Database / Guides / What MPGe actually means
MPGe is the EPA's way of grading electric cars on the same curve as gas cars. Once you know what it measures, it's the single most useful efficiency number on this site.
That's the whole trick. A gallon of gasoline holds about 33.7 kilowatt-hours of energy, so the EPA asks: how far does this EV go on 33.7 kWh of electricity? The answer is its MPGe. A car rated 137 MPGe travels 137 miles on the energy in one gallon of gas — it just does it with electrons instead of explosions.
Range tells you how far you can go; MPGe tells you what each mile costs you. The most efficient EV in our database, the 2026 Tesla Model 3, is rated 137 MPGe. The thirstiest, the 2025 Bugatti Rimac Nevera, manages 53 MPGe. The average across all 91 EVs here is 100 MPGe. A 140-MPGe car uses roughly half the electricity per mile of a 70-MPGe car — same distance, half the charging bill.
Where the EPA publishes energy consumption (kWh per 100 miles) without an MPGe figure, we calculate MPGe as 3370 ÷ kWh/100 mi — the EPA's own formula — and round the way the EPA does. EPA consumption figures already include charging losses, so MPGe reflects wall-to-wheels energy, not just what the battery delivers.
They're the same idea in different units: miles per kWh = MPGe ÷ 33.7. We show both on every vehicle page. Use whichever clicks for you.
For efficiency, yes — a higher MPGe means less electricity per mile, so cheaper running costs. But the most efficient car isn't always the right car; range, price, and size matter too.
Yes. The EPA's energy-consumption figures measure electricity from the wall, so the ~10-15% lost as heat during charging is already baked in.
33.7 kWh of electricity holds the energy of one gallon of gasoline. MPGe is simply 3370 divided by the car's consumption in kWh per 100 miles.
Figures: U.S. EPA via fueleconomy.gov, model years 2025–2027. Updated October 2026.