Charging cost is the single biggest factor in whether an electric car saves you money, and it varies enormously depending on where and when you plug in. The same car can cost a few pence per mile to run on an off-peak home tariff, or close to petrol prices on a motorway rapid charger. This guide explains how charging costs are worked out, what you can expect to pay at home and in public, and how to cut the cost per mile.
Fully charging a typical 60kWh electric car costs roughly £14 to £16 at standard home electricity rates, often under £5 on an off-peak EV tariff, and £40 or more at a public rapid charger. Per mile, home charging usually works out around 4p to 7p, against roughly 12p to 16p for an equivalent petrol car.
Charging cost comes down to a simple sum: the size of the charge in kilowatt-hours (kWh) multiplied by the price you pay per kWh. A car with a 60kWh battery charged from empty to full at 25p per kWh costs £15. In practice you rarely charge from empty, so most top-ups cost less than a full charge.
To turn that into a cost per mile, you also need the car's efficiency, measured in miles per kWh. Most EVs achieve between 3 and 4 miles per kWh in real-world driving. At 3.5 miles per kWh and 25p per kWh, the cost is just over 7p per mile. The same calculation at a 75p per kWh rapid charger gives over 21p per mile, which is why where you charge matters so much.
Home charging on a standard variable tariff is the baseline for most owners. With typical unit rates around 24p to 27p per kWh, a full charge of a 60kWh battery costs roughly £14 to £16 and delivers around 180 to 220 miles of real-world range.
A dedicated home wallbox charges at around 7kW, taking a typical battery from low to full overnight. Wallbox installation usually costs a few hundred pounds to around £1,000, and is a one-off cost worth including in your first-year sums. A standard three-pin socket can charge a car too, but at roughly 2.3kW it is slow and is generally recommended only for occasional use.
Several UK energy suppliers offer EV tariffs with a cheap overnight window, often around 7p per kWh for five to six hours. Charging a 60kWh battery entirely in that window costs around £4 to £5, which can bring the running cost below 2p per mile.
These tariffs usually pair a cheap night rate with a slightly higher day rate, so they suit households that can shift the car charging, and ideally other heavy usage, into the off-peak window. A smart meter is normally required, and most wallboxes and cars can be scheduled to charge only during the cheap hours automatically.
Public charging prices vary widely by network and speed. Slower public chargers, such as lamp-post and 7kW to 22kW fast chargers, often cost around 40p to 60p per kWh. Rapid and ultra-rapid chargers on motorways and major routes commonly charge 70p to 85p per kWh.
At 80p per kWh, a 60kWh charge costs £48 and the cost per mile is broadly similar to petrol. Rapid charging is best treated as a convenience for long journeys rather than a routine way to run the car. Some networks offer subscriptions or member pricing that reduce the rate for regular users.
Note that public charging carries 20% VAT while home electricity is charged at 5%, which is part of the reason for the gap between home and public prices.
A petrol car doing 42 miles per gallon at around 145p per litre costs roughly 15p to 16p per mile in fuel. An EV charged at home on a standard tariff costs around 6p to 8p per mile, and on an off-peak EV tariff often under 2p per mile.
Over 10,000 miles a year, that gap is worth several hundred to over a thousand pounds annually. Drivers who rely mainly on public rapid charging, however, can pay as much per mile as a petrol driver, which is why home charging access is the key question when deciding whether an EV will save you money. Our electric vs petrol comparison covers the full ownership picture.
Switch to an EV tariff and schedule charging for the off-peak window; this is the single biggest saving for most owners. Charge to 80% for daily use, as many manufacturers recommend, and save full charges for long trips.
Plan longer journeys around cheaper charging stops rather than defaulting to the most expensive motorway rapids, and use network apps or subscriptions where you charge regularly. If you have solar panels, charging during the day from excess generation can make some miles close to free.
Driving 8,000 miles a year at 3.5 miles per kWh uses about 2,286kWh. On a 7p off-peak rate the annual charging cost is around £160. The same mileage in a 42mpg petrol car costs around £1,250 in fuel.
The same 8,000 miles at a 25p standard unit rate costs around £570 a year. That is still less than half the petrol cost, but more than three times the off-peak figure, showing why the tariff matters.
A driver without home charging who relies on 75p per kWh rapid chargers pays around £1,700 for the same 8,000 miles, more than the petrol equivalent. For drivers in this position an EV may not save money on fuel.
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At a typical standard rate of around 25p per kWh, a full charge costs about £10 for a small 40kWh battery, £15 for a 60kWh battery and £20 or more for larger batteries. On an off-peak EV tariff at around 7p per kWh, those figures drop to roughly £3 to £6.
Most rapid and ultra-rapid chargers cost around 70p to 85p per kWh, so adding 200 miles of range typically costs £40 to £50. Slower public chargers are usually cheaper, at around 40p to 60p per kWh.
Almost always when charging at home, where the cost per mile is typically 2p to 8p against 12p to 16p for petrol. If you rely mainly on public rapid charging, the saving shrinks and can disappear entirely.
It is strongly recommended for regular charging. A 7kW wallbox fully charges most cars overnight and enables off-peak tariff scheduling. A three-pin socket works occasionally but is slow and not designed for routine daily charging.
An EV tariff gives a cheap overnight electricity rate, often around 7p per kWh, in exchange for a slightly higher daytime rate. For anyone who charges at home regularly it usually pays for itself quickly and is one of the easiest savings available.
On a 7kW home wallbox, a typical battery charges from low to full in 8 to 10 hours, which suits overnight charging. Rapid chargers can take many cars from 10% to 80% in around 30 to 45 minutes.