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Every time gas goes up by 32 cents at the pump, I stand to save an additional $1,000 in fuel over 100,000 miles of driving my LEAF. Or in other words for every $1 of gas price rise, that’s another $3,000 in avoided expenditures.

I keep track of the costs of running my LEAF in a spreadsheet. The Blink charger I have at my home let’s me know how many kWh of electric is used each month charging my vehicle. I devised a spreadsheet to keep track of miles driven each month and the average gas price each month. Armed with this information and the combined MPG of my last vehicle a Chevy Malibu and the price of electric on each monthly bill,  I can calculate my actual savings per month and project savings over 100,000 miles.

With just 6 months of ownership I have saved $700 in fuel versus running by old Chevy Malibu (which got above average fuel economy). I had projected $10,000 in fuel savings over 100,000 miles. Now that gas has risen quite a bit since Christmas, the projected savings have risen to over $11,000. It is rumored that gas may hit $4 per gallon again this summer. If it does and stays there, my savings will increase to $13,000 over 100,000 miles.

Obama wants to raise the EV tax Credit from $7,500 to $10,000. With the extra tax credits and increased fuel savings, buying an EV keeps getting cheaper.