attention to whether automakers trim MSRPs to offset the termination of the tax credit beginning after September 30th. In the meantime, follow the trends on our EV Market Dashboard, where we will track these sales and policy shifts in real time.