Comparison of 3-year ownership costs of EV, gas small SUVs

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Smart shoppers know the value of approaching the car-buying process by deploying the same level of care as one would approach a lump of plutonium which has suddenly appeared in their Rheem hot water tank. Research is required, coffee is inevitable, and spreadsheets can be your best friend.

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But we’re here to help alleviate some of those headaches — just consider us the automotive equivalent of extra-strength acetaminophen, okay? In the past, we’ve brought you valuable three-year cost-of-ownership comparisons across several segments, doing so with the aim of educating buyers on how one’s vehicular expenditures don’t end with the monthly payment. Cost of fuel (gasoline or electricity, these days) and government rebates and ongoing maintenance all conspire to tilt the family balance sheet.

This post is going to focus on makes and models which are similar in size and mission, but propelled by a variety of powertrains — with a focus on hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and straight gasoline-powered options. We have elected to take a swing at small SUVs, since that category is ostensibly all about saving money. Interestingly, there are a couple of models which offer all three powertrain types.

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The numbers shown here are accurate as of this writing and, for consistency, government rebates are correct for the province in which your author resides. Readers are encouraged to examine their own area’s willingness to shovel money at rebate programs. Let’s click out of that spreadsheet and begin with those examples.

Toyota RAV4

Given the Big T’s proficiency in all things hybrid, it should surprise exactly no one that its popular RAV4 is available as a gasser, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid. Those three trims produce 203, 291, and 302 horsepower, respectively, meaning the option which is supposed to be most friendly to polar bears is also the one which is most entertaining to drive. That’s akin to weaponizing a wind farm.

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Starting with the trim free of electrons driving its wheels, the RAV4 XLE AWD racks up an estimated $975 cost per month, a total fuelled by, well, fuel. That’s despite its decent showing in the NRCan economy Olympics, with a rating of 8.5 L/100 km in combined driving conditions. Making the walk to an equivalently equipped Hybrid AWD bumps one’s monthly payment by $45, but that trim’s 6.0 L/100 km official rating means it can actually be cheaper to operate per month than the non-hybrid.

And while the plug-in RAV4 Prime AWD carries a sticker price more than $12,000 dearer than the non-hybrid, its estimated per-month costs are not set in the stratosphere. In fact, thanks to rebates and energy efficiency, it works out to just $11.25 per week more expensive than the traditionally fuelled XLE AWD. Many people spend more than that on Starbucks.

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Hyundai Tucson

Ripping a leaf from the Toyota playbook, Hyundai also chooses to offer its Tucson with a trio of powertrain choices. Like the RAV4 above, we selected similarly equipped trims to level the playing field across all three types of underhood motivation.

The costliest gasoline-powered Tucson was chosen for this study not to tilt the chart in favour of electrification, but to be fair in terms of equipment levels. If you don’t like that the base Tucson cannot be optioned with a hybrid or plug-in hybrid powertrain, please direct your ire at Hyundai, not us. Since maintenance costs are estimated to be roughly equal for both the 2.5L gasser and the 1.6L hybrid or plug-in, it doesn’t take long for the latter pair to recoup their initial investment costs.

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In particular, the PHEV makes excellent financial sense thanks to its eligibility in the fed’s iZEV rebate program. Shaving thousands off the price of a vehicle whose sticker price is not a huge walk from its gasoline-powered cousin is a great recipe for creating what might be one of the best-kept secrets in Hyundai showrooms.

Chevrolet Trax and Bolt

The General is pushing most of its chips towards EVs, meaning there isn’t a wide array of hybrids or plug-in hybrids on offer at the moment. That’s why we are comparing the generally excellent new Trax with a pair (kinda) of similarly sized electric cars which aren’t long for this world. When the Equinox EV and its Blazer EV counterpart officially appear, we’ll run this exercise again with different models.

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Anyone who tuned into our last comparisons will not be surprised by the numbers posted for Chevrolet’s all-electric Bolt and Bolt EUV. Despite bearing an asking price roughly one Chevrolet Spark more expensive than an equivalently equipped Trax, the Bolt undercuts its showroom compatriot by nearly $50 per month over the first three years, thanks primarily to energy costs and government rebates. However, we will note the estimated maintenance costs for the gasoline-power Trax are very wallet-friendly.

Kia Niro

Like its cousin Hyundai, this brand elects to endow its Niro model with three different forms of propulsion, but takes things one step farther, because the trio all feature some level of electrification — hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and all-electric. The first two feature a 1.6L four-cylinder engine paired with an electric motor; while the third packs a 64.8-kWh battery.

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Like some others on this list, the plug-in hybrid benefits from government largess, which exceeds its price premium over the standard hybrid. This brings the estimated monthly cost of ownership of an EX PHEV below that of an EX Hybrid. Gearheads will note the plug-in model also has an advantage in horsepower and torque numbers. Interestingly, the all-electric variant has an even lower monthly cost of ownership thanks to a reduced energy cost per month, and far cheaper maintenance.

Hyundai Kona

We sunset this article with a return to Hyundai showrooms. In addition to options put forth by the Tucson lineup, the one-size-smaller Kona also has a couple of tricks up its sleeve. Exterior dimensions and styling may be nigh identical, but the brand does offer this model in either gasoline-powered or all-electric options. Sticking with mid-grade Preferred trims, running the numbers certainly reveals a delta between the two — but perhaps not as much as one might expect.

Considering monthly expenditures like energy cost and maintenance, the Kona EV chalks up a premium of less than $100 per month compared to an equivalently spec’d non-electrified model. This, despite its nearly $20,000 price difference (and yes, we triple-checked the numbers). Service costs and iZEV rebates save the day in this example; it is also worth pointing out the EV’s power advantage. The chart also includes data for the most affordable Ioniq 5.