The correct answer to this question depends quite strongly on how much you're planning to drive. Assuming you plan to drive a lot the answer is that the lowest

The correct answer to this question depends quite strongly on how much you're planning to drive. Assuming you plan to drive a lot the answer is that the lowest Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is the Toyota Prius. Yes it costs more upfront but if you own it for 10 years and you drive 600k miles then it's the cheapest especially if your driving includes substantial freeway miles. First it can get close to 70mpg (mine often does) with a mix of careful city/hwy driving. It's rated at 60mpg highway. Maintenance on this car is very low. Oil changes are about every 10k miles and brakes are about every 150k miles (regenerative brakes do not eat much brake pad). The engine is almost always running at its favorite RPM which reduces engine wear a lot. A Tesla 3 might have an even lower TCO but that's not proven yet and it definitely won't have a 750 mile range with the convenience of filling up at the nearest pump. Definitely worth breaking out Excel and running the numbers on.