Our EV9 spent the bulk of its charging time plugged into my Michigan home where off-peak electricity costs $0.17 per kilowatt-hour. Conveniently, that’s also the U.S. national average for residential electricity. On a handful of long road trips, we relied on DC fast chargers at a significantly higher rate—typically between $0.50 and $0.70 per kilowatt-hour.

We figure our usage—two 1,000-mile road trips, several weekend trips of 400–600 miles, and a whole lot of local driving—represents a reasonable mix for an American using their three-row SUV as their primary family vehicle. Our actual charging costs averaged out to $0.13 for every mile driven, which is the number we’ll use for this calculation. At 15,000 miles per year, that works out to $1,950 annually or $9,750 over a five-year period.

Back in 2020, we ran a yearlong test of a Kia Telluride and averaged 21.2 mpg over more than 20,000 miles. We’re using that fuel economy figure for this exercise since the 2025 Telluride is mechanically identical to the 2020 model. From April 2024 (when we took delivery of our yearlong EV9) until August 2025, gas in Michigan has averaged $3.16 per gallon, which brings the annual cost to $2,250 and the total cost over five years to $11,250

Was Our Kia EV9 Actually Cheaper Than a Gas SUV?

EVs are supposed to be cheaper to fuel and maintain, but the complete picture is more complicated.Eric TingwallWriter

Jim FetsPhotographerRyan LugoIllustrator

Oct 02, 2025

MotorTrend’s yearlong Kia EV9 has departed, leaving us with a trove of fond memories and 17,000 miles’ worth of data. Before we get to the full verdict on our 13 months driving Kia’s three-row EV around the Midwest, we’re running the numbers on the rational side of EV ownership.

0:47 / 2:03

One of the oft-repeated benefits of owning an EV is that it’s cheaper to fuel and maintain than a gas-powered vehicle, but those costs are only part of the equation if you truly care about saving money with your new-car purchase. The steep price premium and even steeper depreciation curve for an EV swings the pendulum in the other direction. Where does it net out? To figure out if our EV9 would have saved us money versus a similarly sized gas-powered Kia Telluride, we pulled real-world data from our long-term tests of both vehicles and extrapolated what five years of driving 15,000 miles per year would cost someone. Here’s what that data reveals.

The Cost of Electricity vs. Gas

Our EV9 spent the bulk of its charging time plugged into my Michigan home where off-peak electricity costs $0.17 per kilowatt-hour. Conveniently, that’s also the U.S. national average for residential electricity. On a handful of long road trips, we relied on DC fast chargers at a significantly higher rate—typically between $0.50 and $0.70 per kilowatt-hour.

We figure our usage—two 1,000-mile road trips, several weekend trips of 400–600 miles, and a whole lot of local driving—represents a reasonable mix for an American using their three-row SUV as their primary family vehicle. Our actual charging costs averaged out to $0.13 for every mile driven, which is the number we’ll use for this calculation. At 15,000 miles per year, that works out to $1,950 annually or $9,750 over a five-year period.

Back in 2020, we ran a yearlong test of a Kia Telluride and averaged 21.2 mpg over more than 20,000 miles. We’re using that fuel economy figure for this exercise since the 2025 Telluride is mechanically identical to the 2020 model. From April 2024 (when we took delivery of our yearlong EV9) until August 2025, gas in Michigan has averaged $3.16 per gallon, which brings the annual cost to $2,250 and the total cost over five years to $11,250.

That works out to a $1,500 savings over five years for driving the EV9. While gas and electricity prices vary widely across the country, they’re generally closely correlated. Californians have sky-high gas prices, but they also pay sky-high electric rates.

For now, the efficiency of an EV still beats the low (and heavily subsidized) prices of fossil fuels. It might not last. Electricity prices have climbed at more than twice the rate of inflation amidst skyrocketing demand from data centers and other industrial users. Even if the balance tips in favor of gasoline in the future, though, EV drivers will still have the convenience of refueling their cars at home, and as many of them will tell you, you can’t put a price on that.

Maintenance

EVs aren’t entirely maintenance-free, but they’re about as close as a car will likely ever be. Kia’s maintenance schedules for the EV9 and Telluride call for tire rotations every 8,000 miles, cabin air filter replacements every 16,000 miles, and a brake fluid flush at 48,000 miles. The difference between its gas and electric models shows up in the maintenance for the internal combustion vehicle’s engine. Over 75,000 miles in an EV9, you’d avoid nine oil changes at $120 each (using local Kia dealer prices) and three engine air filter replacements at $45 each compared to what the Telluride calls for.

We calculated that the EV9 requires $655 worth of maintenance over a five-year period while the Telluride would cost you $1,910. For DIYers, the savings could be even greater. Rotating your tires and swapping cabin air filters are easy enough jobs that many people can do them with a basic set of tools and elementary mechanical aptitude in less than an hour.

Total Cost of Ownership

Of course, fuel and maintenance are only two relatively small costs of owning and driving a car. To fully understand what a car costs, you also have to factor in the purchase price (minus anything you recoup when you sell the vehicle), interest on the amount financed, taxes and registration fees, and insurance.

We ran the full analysis on the EV9 and Telluride assuming a $5,000 down payment and a five-year loan at 7.1 percent interest. The insurance rates are based on quotes from my current insurance provider for a 39-year-old male with a clean driving record. Black Book provided the typical retail purchase prices and residual values. Finally, we’ve assumed that the EV9 was purchased at a time when the vehicle was eligible for the full $7,500 federal tax credit. (After September 30, the credit will no longer be available for any EV.) Here’s how all the numbers add up:

	2024 Kia EV9 Land	2024 Kia Telluride SX AWD
PURCHASE PRICE	$71,685	$49,580
RESIDUAL VALUE	-$28,674	-$27,765
TAX CREDIT	-$7,500	NA
FUEL	$9,750	$11,250
TAXES AND FEES	$6,216	$3,760
INTEREST	$12,730	$8,511
MAINTENANCE	$655	$1,910
INSURANCE	$6,431	$5,117
TOTAL COST	$71,294	$52,362

As you’d expect, the EV9 gets hammered by its high purchase price (which increases interest costs, too) and significant depreciation. Insurance for the EV costs some $1,300 more per year based on a policy that costs $107 per month versus $85 for the Telluride. The EV9 is also penalized by Michigan registration fees, which are based on a vehicle’s MSRP and include an additional $160 fee assessed on EVs. All in, the Kia EV9 would end up costing nearly $20,000 more over five years than the comparable Telluride.

If automakers truly want EVs to replace gas cars in middle America, they need to figure out how to slash the vehicle prices. Until that happens, anyone shopping for an EV would be wise to question the conventional wisdom. While buying is typically considered more prudent than leasing, many manufacturers are now offering subsidized deals that make it smarter to lease an EV.