AAA 2026 Driving Costs: Hybrids Are the Cheapest Cars to Own, Beating EVs and Gas Models

Hybrids were the cheapest vehicles to own in all four classes where AAA lined up electric, hybrid and gas-only models side by side in its 2026 Your Driving Costs study, released on September 15. A hybrid medium sedan runs 10,204 dollars a year, against 10,582 dollars for the gas version and 13,662 dollars for the electric one, and the same order held for compact SUVs, medium SUVs and pickups. Electric vehicles came close to gas models in two of those classes and beat them in one.

Where electric vehicles lost, the line that sank them was depreciation: what AAA expects the car to be worth in five years. Electric models have been losing value faster than hybrids and gas cars as prices, incentives and battery worries shift, and that expected resale hit outweighs their lower fuel and maintenance costs in the AAA math. Greg Brannon, director of automotive engineering at AAA, said comparing electric, hybrid and gas models within the same categories lets consumers better understand how total ownership costs vary by powertrain.

The overall figure in the study is striking on its own: owning and running an average new vehicle costs 12,863 dollars a year, or 1,071.92 dollars a month, over five years and 75,000 miles. AAA put the prior year figure at 11,577 dollars but said its methodology changed, so the two numbers are not directly comparable. The study covers 34 top-selling models in seven categories, and this year AAA folded select electric vehicles and hybrids into them for the first time.