EV vs Gas Cost Per Mile in Virginia
At Virginia's average prices, a Tesla Model 3 RWD costs an estimated $0.044 a mile to charge at home and a 30 mpg gas car $0.103 a mile in fuel: $710.80 a year apart over 12,000 miles. Per mile, the EV spends about 43% of what the gas car does.
State data
What Virginia pays
- Home electricity
- 17.6¢/kWhEIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A · EIA, August 2026 (data as of 2026-10-25)
- Gasoline
- $3.10/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)
At 17.6¢/kWh, a Model 3 RWD costs $0.044 a mile to charge at home in Virginia. Virginia's pump price of $3.10/gal is the 25th-highest of the 51 on this site.
Statewide averages. Put your own rate and pump price in the calculator above.
EVs on the road here
The EV count in Virginia
- Light-duty EVs registered
- 134,900 all-electric · 39,300 plug-in hybridDOE AFDC, registrations on Dec 31, 2025
- EV share of light-duty vehicles
- 1.8% all-electric · 2.4% with a plugDOE AFDC, registrations on Dec 31, 2025 · 7,363,800 vehicles
- EVs per 100 homes
- 4.2AFDC registrations ÷ RECS 2020 housing units (3.24 million)
- Public charging
- 1,849 locations · 5,545 ports (3,678 Level 2 · 1,845 DC fast)DOE AFDC station counts, 2026-10-27
- EVs per public port
- 24.3AFDC registrations ÷ AFDC public ports
By raw numbers, Virginia is one of the bigger EV states. Its 2025 registrations list 134,900 battery-electric cars and light trucks, the 11th-highest nationally, alongside 39,300 plug-in hybrids. By proportion it is unremarkable. Those battery models make up 1.8% of the 7,363,800 light-duty vehicles registered here, where the US share is 2.1%, and households hold 4.2 of them per hundred, against 4.6 nationwide. Keep one more figure in mind for the comparison below: Virginia has 398,800 conventional hybrids on the road, far more than either kind of plug-in.
The 1,849 public sites in the state hold 5,545 ports. Of those, 1,845 are DC fast, the 12th-highest fast-port total in the country, and 3,678 are Level 2, so fast charging takes a 33% share where the US figure is 30%. The load per port runs a little heavy overall, 24.3 EVs each versus 21.7 nationally, but sits about at par at the fast chargers, 73 each versus 72.
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 Virginia. Use the rate on your bill if you know it.
Rate used: 17.6¢/kWh · Virginia · EIA, August 2026 · gasoline $3.10/gal (2025–26 ref.) (data as of 2026-10-25) ·
Estimated savings per year (12,000 miles)
EV $0.044 a mile vs gas $0.103 a mile, home charging.
- EV cost per mile (EPA kWh/100 mi, at the wall)
- $0.044
- Gas cost per mile
- $0.103
- EV, 12,000 miles a year
- $529.20
- Gas car, 12,000 miles a year
- $1,240.00
- Savings per year
- $710.80
- Prices used
- electricity 17.6¢/kWh · gasoline $3.10/gal (Virginia)
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 Virginia
At 17.6¢/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 $0.044. A 30 mpg car at $3.10/gal spends $0.103 a mile. Over 12,000 miles: $529.20 for the EV, $1,240.00 for gasoline, a difference of $710.80 a year (fuel only). That difference is the 25th-highest of the 51 on this site.
What the numbers say
Near-average prices, and what they mean here
Neither fuel strays far from the national price. Virginia pump prices are $3.10/gal (3% below the US average of $3.20/gal) and residential power is 17.6¢/kWh (3% below the US average of 18.2¢/kWh). With no strong push either way, the yearly saving for the example cars ranks the 25th-highest, squarely mid-pack, and the sedan's $0.044 per mile sits beside the $0.045 it would cost on the US average rate.
An ordinary result here is still a comfortable one. The sedan keeps its lead until electricity costs 41.3¢/kWh, with the state now at 17.6¢/kWh, and a competing gasoline car would need 70 mpg to equal it. Moving up to the Ford F-150 Lightning narrows that lead without erasing it: $0.085 a mile on home power, set against the $0.103 of a 30 mpg car.
Because the statewide prices are so typical, your personal answer depends on where you plug in. Drivers who charge at home should read their tariff for a time-of-use option and, if one exists, use its night price in the electricity box. Drivers who lean on the road network will often meet DC fast chargers, which make up 33% of the state's public ports, and those usually bill well above what a house pays per kilowatt-hour; entering the station's price shows how near you come to 41.3¢/kWh.
Given the hybrid count above, measure the EV against the car you would actually trade in, not the 30 mpg default. The plug-in hybrid vs EV vs gas page lays all three out with purchase prices, and Level 2 installation cost estimates the charger in your garage. Home heating on this power price has its own page: Virginia gas vs electric heating.
Questions
FAQ
Is charging an EV cheaper than gas in Virginia?
At Virginia's average prices, yes for the page's example: $0.044 a mile for a Model 3 RWD at home against $0.103 for a 30 mpg car, $710.80 a year over 12,000 miles. The EV would lose its fuel-cost edge only above about 41.3¢/kWh, or against a gas car rated above 70 mpg. Both prices are editable above.
What about public fast charging in Virginia?
Fast chargers usually charge more per kWh than a home rate. This page uses Virginia's home average, 17.6¢/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 $3.10/gal.
How do time-of-use rates change this in Virginia?
The EV's cost per mile moves in direct proportion to the rate you charge at. If an overnight rate were half of 17.6¢/kWh (8.8¢/kWh), the Model 3 RWD would cost $0.022 a mile instead of $0.044. Check your utility's tariff for the real overnight rate and type it in.
Does an EV beat a hybrid on fuel cost in Virginia?
That depends on the hybrid's rating. A gasoline car needs 70 mpg at $3.10/gal to match the Tesla Model 3 RWD, which spends $0.044 per mile on the home rate. Put your hybrid's real figure in the mpg box above to see where it lands. A plug-in hybrid falls between the two, by how many of its miles run on the battery; the plug-in hybrid vs EV vs gas calculator runs all three side by side.
What happens to my cost per mile if I fast-charge in Virginia?
It rises with the price on the station. The state's 1,845 DC fast ports make up 33% of public ports (the US: 30%), and they usually bill well above the 17.6¢/kWh home rate. The EV remains the cheaper car to fuel next to a 30 mpg model so long as you pay less than 41.3¢/kWh; read the posted price before you connect.
Bordering states
Nearby states
Same two cars, each state's own prices:
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