If there were ever any concerns about just how much money driving an electric vehicle could save you, I think we can now put them to rest.

According to data released by PlugShare, a mobile and web application developed by Xatori which helps EV owners find charging stations, the average driver of an electric vehicle spends just $30 on charging expenses to travel 1,050 miles per month. Compare that to how much gasoline-powered car owners have to shell out to go the same distance – $105 – and it’s easy to see why EV owners love their cars.

In addition to the cash savings that EV drivers see, there is an additional benefit for the rest of us as well. By choosing an EV over a conventional automobile, each month of driving means about 360 pounds less of CO2 emissions released into our atmosphere. They are a win-win for everyone, even for those of us who can’t or won’t make the jump to electric vehicles.

While PlugShare was initially created to help drivers find a place to plug and included just 500 charging stations, it now covers 11,000 charging stations across the U.S. It currently has over 100,000 users, providing valuable – and much-needed – data about EV owner demographics and behavior. It also has determined which cities North America are the most EV-ready and not too surprisingly Portland, Oregon tops the list followed by Dallas, Nashville, San Francisco and Seattle.

“PlugShare’s success is largely thanks to the EV community at large, and we’re committed to helping provide new products and services that help engage with them,” said Xatori Founder and CEO Forrest North. “With the information we gather on charging stations and driving behaviors, we hope to inform the EV industry to continue to develop solutions that support and further the shift to electric vehicles.”

By showing the public that owning an EV can save thousands of dollars a year on fuel costs while significantly cutting emissions, the data should encourage others to jump at the chance to go electric while pushing manufactures to further develop the technology.

[Source: Domestic Fuel via Autoblog Green]

Image Credit: CoreForce/Flickr