TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – The conflict in Iran has caused oil and gas prices to rise, making it more expensive to fill up the gas tank.

Electric vehicle drivers avoid those costs.

However, deciding if you should invest in an EV depends on several factors, like the cost of the vehicle, gas prices, electricity prices, and where you would charge it.

“It’s more expensive to do it at the public charging stations than it is at your home, and obviously, the quicker the charge you get, the more expensive it will be,” said Doug Johnson with AAA Arizona.

On Wednesday, gas prices in Arizona averaged around $4 per gallon, according to AAA. For a vehicle that gets 35 miles per gallon, that’s roughly $0.11 per mile.

AAA estimated that on Wednesday, it cost around $0.43 per kilowatt hour to charge at a public charger in Arizona. The Tesla Model Y gets about 0.25 kilowatt hours per mile, meaning it costs almost $0.11 per mile.

If you charge at home, the cost drops to around $0.04 per mile, using December 2025 average Arizona electricity rates from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Regardless of where they charge, EV drivers have more predictability in their budgets.

“The biggest thing we notice with the EV charging and the public stations is that the number doesn’t fluctuate very often,” Johnson said. “The averages kind of stay the same week after week, and we cannot say the same for gas prices.”

The stability and generally lower rates of electricity are important for consumers.

“It’s too early to tell what this all means for right now, but historically, when gas prices go up, more people are interested in EVs,” Johnson said.

There are other costs of EVs to consider.

“Depending on the car, make, and model, and how much you are driving. It could take anywhere from three to 10 years to break even on the cost you have to pay upfront (as) EVs are more expensive than gas cars,” Johnson said.

Chris Berry bought his used Tesla about a year and a half ago for approximately $16,000. He said it came with free supercharging and free data for the vehicle’s lifetime.

“It shows you statistically what you could have been paying in gas, and it’s in the thousands,” Berry said.

For him, this specific car made financial sense and helped him avoid the recent high gas prices.

“At least one of our vehicles is somewhat free from that,” Berry said.

However, Berry said he still feels the impact.

“From a supercharging and Tesla standpoint, I think it’s cool, but overall, it’s a volatile time, and economically we are being hurt,” he said.

Asked if he would consider buying another EV in the future, Berry said “it depends” and said that he’d likely look at a hybrid.

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