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

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.