Click play to listen to this article.

(Arizona News Connection) Electric vehicles could save Arizonans up to almost $25,000 compared to gasoline vehicles over 10 years, depending on specific makes and models.

A new analysis from the Environmental Defense Fund and Climate Power compared the costs associated with owning and operating a number of EVs to equivalent gas-powered cars.

Jim Stack, president of the Phoenix Electric Vehicle Association, has been driving EVs for about 20 years and said he has seen not only how much EVs have come down in price, but how much better their tech has become.

Image

"I'm a big efficiency person. If something is not efficient it doesn't make sense to me," Stack explained. "Whereas an electric vehicle (is) over 80% efficient. And just one of the great examples of that is the regenerative breaking, as you're slowing down or going down a hill, you're actually making energy."

The analysis also accounts for federal and state EV and charger tax credits, showing how certain EVs are estimated to be less expensive to own and use than a regular gas-powered car. Many still remain skeptical of EVs due to range, charging and other concerns. 

Alex Wall, senior clean energy economy adviser for the advocacy group Climate Power, said Arizona and much of the United States is at a "critical moment in the clean energy economy and transition." He added there are a lot of misleading narratives, many being pushed by oil and gas companies and their allies in Congress, relating to overall EV costs.

He argued the new analysis proves EVs can save money, especially on larger gas-guzzling vehicles like a Ford F-150 versus the Ford F-150 Lightning EV. 

"Over 10 years electric vehicles are significantly cheaper," Wall pointed out. "They're saving consumers money, they're much healthier for the environment and for families and the electric vehicle job boom is creating, so far it has created 140,000 jobs in both the EV and battery industry."

The analysis said the "historic investments" by the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law helped rapidly increase EV manufacturing in Arizona. An estimated 9,700 new jobs have been announced since January 2021.