Total cost of ownership
A 2026 Tesla against the gas car you would buy instead: price, tax, financing, insurance, maintenance, energy, incentives and resale, with your state's numbers.
Your Tesla
$36,990 + $1,390 destination + $250 order fee · 24.2 kWh/100 mi (EPA)
Sets your electricity and gas prices, vehicle tax, EV registration fee, insurance and any state rebate.
California's state rate plus the typical local rate. Each car is taxed on its own price. Check your county's rate.
Driving & charging
Most owners with a driveway do 80% or more of their charging at home. Without home charging, set this to 0%.
California averages $0.33/kWh. An EV time-of-use plan is often a third cheaper overnight.
Financing
Gas car to compare
1.5-liter turbo, 32 mpg combined. The common Model 3 alternative.
California average for regular: $6.39 (AAA, 2026-10-04).
Method
How this is calculated
Everything you pay to buy, run and sell each car over the years you own it, at your state's prices, taxes and fees. Costs both cars share, such as standard registration and title, are left out.
Buying
- Price plus destination and Tesla's $250 order fee
- Sales tax at your state's vehicle rate, with state caps applied (adjustable)
- Loan interest for the months you own the car
- Annual EV registration fees, in the states that charge them
Running
- Insurance: insurance.com's 2026 state averages for each model, adjusted for trim and mileage
- Maintenance, repairs and tires: AAA's 2025 per-mile costs by vehicle class
- Energy: EPA consumption at your home and public charging rates, or EPA mpg at your state's gas price (premium fuel $0.90 more a gallon)
Incentives
- No federal credit: it ended for cars bought after September 30, 2025
- State rebates and credits in 9 states, with price caps and deadlines applied
Resale
- Each car's own depreciation curve, from iSeeCars' resale projections
- Adjusted about 8¢ a mile for driving more or less than 12,000 miles a year
Notes
- Estimates use published state and national averages; your own quotes will differ.
- State incentives change often and carry income and price caps; confirm before you count on one.
- Actual costs will vary based on individual circumstances.
- This calculator is for informational purposes only.
This calculator provides estimates for general information purposes only. Actual total cost of ownership will vary with your vehicle, financing terms, insurance rates, maintenance, energy prices, depreciation, and other factors. Incentives vary by location and eligibility. Prices are Tesla's published figures as of October 2026 and can change without notice. These tools should not be the sole basis for a financial decision.
FAQ
Frequently asked
Is a Tesla cheaper to own than a gas car?
It depends on the car you'd buy instead. With this calculator's defaults (five years, 12,000 miles a year, 80% home charging), a Model 3 Premium Rear-Wheel Drive comes out $5.7k–$12k ahead of a BMW 330i over five years, depending on the state. A cheaper mainstream car is a tougher comparison: a Model 3 Standard costs $7.3k–$16.2k more than a Honda Accord LX, because it costs more to buy and insure and Teslas have lost value faster. The running costs favor the Tesla: at national-average prices it spends about 60% less on energy than the Accord, and less on maintenance, so the gap narrows the more you drive.
Does this calculator include the $7,500 federal tax credit?
No. The federal clean-vehicle credit ended for cars bought after September 30, 2025. State programs are counted where they apply, in 9 states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Rhode Island. Price caps and deadlines are applied automatically, and programs with conditions you may not meet, such as California's first-time-buyer rebate, are shown but not counted.
How is the electricity cost estimated?
Miles driven times the trim's EPA consumption, which is measured at the wall and so already includes charging losses, priced at a blend of home and public charging. By default 80% of charging happens at home at your state's average residential rate ($0.18 per kWh nationally, EIA, January–July 2026) and the rest at Superchargers at $0.42 per kWh. A time-of-use EV plan can cut the home rate by a third or more.
What resale value does the calculator assume?
Each car's own depreciation curve, from iSeeCars' resale projections. After five years a Model 3 keeps about 46% of its price, a Model Y 45% and a Cybertruck 43%, against 68% for a Honda Accord and 70% for a Honda CR-V. Values move about 8¢ for every mile above or below 12,000 a year. Resale is the least certain line: Tesla's new-car price changes have moved its used values more than most brands'.
Guides
Guides on cost and savings
Sources and assumptions
Insurance: insurance.com state averages for a 40-year-old with a clean record (April 2026), adjusted for trim and mileage. Maintenance: AAA Your Driving Costs 2025, by vehicle class. Resale: iSeeCars depreciation projections, adjusted for mileage. Energy use: EPA. Prices: EIA electricity (Jan–Jul 2026), AAA gas, Tax Foundation tax and EV fees. Gas cars: manufacturer prices with destination (October 2026), EPA fuel economy, insurance.com 2026 premiums, iSeeCars resale. Registration and title fees other than the EV surcharge are left out because they apply to both cars.
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