Why Drive Economics exists
Every major energy purchase — a vehicle, a heating system, a solar installation — is an investment decision. It has an upfront cost, an operating cost, and a residual value at the end. The math either works or it doesn't, and the honest answer often surprises people.
Yet most consumer-facing analysis in this space runs on simplifying assumptions: national average gas prices, single-rate electricity, generic depreciation, uniform insurance. Those shortcuts hide the variables that actually determine whether an EV or a gas car makes economic sense for a specific person in a specific ZIP code. The result is analysis that's technically defensible in aggregate and unreliable at the individual level — exactly backward from what a buyer needs.
Drive Economics is built to work the other way. Every calculation is grounded in real data: live gasoline prices from the U.S. EIA, live electricity rates from the utility serving your ZIP code, EPA-verified vehicle efficiency, current state and federal incentive programs. Every assumption is stated. Every case study is dated and sourced. When our math says a gas car wins, we publish that conclusion exactly as the numbers produce it.
The larger goal is broader than individual buyer decisions. History demonstrates that technological transitions accelerate when the economics evolve to favor them — and consumer-facing transparency about the economics is one of the levers that tilts the tipping point.
Our editorial commitments
01
Analytical independence
No vehicle manufacturer, dealer, or advertiser can influence what our math concludes. Our analytical outcomes come from data and modeling, not commercial relationships. A vehicle that wins in our analysis wins because the numbers said so.
02
Disclosure of economic relationships
When we earn revenue from partnerships or affiliate relationships, we disclose it prominently on the relevant content. Analytical conclusions are never for sale. This mirrors the standard set by respected consumer publications.
03
Willing to publish uncomfortable conclusions
Case studies where a gas car wins, a hybrid beats an EV, or the math is essentially a coin flip are published exactly as the numbers produce them. Our credibility depends on being right, not on being pro-EV or anti-EV.
04
Data verified continuously
Rate schedules, incentive programs, and vehicle specifications are verified quarterly across major utility service territories and federal and state policy environments. Data becomes stale fast in this space — we refresh proactively rather than waiting for user reports.
05
Corrections prioritized
Errors reported by users are verified and fixed within days, not weeks. The site depends on accurate numbers, and fixes get priority routing over feature additions. See the Contact page for how to report a correction.
Where our data comes from
Drive Economics doesn't guess at numbers. Every calculation traces back to authoritative sources:
- Gasoline prices
- U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) weekly retail data by PADD region, refined to state-level averages.
- Electricity rates
- OpenEI Utility Rate Database (URDB), a joint project of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy. Includes time-of-use plans, EV-specific rates, and residential defaults for major service territories.
- Vehicle specifications
- EPA fueleconomy.gov — official EPA-tested MPG figures for gas vehicles and kWh/100mi consumption for electric vehicles.
- Incentive programs
- Federal programs sourced from DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center. State programs verified directly with issuing agencies (departments of revenue, energy offices, or environmental agencies). Utility programs verified with utility program documents.
- Depreciation modeling
- iSeeCars 2024 retention data by make, model, and category. Refined with EV-specific adjustments where new-model data is thin and industry pattern data is more reliable.
- Insurance premium modeling
- Drive Economics's proprietary density-and-MSRP model, calibrated against published state average rates and adjusted for metro-level cost-of-insurance patterns.
Every case study cites the specific data vintages used. When rates or programs change materially, affected case studies are re-verified and re-dated.
The founder
Jeff Crittenden, P.E.
Founder and Principal Analyst · Drive Economics
Drive Economics was founded by Jeff Crittenden, a licensed Professional Engineer with 25+ years in the energy and sustainability space. Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology and maintains a P.E. license in the state of Illinois. He works from the Midwest.
His career has spanned energy consulting for utility, public sector, and private sector clients. Most recently, Jeff has focused on developing EV charging infrastructure programs for fleet transportation and commercial vehicle applications — work that requires both engineering rigor and economic modeling to make the case for adoption at scale.
Jeff's motivation for building Drive Economics comes from a specific observation carried through his career: consumers evaluating major energy purchases rarely receive analysis rigorous enough to support the investment decisions they're making. Most EV cost calculators, in particular, run on simplifying assumptions that hide the numbers that actually matter to a specific person in a specific market. That gap is what Drive Economics was built to close.
Areas of expertise
See the analysis in practice
The best way to evaluate the methodology is to read a case study. Every one starts with a real driver, walks through the math line by line, and lands where the numbers land.