Vehicle Type Comparisons · Powertrain Cost Guide
Electric SUV vs Gas SUV: Total Cost of Ownership Compared (2025–2026)
If you have already decided you want an SUV, the next question costs you the most money: gas, hybrid, or electric? This guide is part of our vehicle type cost comparisons series. The fuel-savings headlines make an electric SUV look like the obvious choice — but AAA’s 2025 ownership data tells a more honest story. Across a full year of driving, a compact electric SUV actually costs more to own than the gas version, because what an EV saves you at the pump it gives back in faster depreciation. This guide compares the real, line-by-line cost of owning an electric SUV versus a gas SUV (and the hybrid in between), using AAA’s published 2025 figures for compact and medium SUVs at 15,000 miles per year.
A compact electric SUV costs $11,191/year to own — about $912 more than the equivalent gas SUV ($10,279) and $851 more than the hybrid ($10,340). The EV saves roughly $975/year on fuel ($739 vs $1,714 to charge vs fill), but loses about $1,406 more per year to depreciation ($4,960 vs $3,554) — so the depreciation penalty outweighs the fuel savings by ~$431/year. All figures: AAA Your Driving Costs 2025, 15,000 miles/year.
- Cheapest compact SUV to own: Gas — $10,279/year
- Hybrid compact SUV: $10,340/year (just $61 more than gas)
- Electric compact SUV: $11,191/year (the most expensive of the three)
- Where the EV wins: fuel — $739/year to charge vs $1,714 to fuel the gas SUV
- Where the EV loses: depreciation — $4,960/year vs $3,554 for gas
Electric SUV vs Gas SUV vs Hybrid: The Full Cost Breakdown
The table below shows AAA’s 2025 annual ownership costs for a compact SUV in all three powertrains, driven 15,000 miles a year over five years. Every dollar figure is AAA’s own published number from its Your Driving Costs 2025 study. This is the core electric SUV vs gas SUV total cost of ownership comparison — read the fuel and depreciation rows together, because they pull in opposite directions.
| Cost Component (Compact SUV, 15k mi/yr) | Electric | Gas | Hybrid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel / charging | $739 | $1,714 | $1,348 |
| Depreciation | $4,960 | $3,554 | $3,865 |
| Full-coverage insurance | $2,028 | $1,726 | $1,771 |
| Total cost per year | $11,191 | $10,279 | $10,340 |
| 5-year total (annual × 5) | $55,955 | $51,395 | $51,700 |
Source: AAA Your Driving Costs 2025, compact SUV category, 15,000 mi/yr. Annual totals are AAA’s published figures; 5-year totals are the annual cost multiplied by five (AAA’s own 5-year basis). Insurance figures are AAA’s compact-SUV-by-powertrain rows.
Why the Electric SUV Costs More Despite Cheap Charging
The electric SUV’s running-cost advantage is real and large: at AAA’s 2025 charging rate of $0.167/kWh, the compact EV SUV costs just $739/year to fuel — against $1,714 for the gas SUV. That is a $975/year saving, the single biggest point in the EV’s favor.
But ownership cost is not just fuel. The electric SUV depreciates faster: AAA puts compact-EV-SUV depreciation at $4,960/year versus $3,554 for gas — a $1,406/year gap. EV SUVs also carry slightly higher full-coverage insurance ($2,028 vs $1,726), reflecting higher repair and replacement costs. Add it up and the EV’s fuel savings are erased by its faster value loss. This is the core finding most fuel-cost-only comparisons miss.
Source: AAA Your Driving Costs 2025, compact SUV, 15,000 mi/yr. Lower is cheaper.
Medium SUV: The Gap Nearly Closes
Step up to a medium SUV and the picture shifts. Here the electric, gas, and hybrid versions land within $271 of each other per year — the EV’s bigger battery and the gas SUV’s thirstier engine roughly balance out.
| Medium SUV (15k mi/yr) | Electric | Gas | Hybrid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total cost per year | $12,710 | $12,584 | $12,855 |
| 5-year total (annual × 5) | $63,550 | $62,920 | $64,275 |
Source: AAA Your Driving Costs 2025, medium SUV category, 15,000 mi/yr. 5-year totals are annual × 5.
For a medium SUV the gas version is still the cheapest by a hair ($12,584/year), but the electric is only $126/year more — close enough that charging access, driving pattern, and state incentives could easily tip the decision toward the EV.
The Federal EV Tax Credit Is Gone (As of September 2025)
One factor that used to swing this comparison no longer applies. The federal EV tax credit of up to $7,500 — which could have offset the electric SUV’s higher purchase price — ended on September 30, 2025 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). For any electric SUV bought after that date, the credit is $0. This matters: with the credit, an EV SUV’s higher upfront cost was partly absorbed; without it, the depreciation and purchase-price gap shown above is the full, unsubsidized picture. Buyers comparing an electric SUV to a gas SUV in 2026 should not factor in a federal credit that no longer exists.
So Should You Buy an Electric SUV or a Gas SUV?
The honest, data-driven answer depends on how and where you drive:
- You drive average miles (around 15,000/year) and want the lowest total cost — gas wins outright for a compact SUV.
- You cannot charge at home and would rely on public charging (which costs far more than the $0.167/kWh home rate this comparison assumes).
- You plan to sell within a few years, when the EV’s faster depreciation hits hardest.
- You drive high annual mileage — the $975/year fuel saving grows with every extra mile and can overtake the depreciation gap.
- You can charge at home at residential rates and rarely rely on public chargers.
- You keep vehicles long enough for the cheap running costs to compound past the early depreciation.
- You are choosing a medium SUV, where the EV is within ~$126/year of gas to begin with.
Use the calculator below to see how the electric, gas, and hybrid SUV totals compare at your own annual mileage, and check the related comparisons for the model-level and body-style versions of this decision.
Related Comparisons
Frequently Asked Questions
No — not for a compact SUV at average mileage. AAA’s 2025 data shows a compact electric SUV costs $11,191/year to own versus $10,279 for the gas version, about $912 more. The EV saves roughly $975/year on fuel, but loses about $1,406/year more to depreciation, so it ends up more expensive overall. For a medium SUV the gap narrows to about $126/year.
Using AAA’s 2025 figures, a compact electric SUV costs about $739/year to charge (at a $0.167/kWh home rate), versus $1,714/year to fuel the equivalent gas SUV — a saving of roughly $975/year. Note this assumes home charging; relying on public charging, which costs considerably more, would shrink or erase that advantage.
AAA’s 2025 data puts compact electric SUV depreciation at $4,960/year versus $3,554 for the gas version. EVs have depreciated faster recently due to rapid model turnover, battery-technology improvements that date older vehicles, falling new-EV prices, and uncertainty about used-battery life. This faster value loss is the main reason the EV’s cheap running costs do not translate into a lower total cost of ownership.
Yes. The federal EV tax credit of up to $7,500 ended on September 30, 2025 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Electric SUVs purchased after that date receive $0 federal credit. This removed a subsidy that previously helped offset the electric SUV’s higher purchase price, so 2026 buyers should compare prices without assuming any federal incentive.
Yes, under the right conditions. Because the EV’s advantage is per-mile fuel cost, higher annual mileage tilts the math in its favor — drive well above 15,000 miles a year and the growing fuel savings can overtake the depreciation gap. Charging at home rather than on public networks, and keeping the vehicle long enough for cheap running costs to compound, also help. For a medium SUV, where the EV starts within about $126/year of gas, these factors can readily make the electric the cheaper choice.
For many buyers, yes. AAA’s 2025 data shows a compact hybrid SUV costs $10,340/year — only $61 more than gas and $851 less than the electric version — while still cutting fuel cost to $1,348/year. The hybrid captures much of the fuel saving without the electric SUV’s steeper depreciation or the need for home charging, which is why it is often the lowest-risk choice.
About the Author — Ashvin J. Sonani
Founder & Lead Researcher at Cars.Zone. Digital marketer, data analyst, and domain investor with 28+ years of internet experience — from the pre-Google era of Lycos and Altavista through ecommerce operations (2000–2018) to current focus on US automotive cost intelligence. Specializes in extracting actionable conclusions from complex, multi-variable datasets across insurance, depreciation, and total cost of ownership. Cars.Zone analyses are built from primary industry sources (AAA, Kelley Blue Book, Edmunds, Experian, Bankrate) — never aggregator summaries — and cross-verified before publication. No manufacturer or dealer relationships influence editorial content.