Gas, Hybrid, Electric?

Cars to compare:

• GAS: 2019 FORD Fusion Titanium (Price: $32k) 
• HYBRID: 2019 HONDA Accord Hybrid Touring (Price: $35k) 
• ELECTRIC: 2019 Tesla Model 3 Mid-Range (Price: $40k) 
  How it was calculated (Base price: $44 - $3750(Federal Tax Credit) - (up to $3k State Initiatives) 

Compare over categories

* - BedScore index:

** - Neutral

*** - Good

Prices

We can see a pretty clear picture. A vehicle with an internal combustion engine (ICE) tends to be the least expensive and battery electric vehicles (BEV) are the most expensive.

Cost of maintenance

This is a category where electric vehicles (EV) shine because their drivetrains have a significantly smaller amount of moving parts no multi-gear transmission. That’s why there is a significantly smaller chance that something break. EV owners replace their brakes not that often thanks to strong regenerative braking system which give an ability to drive with a single pedal most of the time.

The most expensive cars to maintain are hybrids. These types of vehicles have the most complex system which consists of an internal combustion engine, transmission, electric motor, battery.

Daily commute price

Let’s take daily commute 50 miles. And average unleaded gasoline price is $2.39. The average cost of electricity $0.14 kWh.

Gas: $4.54 (2019 FORD Fusion Titanium combined 26 MPG = 1.9 Gallons)

Hybrid: $2.63 (2019 HONDA Accord Hybrid  47 MPG = 1.1 Gallons)

Electric: $1.65 (2019 Tesla Model 3 0.235 kWh/Mile = 11.75kWh)

We can see on average electric cars are almost 3 times cheaper to drive than a gas car and 1.6 times cheaper then hybrid.

Long Road trips

Gas cars and hybrids have a pretty good range of 400-600 miles on full tank. And it takes only 5 minutes to refuel and keep going. But as we learned from the previous category with a hybrid you will spend less money, because they are more fuel efficient. Electric Tesla Model 3 has a range of 310 miles on the full battery. EVs are known to consume more on a highway so real life range will be around 280 miles. And after that, you need to spend near 50 minutes to charge it back to 95% at one of Tesla’s superchargers (Last 5 percent usually take way to long to charge. Something like additional 30 mins). That’s road trip in EV takes more time if compare to gas or hybrid car.

Require dedicated parking space

EVs require dedicated parking spot where you can charge it. Most EVs owners charge cars at home during night time because it takes a few hours to recharge the electric car at home. So you need a dedicated parking space with access to 240V outlet or installed charging device.

Gas and hybrid cars don’t require a dedicated parking spot.

AIR pollution

EV doesn’t have tail-pip, we can call them somewhat zero-emission cars.

If compare Hybrids and Gas cars. Hybrids are way more fuel efficient that’s why they don’t pollute the air as much as gas cars.

Cold Weather Commute

For those who live in the cold climate, they are familiar with how often cars with internal combustion engine can face problems with getting engine start in the morning due to the low temperatures.

EVs have no problems like that at all.

Cold Weather Driving Range

That said, during low-temperature weather the only thing you need to keep your eye on is a range which can decrease, depend on how cold it is outside. Sometimes you can see a 35% loss in range.

Gas and hybrid cars don’t face such a drastic range lost.

Refueling/Re-charging time convenience

This is an interesting category. A lot of you would ask why we gave EVs high mark here. We know it takes several hours to charge your EV at home. But you have your charging place at home and it’s done during the night. So you don’t need to plan for it or spend any time on this process. Basically, it’s the same habit as with your smartphone. Plug it in when you get home and unplug it in the morning, so you start your day fully charger (with a “full tank”).

Gas and hybrid cars... on average you just need to stop by gas station one time a week for 5 minutes and that’s it.

So the process is pretty effortless for each type of the vehicle.

Summary

All vehicle types got almost the same total score number. This means they all have its cons and pros. So, all you need to do, just go over our comparison table and pick those items that are important for you and it will be easy to figure out what type of vehicle will work best for you. And no matter what vehicle you drive, always follow rules on the road and be safe.