Cost of driving electric cars are a third of gasoline costs: US energy department

The US government says the fuel cost for an electric vehicle amounted to only a third what it was for a gasoline vehicle. However the department formula ignores key financial and environmental factors.

DOE said yesterday that electric car owners spent only $1.14, on average, to go as far as gasoline-car owners did on one gallon of gas, which averaged around $3.63, according American Automobile Association (AAA).

The $1.14 number – the equivalent of dirt-cheap in today's fuel market – had been touted by electric-car interests ranging from General Motors, which sold the mostly electric Chevrolet Volt, to a variety of clean-fuel and environmental advocacy blogs.

According to analysts, the DOE calculation underlined the sharp conflict between clean fuel and cheap fuel.

Meanwhile, the energy department  released a new tool that allowed motorists to compare the benefit of fueling electric vehicles to the high cost of gasoline-powered engines.

With the eGallon calculator, users can determine the price for gasoline in each state and compare it with the cost to power an electric car to travel the same distance achieved by a gallon of gasoline.

The national average for a gallon of gas was $3.65. as against, an eGallon cost of $1.14.

''Consumers can see gasoline prices posted at the corner gas station, but are left in the dark on the cost of fueling an electric vehicle. The eGallon will bring greater transparency to vehicle operating costs, and help drivers figure out how much they might save on fuel by choosing an electric vehicle.  It also shows the low and steady price of fueling with electricity,'' said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, in a statement on the department's website.

''Not only can electric vehicles save consumers on fuel and reduce our dependence on oil, they also represent an opportunity for America to lead in a growing, global manufacturing industry.''

When visiting Energy.gov/eGallon, users need to only choose the state they lived in and the cost for each gallon of gas and the amount of electricity to travel the same distance was determined.