Owning an electric car in 2025 still doesn't make sense for most American households, especially if you can't charge at home. I tried the math with my own commute—25,000 miles a year, electricity at $0.14/kWh versus gas at $3.20 a gallon—and the EV would save me around $900 annually, but that's before factoring in the $12,000 price premium and the 30 minutes I'd spend at a public DC fast charger twice a week because my apartment has no Level 2 outlet. Rural drivers face even worse economics since charging networks thin out beyond interstate corridors, and cold weather can cut range by up to 30%, which I saw happen to a friend's Tesla in Minnesota last January.