Man stunned at having to spend $55 on gas for 200-mile journey compares how much same journey would cost in Tesla Model Y

This UK Tesla owner is now more convinced than ever that switching to his Tesla Model Y from a gas car was a great idea realizing he’d spent a small fortune on a relatively short trip.

After driving 200 miles in a hire gas car, which is not nothing but it’s not exactly an Around the World in 80 Days kind of distance, the fuel bill was surprisingly high.

Money never lies.

But that gives us the opportunity to talk about a key feature of EVs.

The fuel bill was the catalyst

The guy behind the Charging Family YouTube channel covered 200 miles and realized it had cost him £42 – equivalent to around $55.

This was done on a road trip with a rental car, which just so happened to be a gas car.

That works out to around $0.275 per mile, which was not great.

When he got back home, he decided to simulate the same journey with his Tesla.

Using real-world tracking data covering over 8,300 miles in his Tesla Model Y, the YouTuber examined his energy efficiency – noting an average efficiency of 3.68 miles per kilowatt-hour.

This is how much the same trip would’ve cost with a Tesla Model Y

The UK YouTuber’s tracking data showed his Model Y averaged 3.68 miles per kilowatt-hour (kWh) over 8,300+ miles.

Driving 200 miles at 3.68 mi/kWh requires roughly 54.3 kWh of electricity.

Average UK home EV tariffs are roughly $0.10 to $0.30 per kWh, so you’re looking at $20 instead of $55.

Not a bad deal.

Even using public charger, including Superchargers, wouldn’t change the picture, because that would’ve cost him around $35-$40, so he would still have saved money.

This is a common thread

People switch to EVs for lots of reasons, but it seems that it always begins and ends with costs.

That seems to be the main reason, or feature – if you like.

It’s unclear whether that was the original intent, though.

If we think about it, EV adoption was initially driven by two main factors.

Sure, there EV mandates and incentives, but those came much later.

Before EV mandates, the first pioneer was Tesla.

In the late 2000s, they introduced the Roadster, which was an electric car that for the first time was also desirable.

And two, Dieselgate.

But Dieselgate wasn’t about money.

Back then, gas was cheap, and it was more a ‘moral’ accelerant than an economic one.

But that’s not the case today.

Electricity isn’t cheap these days, especially in some places, but gas is out of control.

So we’re not surprised to see so many people switching to EV quite enthusiastically when they see how much they can save.