The Undeniable Math That Convinced Me to Go All-In on EVs | WSJ

My family needed a new second car just for city driving. I wondered, were we ready to go allin on electric vehicles? So, I crunched the numbers and the results surprised me. Right now, a used Nissan Leaf is among the best deals you can get on an electric vehicle in America or any vehicle frankly. For about 20,000 bucks, I was able to find a used 2025 Nissan Leaf. It's going to be super low maintenance. The fuel cost allin is going to be about a fifth what I would pay for a conventional gas vehicle. The insurance isn't that much more than a conventional vehicle and it's going to hold on to most of its value for the next 5 years. Bottom line, the all-in 5year cost for this car after tradein is $30,000. Vehicle number two, the obvious alternative. Americans love hybrids and no wonder the Hyundai Elandre is among the cheapest new vehicles you can buy in America. It's also among the cheapest used vehicles. Now, a hybrid is still going to cost about twice as much to fuel as a pure electric vehicle. It's going to cost about the same to ensure and the maintenance cost is also going to be comparable cuz it's a more complicated drivetrain. Bottom line, this vehicle will actually cost more all-in than the electric vehicle, $4,000 more. So, for $33,000 over 5 years, it can be mine or yours, I guess. That means the winner so far is still the electric vehicle. Next, I ran the exact same analysis on the gas only version of the Elantre. Now, this vehicle is a little bit less than the hybrid to start out, but the fuel cost is four times what it's going to cost per mile to run the electric vehicle. Insurance is basically a wash. Same thing with maintenance. Bottom line, $32,000 over 5 years. It beats the hybrid on cost, but the EV is still the overall winner. And finally, the beater. My friend offered to sell me her Honda Fit built like a tank, but it's got more than 100,000 miles on it. Maintenance is going to be killer. I estimate $6,000 over the next 5 years. And fuel as well, only getting around 30 m to the gallon. That's $10,000 over the next 5 years. Five times what it's going to cost me to fuel the Leaf on electrons alone. Still, overall, this is the cost champion of all of these vehicles. If I'm ready to drive it into the ground, I'll only have to spend about $28,000 over the next five years. So, in the end, which one did I choose? Well, given that I already know my family loves the convenience of charging at home, low maintenance, and the safety features of a modern vehicle, we went with the Nissan Leaf. If gas prices stay where they are or continue to go up, this could be one of the better financial decisions I make this year. And while there are many reasons to buy an electric vehicle, as wages stagnate and prices continue to climb, I think that's the reason that many more Americans might make the switch.