Gasoline prices rose nearly 46% between January and April 2026, with fleet operators running larger conventional vehicles feeling a greater burden. An iSeeCars evaluation of over 2.1m vehicles charted the associated fee spikes by vehicle types and models.
EVs and ICE Vehicles: A $695 Annual Fuel Cost Gap
In response to iSeeCars’ evaluation, annual fuel costs for internal combustion engine vehicles jumped a median of $706 over that four-month period, rising from $1,533 to $2,240. Electric vehicles, in contrast, saw annual energy costs increase just $11, from $714 to $725.
“Everyone knows fuel prices are up, but we wanted to guage the impact of rising energy costs on each of the main drivetrain categories,” said iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer in an announcement.
“You’d expect EV drivers to be largely shielded from the rise in fuel prices, and their $11 increase in annual fuel costs versus $706 for gasoline vehicles confirms it.”
Hybrids Offer a Middle Ground
Conventional hybrids — which logged probably the most annual miles of any drivetrain category at nearly 14,700 miles per 12 months — saw fuel costs rise $486, meaningfully lower than their ICE counterparts.
Plug-in hybrids fared even higher, absorbing a $291 increase, with models just like the Toyota Prius Prime and Hyundai Ioniq PHEV among the many least-affected gas-consuming vehicles within the study.
Conventional gasoline vehicles saw annual fuel costs rise by greater than $700 on average since January, in comparison with just $11 for EVs.
Trucks, Minivans, and Large SUVs Absorb the Biggest Increases
Amongst conventional vehicle segments, the pain was, not surprisingly, concentrated on the larger, less fuel-efficient end of the spectrum. Minivans saw the steepest annual fuel cost increase at $1,139 — driven largely by the segment’s high average mileage of 19,292 miles per 12 months, nearly 5,000 greater than the next-highest segment.
Trucks weren’t far behind, absorbing a $992 increase despite lower average annual mileage, resulting from their relatively poor fuel economy. SUVs rose $681, while passenger cars saw the smallest increase amongst ICE segments at $606.
The Hardest-Hit Models: Large SUVs Dominate
At the person model level, the vehicles with the biggest increases in fuel cost are dominated by full-size, three-row SUVs. The Toyota Sequoia topped the list, with estimated annual fuel costs rising from $3,523 in January to $5,145 in April — a jump of $1,623.
The Chevrolet Suburban ($1,542) and Nissan Armada ($1,513) rounded out the highest three, followed closely by the GMC Yukon XL and Chevrolet Tahoe.
“Large, three-row SUVs can accomplish nearly any task related to private transportation,” said Brauer. “Unfortunately, the high functionality of enormous SUVs combines with their less-than-stellar fuel efficiency to make their annual operating costs extremely volatile when fuel prices spike.”
Visit here for more details on the study and methodology.
This Article First Appeared At www.automotive-fleet.com
