Electric cars
EV charging cost calculator
What an electric car costs to charge depends less on the car and more on where and when you plug it in. This prices your own charging mix, losses included.
The calculator is free, needs no account, and keeps your figures in your own browser.
Open the EV calculatorYour home electricity prices carry over from the rest of the site if you have entered them.
Your charging mix is the answer
Home at a standard rate, home on a cheap overnight window, surplus solar, a workplace charger and public rapid charging are priced separately and combined in the proportions you set. Solar is capped at the surplus actually available, so the mix shown is one your home could really achieve.
What to have ready
Annual mileage, the car's efficiency in miles per kWh, your electricity unit price and any cheap-rate price, and a rough idea of how often you charge away from home. Starting assumptions are provided and clearly labelled.
Running costs only
This compares the cost of energy. Purchase price, depreciation, tax, insurance and servicing are deliberately left out, because they depend on the specific cars you are choosing between.
Common questions
- How much does it cost to charge an electric car at home?
- Take the electricity the car needs for your mileage, add the energy lost while charging, and price it at the rate you pay in the hours you charge. A cheap overnight rate typically changes the answer far more than the car itself does.
- What are charging losses and why do they matter?
- Not every unit that leaves your meter reaches the battery. A few per cent is lost in the charger and the car, so the electricity you pay for is always a little more than the energy the car stores. The calculator adds that loss rather than ignoring it.
- Is public charging much more expensive?
- Usually yes, often several times the home rate. Because of that, the share of your charging done away from home can matter more than the price of home electricity, which is why the mix is adjustable.
- Can I charge the car on my own solar?
- Only up to the surplus your roof actually produces while the car is plugged in. Solar charging is capped at what is available, and the value counted is the export payment you give up by using it in the car instead.
- Will charging at home raise my household bill?
- It will raise electricity use, even as it removes fuel spending. The calculator shows the effect on your home electricity figures as well as the running-cost comparison so both sides are visible.