EV vs Hybrid vs Gas Savings Calculator for TLC Drivers

In short: Enter how many miles you drive a week, your gas price and miles per gallon, and your electric car's miles per kWh and charging prices. The calculator shows the energy cost per week and per year of each car and what the electric one saves (or costs). It answers the running-cost half of the question. The other half is the price of the car: TLC's February 2026 review found a 2023 Tesla Model Y cost more than 40% more to own over five years than a 2025 Toyota Camry Hybrid. Use both halves before you decide.

How to use it

1. Miles per week. Your total driving, not only trips with passengers. The calculator multiplies by 52 for the yearly figure.
2. Gas or hybrid car: miles per gallon (from the window sticker, fueleconomy.gov or your trip computer) and what you pay per gallon.
3. Electric car: miles per kWh. If you know kWh per 100 miles, divide 100 by that number. Then your home or depot price per kWh, the public fast-charging price, and the share of charging you do in public.
4. Optional: weekly charging memberships or idle fees, and monthly maintenance for each car.

How the numbers are worked out

• Gas cost = miles ÷ mpg × price per gallon.
• Electric cost = miles ÷ miles per kWh × your blended price per kWh, plus weekly charging fees. The blend mixes home and public prices by the share you enter.
• Maintenance counts only if you enter it for both cars.

The calculator has no built-in prices: it uses only what you type. If you need a starting point, TLC's December 2024 driver expense study used these figures:

The last row is why the energy saving alone can mislead: once the study added car payments, insurance and time spent charging, an owned EV came out nearly 17% more per mile than an owned gas car.

Worked example

With the study's figures and 625 miles a week (its 32,500 miles a year ÷ 52): gas costs about 625 ÷ 24.9 × $3.23 = $81 a week. An EV at about 3.7 miles per kWh (0.27 kWh a mile) and 37.7¢ a kWh costs about $64 a week. The EV saves about $17 a week, roughly $900 a year, before any difference in car price, insurance or charging time.

What it costs to own, not just to run

TLC notes that these AFDC figures exclude purchase incentives but include loan payments, fuel, tires and maintenance. It also notes that the federal credit of up to $7,500 ended in September 2025. For your own car, combine this calculator with the rent, lease or buy calculator.

The Green Rides note

TLC's Green Rides rule (§59D-13(c)) requires Uber and Lyft to send a growing share of their trips to zero-emission or wheelchair-accessible vehicles: 25% in 2026, 40% in 2027, 60% in 2028, 80% in 2029 and 100% in 2030. The rule is on the companies, not on drivers. TLC's review says the apps may meet it with incentives or by sending more trips to existing EVs and WAVs. Any EV incentive or dispatch priority an app offers is the app's own policy and can change. More in the Green Rides Initiative explained.

The TLC fleet today

Limits: what this tool can't tell you

• Real costs change with weather, traffic, charger prices, waiting time and how you drive. The tool does not count time spent waiting to charge.
• It leaves out purchase price, insurance, incentives and resale.
• It does not tell you whether you can license an EV. See can I get an EV TLC license now and can I switch my TLC car to an electric vehicle.
• It is an estimate, not financial advice.

Charging places and discounts are in EV charging for TLC drivers. The full comparison is in EV or hybrid for Uber in NYC and TLC driver costs per mile. Tolls are the same whatever you drive: the toll calculator covers them. Saving the difference? See retirement savings for drivers.