While electric vehicles might be better for the environment compared to traditional combustion engines, many expect them to cost you big time when your utility bills come along.

Electric vehicles are often quite expensive to purchase and physically maintain. On top of that, it’s easy to forget that, due to needing to charge them when they aren’t in use, they can also sneak up on you very easily when it comes to paying for electricity at your home.

New owners of EVs typically expect a massive uptick in their electricity prices, and while this can often be the case, one Tesla owner on X (formerly Twitter) revealed their astonishingly low electricity bill to the world.

Tesla can be charged at home or for a fee at charging stations. (pexels/Chad Russell)

X user @Tesla_GTownTX tweeted a screenshot of the bill he received directly from Tesla in regards to his electricity usage, with the total amount coming to merely $2.37. This, according to the user, is higher than usual, as he jokingly captioned the post: “First time I’ve had a bill within the last 12 months. This sucks.”

The post left many current and potential users of EVs wondering what the user’s secret was to charge his electric vehicle without amassing large electricity bills in the process.

“I call bs,” said one disbelieving commenter.

Another joined in on the original poster’s joke: “Man my sympathies to you in this horrible time.”

It turns out that the user’s secret to having such a small electricity bill involved him planning ahead of time and making a big purchase to avoid having to pay for the costly utility every month.

The secret is that the man uses solar panels to keep his electric bill from ever reaching the heights you’d expect. A Tesla Powerwall–a home battery used to charge Teslas using solar energy–can be seen in one of the photos on his profile, lifting the lid on what it takes to avoid high electricity prices.

As one would expect, while this home battery may seem as though it saves you hundreds of dollars each month, it’s hard to say whether the one-time payment for the Tesla Powerwall is worth a reduced electric bill.

Teslas are known for being expensive both to purchase and maintain. (pexels/Roberto Nickson)

According to Forbes, these Tesla Powerwalls can cost you well over $11,000 per battery, and the more you have, the more electricity you are likely to save. If you want to reduce this price, you’d have to buy five batteries for $40,500, which amounts to a still-gargantuan $8,100 per battery.

So, while it may seem like the man lucked out on having such a low bill, he certainly didn’t get off easy when it comes to making a large payment.