Vehicle EconomicsEV Home Charging Cost
What does it actually cost to charge an EV, blending home and public charging?
Why this comes up
"EVs are cheap to fuel" is only true if you're mostly charging at home. Public fast charging often costs close to gas on a per-mile basis, so a real charging-cost estimate needs to blend your actual home and public charging mix, not assume one rate.
How we calculated this
Energy needed at the battery is miles times kWh per 100 miles, divided by 100. Energy drawn from the wall (at the meter) divides that by your charging efficiency, since some energy is lost in conversion. The blended rate is your home share times the home rate, plus the remaining share times the public rate.
Worked example, using this page's own defaults: 12,000 annual miles at 30 kWh/100mi and 90% efficiency draws 4,000 kWh from the wall a year. At an 80/20 home/public mix, that costs $784 a year, about 6.5 cents per mile.
What this means
- Your home/public charging mix drives the result more than almost any other input, be honest about how much you'll actually rely on public charging.
- Charging efficiency losses are real and often overlooked, 100% efficiency is optimistic for most EVs and chargers.
- See EV vs Gas Cost Calculator to compare this energy cost against a full gas-vehicle alternative, including purchase price and financing.
Limitations
No current electricity rate is assumed or fetched, every rate here is what you entered. See Methodology.
Methodology
This engine is built on Vehicle Economics' fuel and charging cost model: your own miles, MPG or kWh, and rates converted directly to a dollar cost. See Methodology for the full detail.