It's not so much cost as in I only bring the car in annually for a cabin air filter, tire rotation, wipers, inspection sticker, etc. Since most of the braking is regenerative the brake pads are essentially unused.
Reducing brake pad wear seems like premature optimization to me. Good pads can last well north of 50k miles, with some claiming 100k. They're also dirt cheap. I haven't changed pads in almost 5 years and my brakes don't squeak yet.