There is always a cheaper option for pretty much anything. If coal was cheaper to heat your home, would you use that? What about oil? Early adoption in a technology life cycle almost always hasA lot depends on where you live and what your costs are. I'll compare a few things why I'll stick with my manual 2019 Subaru Crosstrek over a Tesla model 3 AWD.
I started this thread because my opinion is EVs are the future. ICEs will continue to be made for specific use cases. But once an EV hits 400 mi of range (or about the same as a car that averages 30MPG on a full tank) and can charge to mostly full in 20 minutes, then it's unclear what the ICE advantage is.
In the Northeast, gas is cheap. Electricity is expensive. Besides 2 power plants (Bow, NH, coal and Seabrook, NH, nuclear) all are natural gas. Gas lines are strangled and increasing them has been prohibited. We're currently in the winter where the oldest LNG terminal in the US, Everett, MA is taking foreign LNG to supplement gas as plenty of urban homes are heated with gas. Example, my electric with a discount provider is over 38 cents a kWh. There's no option to pay with a credit card, so my bank account auto pays. Gas now is around $2.79 with no discount. I now am using a 3% back gas card (Barclay). So $2.71 a gallon. I get 35 MPG in my Crosstrek. I use snow tires in the winter. The OEM tires that came on the car are still good. Full insurance coverage with high liability limits cost me $700 a year.
Go ahead and do the comparisons. The Tesla tends to match or lose to my Subaru on cost per mile. Can a Tesla with 2 sets of tires (summer and winter) get to the 79k miles I'm at with no replacements and several years left? I doubt it. A fuel fill up for me requires a 3 minute stop at the gas station. Great for trips as I'll set the pump, go in and order food, use the bathroom, come out and pick up my food, go to the car and go. 15 minutes tops. That's my only stop for a common 720 mile trip I've made many times. How much is Tesla insurance? $700?
Those are my reasons for not buying an EV. Going forward, I see ICE coming back into favor for its cost and practicallity.
Some tradeoffs. We don’t need to get down to two decimal places on this thread. I agree that right now ICE cars can be had for less money. And even potentially operated for less. I drive one myself.
This is a thread about two new EVs coming online this year, not about whether a Crosstrek is cheaper to own and operate than a BMW EV. Of course it is.
Statistics: Posted by Admiral — Thu Jan 08, 2026 9:04 am — Replies 68 — Views 2795