Man drives 4,000 miles from California to Texas in a Tesla Model 3 and breaks down the costs vs a gas car, revealing a huge difference

This man drove 4,000 miles from California to Tesla in a Tesla Model 3 to break down the cost difference between a gas car and an EV.

YouTuber, Frugal Tesla Guy, as his channel handle suggested, wanted to save money.

He wanted to see whether a trip from Northern California to Central Texas would be cheaper in an EV.

There were a whole lot of miles to cover – how would this impact his bank balance?

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How much would this California-Texas road trip cost this Tesla Model 3 owner?

All in all, going from the Golden State to the Lone Star State would be a 4,000-mile round trip.

No small undertaking, even in a country as vast as the US.

On one leg of the journey, he had to stop off at Superchargers 14 times.

This would be the equivalent of about five gas station stops if he’d been driving a gas car.

For the comparison, he considered multiple hypothetical gas cars, ranging from 45 mpg down to 20 mpg, whilst also estimating the average US gas price.

That worked out at $2.91 per gallon, although there’s variation by state.

All in all, the cost of supercharging on this trip came out to $155.63.

By comparison, the gas car would have cost a whole lot more.

• 45mpg – $259
• 40mpg – $291
• 35mpg – $333
• 30mpg – $388
• 25mpg – $466
• 20mpg – $582

That’s a whole lot more.

Even with the most fuel-efficient gas car, it still came out at $100 more expensive than an EV.

Are EVs cheaper than gas cars?

It’s something that every driver has to weigh up when making the switch to EVs – will they actually be cheaper?

TikToker EnergySage had his say on the matter, delivering a pretty conclusive verdict.

And it’s not Teslas under the microscope, as this Hyundai Ioniq 5 was put to the test.

It’s not just individual experience either.

A study carried out using government data found that EVs on the whole are cheaper than gas cars – even when using public chargers.

Tesla Model 3 timeline

2016: The Model 3 was unveiled at an event in Hawthorne, California, with reservations opening that same day. 180,000 were placed within 24 hours.

2016 – 2017: Development and production ramped up.

July 2017: The first Model 3 ‘production unit’ rolled off the line, and the first 30 customers received their cars.

Late 2017: Output remained low as supply chain issues were resolved.

2018: The Model 3 becomes more widely accessible as production accelerated.

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