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Let's say we buy a $30,000 vehicle new and drive it for 15 years, then sell it for $2,000. That's $28,000 in depreciation. In the process, we've put 180,000 miles on it. $28,000 / 180,000 miles = $0.15 per mile.
If the car got 30 MPG and gas was $3, the cost of fuel to travel 180,000 miles is $18,000. 180,000 miles / $18,000 = $0.10 per mile.
So depreciation is still 1.5x more than the cost of fuel.
My point is, depreciation is generally the biggest expense of a vehicle. Cost of fuel is a minor consideration with regards to financial decision making relative to the cost of the vehicle. I'm on an forum where financially illiterate people proclaim their great financial savings from having purchased a new EV since they pay 1/4 as much in "fuel" driving electric. They totally ignore that they just spent $40k to "save" all that money, and that their vehicles will be worth 1/4 of that in 4 years when they decide to save money all over again by purchasing a new vehicle.
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