Man breaks down yearly cost of charging a Tesla Model 3 vs fueling a Ford Explorer and the difference is clear
Published on Jan 09, 2026 at 3:10 PM (UTC+4)
by Daisy Edwards
Last updated on Jan 09, 2026 at 3:24 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Mason Jones
A man looked at the yearly cost of charging a Tesla Model 3 vs using gas to fuel a Ford Explorer, and the savings speak for themselves.
Jake Safane at GoBankingRates wanted to put an end to the classic debate of whether EVs or ICE-powered cars are better and cheaper.
He used average American mileage and current national energy prices across the US to keep the comparison grounded.
Once the final numbers are lined up, the difference between electric and gas becomes impossible to ignore.
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Yearly cost of charging a Tesla Model 3
This man’s experiment to track whether it is cheaper for the average US consumer to drive an EV or a gas-powered car by using a Tesla Model 3 and a Ford Explorer.
His breakdown started with the average US driver’s annual mileage of 13,476 miles, or about 1,123 miles per month.
From there, he estimated the charging cost of the Tesla Model 3 Rear Wheel Drive using average at-home electricity rates.
Based on those assumptions, charging the Model 3 at home comes out to roughly $49 per month.
That puts the yearly charging total at about $588 for the average driver.
It also reflects why EV running costs tend to stay steady, since electricity prices generally do not fluctuate in the same dramatic way as gasoline.
The cost of fueling a Ford Explorer shows a clear difference
For the Ford Explorer, the comparison uses the most efficient 2025 version rated at 24 mpg.
Driving 1,123 miles a month at that efficiency requires close to 47 gallons of gas, monthly.
Using the national average gas price of $3.192 per gallon, that comes out to about $149 per month.
Over the course of a year, fueling the Explorer costs roughly $1,788, far more than even double the cost of charging a Model 3 at home.
Based on these estimates, the Ford costs about $1,200 more per year to fuel than it costs to charge the Tesla at home, and that is before factoring in less efficient trims or rising gas prices.
While we’re not given a cost breakdown for charging the Model 3 using purely public charging, if you charge your Tesla at home, you’re saving some serious cash.
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Daisy Edwards is a Content Writer at supercarblondie.com. Daisy has more than five years’ experience as a qualified journalist, having graduated with a History and Journalism degree from Goldsmiths, University of London and a dissertation in vintage electric vehicles. Daisy specializes in writing about cars, EVs, tech and luxury lifestyle. When she's not writing, she's at a country music concert or working on one of her many unfinished craft projects.
