Study Shows EV Owners Pay More To Drive Fewer Miles

Perhaps proving what might seem to be obvious, a study conducted by the automotive marketplace iSeeCars.com determined that there is, indeed, a direct correlation between how far a given EV can run on a charge, and how many miles it’s driven. While the average EV costs 45 percent more than a typical conventionally-powered equivalent, the website’s data shows it’s driven 29 percent fewer miles. So-called range anxiety fueled by still-limited operating ranges and the sad state of public charging are the obvious culprits here.

“Range anxiety is less about being stranded in the middle of nowhere and more about the ‘refueling’ process for electric vehicles,” explains iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer. “In a gasoline car, regardless of how far you’re going, there are always plenty of refueling options and the process takes 5 to 10 minutes. Until EVs can offer that level of convenience at a comparable cost, they will be at a distinct disadvantage in terms of use and market demand.”

The website looked at more than 860,000 vehicles from the 2020 model year and determined that the average three-year-old EV is driven 9,059 miles annually, compared with 12,758 for the typical internal combustion vehicle.

Researchers determined EVs would require a range of 440 miles to match gas-powered vehicles in terms of use, which is 161 miles more than the typical model can muster. While that’s a lofty threshold that only a single 2023 model can achieve (the Lucid Air), even incremental differences in an EV’s operating distance can make a difference in this regard. The researchers determined that every additional mile of range a given EV provides means an owner will tend to drive an additional 23 miles a year.

But the ability for an EV to hold more kilowatts of energy comes at a stiff price. The study determined that buyers are paying an average of $10,000 to obtain an extra 26.5 miles of operating range per charge. That means it would cost an additional budget-busting $60,000, on average, to enable the number of miles the typical gas-powered model is driven.

In terms of individual vehicles, the four Tesla models, with above-average operating ranges, accumulate the most miles among EVs, though they still lag behind the average gas-powered ride in this regard. The least-driven three-year-old electric car is ironically among the most fun to drive—not to mention the costliest—battery-powered model, the Porsche Taycan, which on average is piloted just 4,846 miles per year.

Here’s how three-year-old EVs stack up in terms of the average number of miles they’re driven annually, according to iSeeCars.com:

1. Tesla Model X (341-mile range): 10,378 miles/year
2. Tesla Model Y (316-mile range): 10,199 miles/year
3. Tesla Model 3 (279-mile range): 9.960 miles/year
4. Tesla Model S (378-mile range); 9,340 miles/year
5. Hyundai Kona Electric (258-mile range): 8,260 miles/year
6. Chevrolet Bolt EV (259-mile range): 7,753 miles/year
7. Audi e-tron Sportback (218-mile range): 7,210 miles/year
8. Jaguar i-Pace (240-mile range): 6,910 miles/year
9. Hyundai Ioniq Electric (170-mile range): 6,803 miles/year
10. Kia Niro EV (239-mile range): 6,630 miles/year
11. Nissan Leaf (190-mile range): 6,395 miles/year
12. Porsche Taycan (226-mile range): 4,846 miles/year

You can read the full report here.