EV vs Gas Cost Per Mile in Arizona
At Arizona's average prices, a Tesla Model 3 RWD costs an estimated $0.038 a mile to charge at home and a 30 mpg gas car $0.117 a mile in fuel: $948.50 a year apart over 12,000 miles. Charging here costs about a third or less of gasoline per mile: 32%.
State data
What Arizona pays
- Home electricity
- 15.0¢/kWhEIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A · EIA, August 2026 (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Gasoline
- $3.50/galEIA weekly regional / AAA state averages, 2025–26 reference
- EV used for the page
- Tesla Model 3 RWD, 25 kWh/100 miEPA, fueleconomy.gov (combined)
Arizona's rate of 15.0¢/kWh is the 36th-highest of the 51, between 15¢ and 20¢/kWh. Gasoline in Arizona averages $3.50/gal, 9% above the US average of $3.20/gal.
Statewide averages. Put your own rate and pump price in the calculator above.
EVs on the road here
Arizona's plug-in fleet
- Light-duty EVs registered
- 141,800 all-electric · 33,900 plug-in hybridDOE AFDC, registrations on Dec 31, 2025
- EV share of light-duty vehicles
- 2.3% all-electric · 2.9% with a plugDOE AFDC, registrations on Dec 31, 2025 · 6,103,500 vehicles
- EVs per 100 homes
- 5.3AFDC registrations ÷ RECS 2020 housing units (2.68 million)
- Public charging
- 1,567 locations · 4,821 ports (3,256 Level 2 · 1,563 DC fast)DOE AFDC station counts, 2026-10-27
- EVs per public port
- 29.4AFDC registrations ÷ AFDC public ports
Count the cars first. Arizona closed 2025 with 141,800 battery-electric vehicles on its registration rolls, the 10th-highest total in the nation, and another 33,900 plug-in hybrids beside them. Taken as a slice of the 6,103,500 cars and light trucks with Arizona plates, battery models hold 2.3%, a touch above the national 2.1% and the 12th-highest among the states. Taken per household, the state reaches 5.3 EVs for every hundred homes, where the US figure is 4.6, which makes it the 10th-highest on that measure.
Where Arizona lags is the plug. Its 4,821 public ports stand at 1,567 sites; 3,256 run at Level 2 and 1,563 are DC fast, so the fast share of 32% looks ordinary next to the US 30%. The crowding does not. Set the fleet against those ports and each one serves 29.4 EVs, compared with 21.7 across the country and the 5th-highest load of any state, while every fast port has 91 EVs to its name, where the national figure is 72. In Arizona, the garage or driveway outlet is the real charging network.
Registrations: DOE AFDC, registrations on Dec 31, 2025, light-duty vehicles, rounded to the nearest hundred by AFDC. Charging: DOE AFDC station counts, 2026-10-27, public stations only.
EV vs gas cost per mile
F01Scenario A
Sets the electricity rate. Pick US average if you're not sure.
From EIA for Arizona. Use the rate on your bill if you know it.
Rate used: 15.0¢/kWh · Arizona · EIA, August 2026 · gasoline $3.50/gal (2025–26 ref.) (data as of 2026-10-25) ·
Estimated savings per year (12,000 miles)
EV $0.038 a mile vs gas $0.117 a mile, home charging.
- EV cost per mile (EPA kWh/100 mi, at the wall)
- $0.038
- Gas cost per mile
- $0.117
- EV, 12,000 miles a year
- $451.50
- Gas car, 12,000 miles a year
- $1,400.00
- Savings per year
- $948.50
- Prices used
- electricity 15.0¢/kWh · gasoline $3.50/gal (Arizona)
Estimate. Formula and sources are under “How it works”. Change any input; the result updates as you type.
Worked example
Worked example: Model 3 RWD vs a 30 mpg car in Arizona
At 15.0¢/kWh, a Model 3 RWD (25 kWh per 100 miles, EPA) draws 25 kWh from the wall for every 100 miles (the EPA measures it at the wall), so each mile costs $0.038. A 30 mpg car at $3.50/gal spends $0.117 a mile. Over 12,000 miles: $451.50 for the EV, $1,400.00 for gasoline, a difference of $948.50 a year (fuel only). A gas car would need about 93 mpg to match the EV's cost per mile in Arizona.
What the numbers say
Pump prices, power prices and the Arizona driver
Arizona drivers pay $3.50/gal at the pump, the 7th-highest pump price in the country and 9% above the US average of $3.20/gal. Their home electricity runs 15.0¢/kWh, which is 17% below the US average of 18.2¢/kWh. Costly fuel on one side and moderate power on the other push in the same direction, and the ranking shows it: the yearly fuel saving for the example cars is the 7th-highest of all the states.
So much slack sits in that gap that the electric sedan stays cheaper per mile until power reaches 46.7¢/kWh, with the state now averaging 15.0¢/kWh, and a gasoline rival would have to manage 93 mpg to tie it. Even a big electric pickup clears the bar: the Ford F-150 Lightning works out to $0.072 per mile at the home rate, while the 30 mpg car spends $0.117.
The weak point is the sharing ratio described above. Someone who has no outlet of their own and charges only in public pays whatever the station posts, and fast-charging prices often land far above 15.0¢/kWh. Enter that posted kilowatt-hour price where the calculator asks for electricity, and see whether the cost per mile it returns stays below the 46.7¢/kWh line. Owners who plug in at home have a simpler check: look at the utility's rate schedule for a time-of-day price, and if the overnight one is lower, that is the figure to enter.
Cold barely enters the picture. Arizona logs 1,400 heating degree-days, 69% fewer than the US average of 4,500 and the 49th-highest in the country, so winter range loss is a small adjustment here rather than a planning problem.
To price what this fuel comparison omits, the Level 2 installation cost calculator estimates a home charger, and charge time tells you how many hours a session takes. The state's home-heating comparison, built on this same electricity price, is at gas vs electric heating in Arizona.
Questions
FAQ
Is charging an EV cheaper than gas in Arizona?
At Arizona's average prices, yes for the page's example: $0.038 a mile for a Model 3 RWD at home against $0.117 for a 30 mpg car, $948.50 a year over 12,000 miles. The EV would lose its fuel-cost edge only above about 46.7¢/kWh, or against a gas car rated above 93 mpg. Both prices are editable above.
What about public fast charging in Arizona?
Fast chargers usually charge more per kWh than a home rate. This page uses Arizona's home average, 15.0¢/kWh. To see the cost per mile on the road, type the charger's price per kWh into the electricity rate field; the gas side stays at $3.50/gal.
How do time-of-use rates change this in Arizona?
The EV's cost per mile moves in direct proportion to the rate you charge at. If an overnight rate were half of 15.0¢/kWh (7.5¢/kWh), the Model 3 RWD would cost $0.019 a mile instead of $0.038. Check your utility's tariff for the real overnight rate and type it in.
What does a year of home charging run in Arizona?
Using 15.0¢/kWh, the average residential price, the Tesla Model 3 RWD spends $0.038 per mile, which adds up to $451.50 across 12,000 miles of driving. Swap in the Ford F-150 Lightning and each mile climbs to $0.072. Set the sedan's figure beside the $0.045 it would cost on the national average rate to see what the state's cheaper power is worth. The price you actually pay is printed on your bill.
Will I wait for a public charger in Arizona?
The ratios point to more competition than in most places: 29.4 EVs share each public port, against 21.7 nationally, and 91 share each DC fast port, against 72. A ratio is not a queue, though. It says nothing about the hour you arrive or the station you pick, and this page does not map stations. What it does say is that the home-charging case, the one estimated above, is the safer basis for a budget here.
Bordering states
Nearby states
Same two cars, each state's own prices:
Related