The Economics of Purchasing & Owning an EV

May 27, 2021

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!

< Back to Our Work

Related Articles

Last year the NYC Clean School Bus Coalition stayed busy on the advocacy front, accomplishing their biggest goal when Intro-455A passed in the fall. Now, with a citywide mandate for all school buses to be electric by 2035, the coalition is shifting it’s work to focus on the next five years.  The agenda highlights goals…

How does New York stack up when it comes to electric vehicles? Read our fact-sheet on the State of EVs in New York, part of our Plug It In, NY campaign.

We recently co-hosted an event to connect elected officials, partners, and other stakeholders to each other and the Delaware River while elevating the need for funding for the watershed.

Electric vehicles have many advantages over gasoline-powered cars including better fuel economy, lower maintenance costs, zero emissions, and less pollution. Thinking of going electric? Check out our fact sheet on buying EVs, part of our Plug It In, NY campaign.

Paul Dibenedetto, Long Island Below is a photo of my car charging at home using the charger Ford gave with the car. It hooks up to a 120v outlet. In the summer the electric range is about 23-25 miles and in the winter, that drops to about 13-15 miles of range. Overall, the lifetime mpg…

Mayor de Blasio’s recent announcement about a commitment to school bus electrification is a monumental step towards our goal. However, there is still more work to be done in order to ensure that this commitment is upheld by the next mayor and that it is codified into law.

We are excited to publish our inaugural Annual Report so that we can provide a progress report on our advocacy, programmatic, and development goals.

Going electric is one of the best ways New Yorkers can fight climate change. As part of our public awareness campaign on electric vehicles, Plug It In, NY, we released a fact sheet on the environmental and public health benefits of EV adoption.

We convened New York City Mayoral candidates to share their views on a variety of sustainability issues in a series of taped interviews. We asked questions on issues including air quality, water quality, parks and open space, public transportation, climate adaptation, composting, and green infrastructure. Watch the full video. Event Recap NYLCV President Julie Tight…

Get Involved

THANK YOU TO OUR PLATINUM CORPORATE PARTNERS