How much does it cost to charge an electric car?

It’s a really important question for EV owners: How much does it cost to charge an electric car?

What actually decides the cost?

 Three things mainly:

1. Where you charge – home is almost always cheapest; rapid public hubs are the most expensive.
2. Your electricity tariff – standard variable (capped) vs special EV/off-peak deals.
3. How big the battery is and how efficient the car is – bigger batteries = more kWh to fill; less efficient cars use more kWh per mile.

To keep it relatable we’ll use a 60 kWh battery – that’s a very common size for family EVs in the UK right now.

Charging at home on a normal (price-capped) tariff

• Current average electricity unit rate (Apr–Jun 2026): 24.67p / kWh.
• Standing charge exists too, but for “how much to charge the car?” we just look at the unit rate.

Example: full charge of 60 kWh

• 60 kWh × £0.2467 = £14.80

That’s empty to full, which you’re unlikely to do every day. Normally you will be topping up.

More realistic top-up: 10% → 80% (about 42 kWh)

• 42 kWh × £0.2467 = £10.36

Cost per mile at home

• Assume the car does 3.5 miles per kWh – typical for the average EV.
• 24.67p ÷ 3.5 = 7.0p per mile

So, on the standard Energy Price Cap tariff, you’re paying about 7p a mile to drive electric.

Charging at home on an EV/off-peak tariff

This is where it gets really cheap.

Several suppliers (Octopus, British Gas, E.ON, etc.) have 2026 EV tariffs with off-peak windows around 7-8p/kWh, provided you let them smart-charge the car overnight.

Let’s use 7p / kWh to illustrate (that rate is publicly available in 2026 on intelligent/smart EV products).

Full 60 kWh charge at 7p / kWh

• 60 kWh × £0.07 = £4.20

10% → 80% (42 kWh) at 7p / kWh

• 42 kWh × £0.07 = £2.94

Cost per mile at 7p / kWh

• 7p ÷ 3.5 = 2p per mile

So, if you can plug in overnight on one of these tariffs, your ‘fuel’ cost is in the 2-3p per mile range – that’s where EVs beat petrol/diesel very comfortably right now.

Please note: some of these tariffs have higher daytime rates than the standard variable Energy price Cap rate, so you need to shift the car charging into the cheap window to achieve the saving.

Public charging (slow/fast vs rapid)

Public prices vary more than home prices, but we do have good current numbers from Zapmap and others for early 2026.

• Slow/fast public chargers (up to 22 kW): about 53p / kWh on average in early 2026
• Rapid/ultra-rapid (50 kW+): about 76p / kWh on average in early 2026 – with a range of 55p to 89p / kWh across the biggest networks.
• VAT on public charging is still 20%, which keeps public prices higher than home electricity (5% VAT).

Example: 60 kWh charge on a typical rapid at 76p / kWh

• 60 kWh × £0.76 = £45.60

Example: 10% → 80% (42 kWh) on that same rapid

• 42 kWh × £0.76 = £31.92

Cost per mile at 76p / kWh

• 76p ÷ 3.5 = 21.7p per mile

That’s about 10 times the cost of charging at home on a specialist EV tariff, and roughly 3 times the cost of home charging on a standard energy tariff.

So public charging is fine occasionally, but you wouldn’t want to do it all the time.

There are membership and subscription offers now (for example, 39-43p / kWh rapid with a monthly fee) that can bring this down, but those prices depend on the specific network and plan.

Worked comparison (April–June 2026)

In summary:

Scenario: 60 kWh family EV, topping up from 10% to 80% (42 kWh).

1. Home, standard capped tariff (24.67p / kWh): £10.36
2. Home, EV/off-peak tariff (7p / kWh): £2.94
3. Public rapid (76p/kWh): £31.92

So, the same 42 kWh of energy can cost about £3, £10 or £32 depending on where and on which tariff you charge.

So what should you budget?

If you have driveway + home charger + smart EV tariff, budget around £15-£20 a month for typical commuter-level driving (say 600-800 miles) at 2-3p per mile.

If you use ordinary home rates, think more like £45-£60 a month for the same mileage at 7-8p per mile.

If you must use public rapid chargers a lot, it can look closer to petrol money: 20p+ per mile – so trips get noticeably more expensive.

Those monthly numbers depend on how far you actually drive, so treat them as examples, not guarantees.

Key 2026 takeaways

• Home is still king – at 24.67p / kWh, home charging remains far below most public rapid rates, and prices have actually fallen from the previous quarter.
• Smart EV tariffs are the biggest single saving – dropping to 7p / kWh takes a £14–£15 full charge down to about £4.
• Public charging is improving but still pricier – slow/fast chargers run at around 53p / kWh and rapid at roughly 76p / kWh, roughly 3x the cost of standard home charging.
• Prices change every quarter with Ofgem, and public networks can update even faster, so always check your own supplier/app for the live rate.