Lincoln Aviator Among Most Expensive Alternative Fuel Cars

The Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring has long been a popular choice among those seeking a plug-in hybrid – the type of middle-ground electrified offering that provides them with a select amount of all-electric driving range and the longer-range convenience of a gas engine. In fact, the Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring topped the luxury mid-size SUV segment of Vincentric’s 2023 Best Value in America Awards for providing owners with the lowest ownership costs in its class. However, new data from iSeeCars suggests that the Lincoln Aviator PHEV is also one of the most expensive alternative fuel vehicles to operate per 1,000 miles driven, too.

Most of this stems from the fact that the Aviator Grand Touring has a rather high average MSRP of $80,952, which – when combined with an average of 10,504 miles driven per year – equates to a cost of $7,707 per 1,000 miles, which is the seventh highest of any vehicle in this study. To come up with this data, iSeeCars looked at the odometer readings of 1.3 million three-year-old used cars sold from November 2022 to April 2023, and compared those mileage numbers by model to the list prices of the same models when they were sold new. It found that plug-in hybrids were driven 12,199 miles over that time period, on average – or 4.8 percent less – than gas cars, while pure EVs were driven 20 percent less, or 10,256 miles.

“Range anxiety and charging infrastructure are top-of-mind for EV drivers, and those factors likely limit how far owners will drive them,” said Karl Brauer, iSeeCars Executive Analyst. “Hybrids and plug-in hybrids, where all-electric battery range is limited but range anxiety isn’t a factor, are driven only slightly less than gasoline cars, as reflected in their similar yearly mileage. At between 6,000 and 8,500 miles a year, luxury cars like the Porsche Taycan, Porsche Cayenne Plug-in Hybrid, and Tesla Model S are being driven far less than the average car. This makes their $95,000-plus price an expensive premium when measured against cost per 1,000 miles per year.”

Interestingly, when the refreshed 2025 Lincoln Aviator debuted recently, it did so without the Grand Touring present in the lineup, though it’s possible that the PHEV could return at a later date. In the meantime, production of the 2025 Aviator is slated to begin at the Chicago Assembly plant on May 13^th, though that date is subject to change, as always.

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