Gasoline prices rose nearly 46% between January and April 2026, with fleet operators running larger conventional vehicles feeling a greater burden. An iSeeCars analysis of over 2.1m vehicles charted the cost spikes by vehicle types and models.

EVs and ICE Vehicles: A $695 Annual Fuel Cost Gap

According to iSeeCars’ analysis, annual fuel costs for internal combustion engine vehicles jumped an average of $706 over that four-month period, rising from $1,533 to $2,240. Electric vehicles, by contrast, saw annual energy costs increase just $11, from $714 to $725.

"Everyone knows fuel prices are up, but we wanted to evaluate the impact of rising energy costs on each of the major 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 the most annual miles of any drivetrain category at nearly 14,700 miles per year — saw fuel costs rise $486, meaningfully less than their ICE counterparts.

Plug-in hybrids fared even better, absorbing a $291 increase, with models like the Toyota Prius Prime and Hyundai Ioniq PHEV among the least-affected gas-consuming vehicles in the study.

Trucks, Minivans, and Large SUVs Absorb the Biggest Increases

Among conventional vehicle segments, the pain was, not surprisingly, concentrated at the larger, less fuel-efficient end of the spectrum. Minivans saw the steepest annual fuel cost increase at $1,139 — driven in large part by the segment's high average mileage of 19,292 miles per year, nearly 5,000 more than the next-highest segment.

Trucks weren't far behind, absorbing a $992 increase despite lower average annual mileage, due to their relatively poor fuel economy. SUVs rose $681, while passenger cars saw the smallest increase among ICE segments at $606.

The Hardest-Hit Models: Large SUVs Dominate

At the individual model level, the vehicles with the largest 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 top three, followed closely by the GMC Yukon XL and Chevrolet Tahoe.

"Large, three-row SUVs can accomplish nearly any task related to personal transportation," said Brauer. "Unfortunately, the high functionality of large 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.