The Middle East conflict has gas prices up a bit. Not to historic highs, gas is still well below five-year highs. Yet, Electric Vehicle owners are doing a happy dance and posting “We told you so” posts on social media. The comments are everywhere online, and the safe spaces of EV groups and clubs on social media are brimming with posts by EV owners just dying to tell you that they were right, and if you’d all just listened to them, you too would now be enjoying the misfortune of others.
The EV Paradox - $100K Vehicle Owners Thrilled To Save A Few Cents Per Mile
While there are certainly some great affordable EVs in the U.S. fleet, the Bolt and Leaf jump to mind, many EVs are ridiculously expensive and out of reach of most Americans. Owners of these very expensive EVs are somehow also penny pinchers when it comes to energy.
One example of a post by such an owner came from New Hampshire resident Jon G. in a public post on his personal Facebook feed. Jon G posted in part: "Glad I drive an EV. Now NH is not known for cheap electricity, but I have figured that charging at home, I spend less than 1/2 what I would spend on gas when the price of gas was under $3."
We liked John’s post a lot. In the image that accompanied his pricey Rivian R1S photo is a Toyota Corolla. Just for fun, we went to the FuelEconomy.gov and pulled up the current energy cost per year info on the Rivian R1S and also a Corolla Hybrid sedan. Can you guess which model has the lower energy cost? It’s a tie, actually. The various models range from about $900 per year to about $1,200. Remember, it wasn’t our comparison idea.
It Must Be Nice to Have a Home Where One Can Charge Their Pricey EV
I’m very fortunate to be in the roughly half of Americans who live in a single-family home. The number of us with a single family home we own ourselves is much smaller than that. Yet, EV owners like Jon G act as if every shopper has the luxury of their own at-home charger, like we lucky folks do. When charging in public at a DC charger, an EV owner can expect to pay roughly $0.32/kWh at the very low end and over $0.60/kWh at the high end. At those public charging prices, EVs are a lot more expensive to run than hybrids, and even some affordable gas-only vehicles. But let’s not spoil the vision.
Cheap charging is sometimes possible at Level 2 chargers here and there. If your idea of adding about eight or nine miles of range per hour is a good way to use time, let us know in the comments below.
Those Kooky Californians
All the media outlets love to send a photographer to Southern California cities to snap a photo of crazy high gas prices. One outlet ran a price showing over $8/gallon. The combination of special fuel formulations, city prices, and just, well, crazy California energy costs results in prices double the national average, and well more than double the prices many Americans are paying for fuel. One great example was a Tesla Model Y owner, Chris Q, who bragged that it only cost him nine cents per mile to push his Model Y around in Southern California. We don’t want to bore you with math, but every 2026 RAV4 can do that any time gas is under $3.50. Nine cents per mile not a particularly great cost per mile for energy by any measure. But Chris wants to show off, so he found a high-priced station, just like the media outlets do.
Sample Posts By Giddy EV Owners Observing Rising Costs
Fuel is built into the cost of all the things we buy, not just gasoline. Here are some posts by EV owners thrilled to see that energy costs are going up:
Andrew L - Posted at The Ioniq Guy Page on FB: “EV owners charging at home. Gas car owners charging their credit cards.”
Lijo K - Posted at Tesla Model Y Club: “As there is fuel scarcity at the moment … are you all glad that you have the world’s best EV ?”
Joshua E - Public post at the Evangeline Middle School - “Gas up 25¢ in a week… Meanwhile, EV owners right now (Smiley face emoji)
EV Owners Openly Admit to Being Happy Others Are Hurting
Of the many posts we viewed by EV owners doing the “I told you so” routine, one really stuck out. It was a post by Howard W in a Tesla Model Y club. Howard posted: “When charging my Y and walking around near gasoline pumps, I take photos of the prices shown. Schadenfreude.”
If your German is not sharp, we’ll translate schadenfreude for you. It is defined as “The feeling of satisfaction or pleasure derived from observing someone else's pain.” It’s refreshing to see such honesty from the EV community about how they feel about the Middle East conflict and the resulting rising energy costs.
Yes, EV owners are somewhat insulated from short-term gasoline price changes. But every American pays more for everything when transportation costs rise, and diesel is the fuel that moves all of America’s goods. Home heating oil costs are also up, hitting many low-income families at the tail end of a tough winter. Natural gas is the fuel used to produce 40% of the electricity in America, and the precursor for everything from medicine to clothing. Is the latest Middle East conflict a cause for celebration?
What’s your take? Our comments section is available for your view on gas prices. Why not throw a comment in?
Top of page image courtesy of Rivian. Charging images by John Goreham.
John Goreham is a 14-year veteran of Torque News. An accomplished writer and a long-time expert in vehicle testing, Goreham also serves as the Vice President of the New England Motor Press Association and has a growing social media presence. He’s also a 10-year staff writer and community moderator for Car Talk. Goreham holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an undergraduate Certificate in Marketing. In addition to vehicle and tire content, he offers deep dives into market trends and opinion pieces. You can follow John Goreham on X and TikTok, and connect with him on LinkedIn.
Set Torque News as Preferred Source on Google
Follow us today...
