The Economics of Purchasing & Owning an EV

As part of our public awareness campaign on electric vehicles, Plug It In, NY, we released the fourth in our series of fact sheets to encourage New Yorkers to make an EV their next vehicle. 

The fact sheet focuses on the costs, incentives, and funding opportunities associated with purchasing and owning an EV.

State, federal, and utility incentives help lower the cost of purchasing and owning electric vehicles. 

A federal tax credit for drivers purchasing new EVs ranges from $2,500  to $7,500. 

New York State offers a Drive Clean Rebate, which discounts the price of EVs for consumers by up to $2,000 at participating new car dealers. There are also discounts on tolls for electric vehicle drivers, including the Thruway Authority’s Green Pass  Discount Plan.

One commonly held misconception is that EVs are cost-prohibitive. While this may have been true decades ago, the upfront cost of an electric vehicle is becoming more competitive with that of its gasoline counterparts. 

Electric cars are also cheaper to fuel and maintain. 

EV owners will see savings as early as their first year. The average yearly cost of fueling an EV in New York is $708, while for a gas-powered car it’s $1,200. EV maintenance costs are lower than conventional cars because they have fewer moving parts (e.g., belts, crankshaft, fuel pumps, pistons) so they have fewer mechanical failures. 

Additionally, a comprehensive study by NYSERDA found that increased adoption of EVs would economically benefit EV owners. Depending on their location within the state, owning an EV could net drivers savings of up to $3,857 over a vehicle’s lifespan. EV owners are not the only beneficiaries of increased EV adoption, either; moderate adoption of electric vehicles would result in a statewide net societal benefit of approximately $5.1 billion.

Read more in our fact sheet today!