If Electricity Were Gasoline
EV charging cost by province
What the map is showing you
Every province on the map carries one number: the price a litre of gasoline would have to be for a gas car to cost the same per kilometre as charging an EV at home there.
It is framed that way because almost nobody has an instinct for what a kilowatt-hour is worth, and everybody knows what they last paid at the pump. Turning electricity into a pump price makes the comparison one you can feel rather than one you have to work out.
How the comparison works
- 1
What the electricity costs
Take the province's residential electricity rate and multiply it by how much energy the EV needs to cover 100 km.
- 2
What the gasoline costs
Take how many litres the comparison car burns over that same 100 km, and multiply by that province's pump price.
- 3
Turning one into the other
Divide the EV's cost for 100 km by the litres the gas car needed. The answer is a price per litre, which is the number on the map.
Full breakdown
All Provinces & Territories
| Province / Territory | $/L Equivalent | vs Gas | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| British Columbia | $0.28 | $1.90 | 85% |
| Alberta | $0.39 | $1.55 | 75% |
| Saskatchewan | $0.42 | $1.58 | 74% |
| Manitoba | $0.22 | $1.59 | 86% |
| Ontario | $0.19 | $1.65 | 88% |
| Quebec | $0.17 | $1.73 | 90% |
| New Brunswick | $0.30 | $1.70 | 82% |
| Nova Scotia | $0.39 | $1.74 | 78% |
| Prince Edward Island | $0.39 | $1.75 | 78% |
| Newfoundland & Labrador | $0.31 | $1.82 | 83% |
| Yukon | $0.32 | $1.79 | 82% |
| Northwest Territories | $0.91 | $1.85 | 51% |
| Nunavut | $0.82 | $1.95 | 58% |
Reading the numbers behind the map
The same thing with real numbers
In Quebec, home electricity costs 7.80¢ per kWh. With the Hyundai Ioniq 6, 100 km takes 16 kWh — $1.25. With the Hyundai Elantra, the same 100 km takes 7.2 L, and at $1.73 a litre that is $12.43. Spread the EV's $1.25 across those 7.2 L and you get $0.17: what a litre would have to cost for the gas car to match it.
Run the identical arithmetic in Northwest Territories and the answer is $0.91 instead — 5.3 times as much, with the same two cars. That gap is the point of the map: what charging costs you depends far more on where you plug in than on what you drive.
These figures move with the vehicles and rate you pick above.
The three views
- $/L Equivalent
- The pump price that would match charging, as described above. Best for a gut check against what you paid last week.
- $/100km
- What 100 km costs in each fuel, in dollars. Best for comparing the two directly without a conversion in between.
- Annual Savings
- The yearly difference between the two, over 20,000 km of driving. Best for deciding whether the gap is worth anything at your mileage.
What this does not tell you
These are home-charging numbers on manufacturer-rated efficiency, in mild weather. Public fast charging costs several times more per kWh, a cold battery uses more than its rating, and your meter reads higher than the energy that reaches the wheels. Each of those is quantified in the methodology below.
Data last updated: 2026-04-26