EV vs Gas Cost Per Mile in Michigan
At Michigan's average prices, a Tesla Model 3 RWD costs an estimated $0.057 a mile to charge at home and a 30 mpg gas car $0.110 a mile in fuel: $630.30 a year apart over 12,000 miles. Home charging in Michigan costs a little over half as much per mile as gasoline: 52%.
State data
What Michigan pays
- Home electricity
- 23.0¢/kWhEIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A · EIA, August 2026 (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Gasoline
- $3.30/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)
Home electricity in Michigan is 23.0¢/kWh, 27% above the US average of 18.2¢/kWh, so a Model 3 RWD costs $0.057 a mile to charge here. At $3.30/gal, a 30 mpg car in Michigan spends $0.110 a mile on fuel.
Statewide averages. Put your own rate and pump price in the calculator above.
EVs on the road here
Plug-ins on Michigan plates
- Light-duty EVs registered
- 112,600 all-electric · 42,100 plug-in hybridDOE AFDC, registrations on Dec 31, 2025
- EV share of light-duty vehicles
- 1.5% all-electric · 2.0% with a plugDOE AFDC, registrations on Dec 31, 2025 · 7,683,900 vehicles
- EVs per 100 homes
- 2.9AFDC registrations ÷ RECS 2020 housing units (3.92 million)
- Public charging
- 2,076 locations · 5,729 ports (3,937 Level 2 · 1,788 DC fast)DOE AFDC station counts, 2026-10-27
- EVs per public port
- 19.7AFDC registrations ÷ AFDC public ports
Hybrids, not plug-ins, are the electrified cars Michigan has taken to. The 2025 registration count found 312,600 conventional hybrids, next to 112,600 battery-electric models and 42,100 plug-in hybrids. That battery-electric total is the 16th-highest in the country, a respectable number, yet it is spread across a very large stock of 7,683,900 light-duty vehicles. Diluted that way it comes to 1.5% of the fleet, under the national 2.1%, and to 2.9 EVs per hundred households, under the US 4.6.
For the cars that do need a plug, chargers are comparatively plentiful. Public sites number 2,076 and carry 5,729 ports: 3,937 at Level 2 speed and 1,788 DC fast, the latter the 13th-highest total nationally. Fast units account for 31% of ports, about level with the US 30%. Because the fleet is modest for a state this size, each public port has 19.7 EVs to serve (the US figure is 21.7), and each fast port 63 (the US figure is 72). A Michigan driver pulling up to a fast charger is competing with fewer cars than the typical American EV owner.
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 Michigan. Use the rate on your bill if you know it.
Rate used: 23.0¢/kWh · Michigan · EIA, August 2026 · gasoline $3.30/gal (2025–26 ref.) (data as of 2026-10-25) ·
Estimated savings per year (12,000 miles)
EV $0.057 a mile vs gas $0.110 a mile, home charging.
- EV cost per mile (EPA kWh/100 mi, at the wall)
- $0.057
- Gas cost per mile
- $0.110
- EV, 12,000 miles a year
- $689.70
- Gas car, 12,000 miles a year
- $1,320.00
- Savings per year
- $630.30
- Prices used
- electricity 23.0¢/kWh · gasoline $3.30/gal (Michigan)
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 Michigan
At 23.0¢/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 $0.057. A 30 mpg car at $3.30/gal spends $0.110 a mile. Over 12,000 miles: $689.70 for the EV, $1,320.00 for gasoline, a difference of $630.30 a year (fuel only). The EV would lose its per-mile edge above 44.0¢/kWh, or against a gas car rated above 57 mpg.
What the numbers say
Michigan's rate, Michigan's winter
Electricity, not gasoline, sets the tone in Michigan. Home power costs 23.0¢/kWh, 27% above the US average of 18.2¢/kWh and the 13th-highest in the nation, while gasoline costs $3.30/gal, 3% above the US average of $3.20/gal. Pricey power trims the electric car's lead, and the yearly saving for the example pair drops to the 11th-lowest among the states. A trimmed lead is not a lost one. Power would have to climb to 44.0¢/kWh, from today's 23.0¢/kWh, before the sedan stopped beating the gas car on each mile, and the gas car would need 57 mpg to draw level.
Heavier EVs are a different story at this rate. The Ford F-150 Lightning comes out at $0.110 per mile, close to the $0.110 of the 30 mpg car, so a pickup shopper here should compare against the truck they would otherwise buy rather than a sedan.
Then there is the cold. Michigan logs 6,600 heating degree-days, 47% more than the US average of 4,500 and the 12th-highest count among the states. Cabin heat and a chilled battery draw extra energy, while the calculator assumes rated consumption every month, so expect a winter month's real cost per mile to exceed $0.057. The cold-weather range tool estimates how many miles a frozen morning takes off.
With hybrids this widespread, the car you would replace may already be frugal. A hybrid near 57 mpg would cancel the fuel saving at 23.0¢/kWh, so key your current car's real rating into the mpg box instead of trusting the default. On the electric side, ask your utility whether it sells a night rate; if it does, that number goes in the electricity box in place of the average.
Plugging in at home has its own costs: the Level 2 installation cost page estimates a wall unit, and charge time compares how long a full charge takes on Level 1 and Level 2. The Michigan gas vs electric heating page puts this same power price through a furnace and a heat pump.
Questions
FAQ
Is charging an EV cheaper than gas in Michigan?
At Michigan's average prices, yes for the page's example: $0.057 a mile for a Model 3 RWD at home against $0.110 for a 30 mpg car, $630.30 a year over 12,000 miles. The EV would lose its fuel-cost edge only above about 44.0¢/kWh, or against a gas car rated above 57 mpg. Both prices are editable above.
What about public fast charging in Michigan?
Fast chargers usually charge more per kWh than a home rate. This page uses Michigan's home average, 23.0¢/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 $3.30/gal.
How do time-of-use rates change this in Michigan?
The EV's cost per mile moves in direct proportion to the rate you charge at. If an overnight rate were half of 23.0¢/kWh (11.5¢/kWh), the Model 3 RWD would cost $0.029 a mile instead of $0.057. Check your utility's tariff for the real overnight rate and type it in.
What will charging at home add to a Michigan electric bill?
Plugging the Tesla Model 3 RWD in at 23.0¢/kWh costs $0.057 for each mile, or $689.70 for a year of 12,000 miles. The Ford F-150 Lightning needs $0.110 per mile at that price. Cold months run above the rated figure, and a cheaper overnight price, if your plan has one, runs below it. The rate printed on your own bill settles which.
Can I count on fast chargers for a winter road trip across Michigan?
The state has 1,788 DC fast ports, the 13th-highest count in the US, with 63 EVs per fast port compared with 72 for the country as a whole. Those totals do not tell you which highways have them or what each one bills, and fast-charging prices generally sit above home rates. In the cold, stops get longer and the miles between them shorter; the cold-weather range page helps you space them.
Bordering states
Nearby states
Same two cars, each state's own prices:
Related