Tesla's annual mileage tops EVs but lags gas vehicles, iSeeCars says

Tesla owners drive significantly more miles per year than buyers of rival EVs, thanks to the superior range of Tesla vehicles, according to a new study from iSeeCars.

The range advantage translates to a Tesla ownership experience that's more similar to combustion vehicles — in terms of miles driven — than to other EVs, iSeeCars said.

Tesla still falls short of combustion cars for annual mileage in the U.S. market. And the study found that EVs, in general, would need to drive 440 miles on a single charge to match gasoline vehicles.

Adding 161 miles of range to the average 3-year-old electric car would increase its average range from 279 miles to 440 miles to match 3-year-old gasoline cars, which average 24.7 miles per gallon and have an average fuel tank capacity of 18 gallons.

Combustion vehicles in the study logged an average mileage of 12,758 per year, iSeeCars said, while the four Tesla models averaged just under 10,000 miles.

iSeeCars said it analyzed over 860,000 used vehicles from the 2020 model year to compare EVs and combustion vehicles over a three-year period.

"Tesla has come the closest to creating a combustion-like driving experience and owner experience," Karl Brauer, iSeeCars executive analyst, told Automotive News. Teslas go further on a single charge than rivals and the brand offers superior public charging compared to the EV competition, Brauer said.

Tesla's four models took the top four spots for annual mileage among 12 EVs considered in the study. As a group, the Teslas averaged just under 10,000 miles driven per year.

The Tesla Model X crossover was No.1 at 10,378 miles per year, iSeeCars said. Battery range for the Model X was calculated at 341 miles. iSeeCars averaged the range of different Model X trims.

The Tesla Model Y crossover was the No. 2 most-driven EV at 10,199 miles, according to the study. It had an average range of 316 miles per charge.

The Tesla Model 3 sedan tallied 9,960 miles of usage per year and an average range of 279 miles. And the Tesla Model S hatchback traveled with annual mileage of 9,340 and a range of 378 miles, iSeeCars said.

Average annual mileage for the 12 EVs in the study was 9,059 per year. When the Teslas were removed from the calculation, the annual average for the remaining eight EVs fell to 6,719 miles, iSeeCars said.

Because the EVs considered for the study were from the 2020 model year, they didn't include newer Tesla rivals such as the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Kia EV6, Rivian R1S and Lucid Air.

Also, the iSeeCars study averaged EV range figures for each model since different trims can have different estimates based on battery size, wheels and other factors.

Hyundai's Kona Electric crossover was fifth in miles driven at 8,260 per year. The Kona has an average range of 258 miles. The Chevrolet Bolt was next with annual mileage of 7,753 and a range of 259 miles, iSeeCars said.

The Audi e-tron Sportback averaged 7,210 miles per year with 218 miles of range. The Jaguar I-Pace averaged 6,910 miles per year with 240 miles of range, and the Hyundai Ioniq Electric averaged 6,803 miles with 170 miles of range, iSeeCars said.

Coming in at No. 10 was the Kia Niro EV with average mileage of 6,630 and 239 miles of range, followed by the Nissan Leaf with 6,395 miles driven per year and 190 miles of range. The Porsche Taycan was No. 12 with average mileage of 4,846 and range of 226 miles.

While the number of miles driven did not exactly correlate with the range of the individual models, there was a strong relationship between the two, iSeeCars said.

"Several factors contribute to EVs being driven less, including their common role as a second or third vehicle in a household, and being used less often for road trips," Brauer said. "But the most powerful factor may be an EV's battery range and the associated range anxiety."

The study also found that used EVs were 47 percent more expensive than the combustion vehicles, on average, despite being driven 29 percent fewer miles. The used EVs had an average price of $45,147 compared with combustion vehicles at $30,760, iSeeCars said.

Beyond range anxiety, Brauer said, refueling anxiety is another hurdle since gasoline vehicles can be filled in minutes while EV charging can take much longer.

"In a gasoline car, regardless of how far you're going, there are always plenty of refueling options and the process takes five to 10 minutes," Brauer said. "Until EVs can offer that level of convenience at comparable cost, they will be at a distinct disadvantage in terms of use and market demand."

According to Experian registration data from the first quarter, EVs captured 7 percent of the new-vehicle market at 257,507 units. That was up from a 4.6 percent market share in the year-earlier period.

Tesla had the bulk of the EV market, with about 6 of every 10 registrations, Experian said.

J.D. Power said in a report earlier this month that despite growing market share for EVs, many consumers are still wary of the new technology. Barriers include a lack of reliable public charging infrastructure, relatively high purchase prices and confusing new rules for federal EV incentives.

In March, 21 percent of shoppers said in a survey that they were "very unlikely" to buy an EV, up from 19 percent in February, J.D. Power said.