EV Charging Cost Calculator

Multiply the energy your car consumes by your electricity rate, then divide by charging efficiency. The formula is: (battery-side consumption × distance) ÷ (1 − charging loss) × rate per kWh. For example, a car using 25 kWh per 100 miles with 10% charging loss and a $0.15/kWh home rate costs (25 ÷ 0.90) × $0.15 = $4.17 per 100 miles. This calculator applies that exact math to your car, your charging mix, and your rates.

With a typical US home rate of $0.15–$0.17/kWh and an efficient EV, a full charge costs about $6–$14 depending on battery size: a Tesla Model 3 (57.5 kWh battery, 10% charging loss) costs about $9.58 at $0.15/kWh. Per 100 miles that is roughly $4.17. Use the calculator above with your own home rate — enter your utility's per-kWh price for an exact figure.

Divide your monthly driving distance by 100 and multiply by your cost per 100 miles. An average US driver (about 1,000 miles/month) charging a Tesla Model 3 entirely at home at $0.15/kWh pays about $41.67/month. Heavy drivers or expensive public charging can push that to $100–$150/month; drivers who mostly charge free at work can pay under $15/month. The calculator above shows monthly and yearly totals from your own numbers.

Almost always, if you charge mostly at home. A 30-MPG gas car at $3.50/gallon costs $11.67 per 100 miles, versus $4.17 for a Tesla Model 3 charged at $0.15/kWh at home — a saving of $7.50 per 100 miles, or about $900 per year at 12,000 miles. The exception is exclusive DC fast-charging use: at $0.40/kWh the same EV costs about $11.11 per 100 miles, roughly the same as gasoline.

Cost per mile = grid kWh per mile × your electricity rate. At $0.15/kWh home charging and 10% loss, an efficient EV (Tesla Model 3, Hyundai Ioniq 6) costs about 4.2 cents per mile; a mid-size crossover SUV EV (Ford Mustang Mach-E, Kia EV6) about 4.7–5.5 cents; and a large truck (F-150 Lightning, Hummer EV) about 7–11 cents per mile. Public DC fast charging at $0.40/kWh roughly doubles or triples those figures. The calculator shows cost per 100 miles and per 100 km for your vehicle and mix.

Home charging is usually 2–3× cheaper. US averages are roughly $0.15–$0.17/kWh at home versus $0.30–$0.50/kWh at public DC fast chargers. A full Tesla Model 3 charge costs about $9.58 at home ($0.15/kWh) but about $25.56 at a $0.40/kWh public station. That is why the charging-mix sliders in this calculator matter so much: shifting 30% of charging from home to public adds about $2.08 per 100 miles to the bill.

AC home charging typically loses 8–12% as heat in the on-board charger and battery; DC fast charging loses a bit more (12–15%) plus battery-cooling overhead. EPA efficiency ratings are already measured at the wall, so they include this loss. This calculator defaults to 10% loss and applies it on top of battery-side efficiency — you can adjust it from 0–25% to match your own measurements or charger type.

Yes — workplace charging is often free or subsidized, so every mile charged at work costs you $0. With the calculator's mix sliders, try 50% home at $0.15/kWh, 30% public at $0.40/kWh, and 20% free at work: the blended rate drops from $0.21/kWh to $0.195/kWh and 100 miles costs $5.42 instead of $5.83. Drivers who charge exclusively free at work can run a commuter EV for nearly $0 in energy.

Estimate: (battery kWh × % to add) ÷ charger power. A Tesla Model 3 Long Range (79.7 kWh) charging from 10% to 80% (55.8 kWh) takes about 7.3 hours on a 7.6 kW home charger, 4.9 hours on an 11.5 kW charger, or about 24 minutes on a 150 kW DC fast charger — the last being a simplified linear estimate, since real DC charging tapers. The charge-time estimator above uses your selected vehicle and common charger presets.

Typical US DC fast-charging networks charge $0.30–$0.50/kWh (Tesla Supercharger members often pay less; some networks bill per minute instead). At $0.40/kWh, 100 miles in a Tesla Model 3 costs about $11.11 — roughly equal to gasoline in a 30-MPG car. Fast charging is best thought of as road-trip fuel, not daily fuel: enter your actual mix of home versus public charging above to see what it costs you.

Three things, in order: (1) where you charge — home rates vs public DC rates are the biggest lever, 2–3× apart; (2) your vehicle's efficiency — the most efficient EVs use under 14 kWh/100 km while large trucks use over 26 kWh/100 km, nearly doubling energy use; (3) how much you drive and local electricity prices. Battery size matters for full-charge cost, not per-mile cost.

Often yes, if your utility offers time-of-use (TOU) rates with cheap overnight electricity — off-peak rates can be half the daytime price. Set the home rate in this calculator to your off-peak price (e.g. $0.10/kWh instead of $0.18/kWh) to see the difference: 100 miles in a Tesla Model 3 drops from about $5.00 to about $2.78. Check your utility bill for TOU plans and off-peak windows.

Cold weather increases energy consumption — heating the cabin and warming the battery can add 20–40% to energy use. This calculator's driving-conditions selector includes a winter (+30%) option that scales your efficiency honestly, so a $4.17/100-mile summer cost becomes about $5.42 in deep winter at the same rate. Battery preconditioning before DC fast charging also wastes some energy; precondition while still plugged in at home when possible.

Enter the trip distance in the trip-cost section above. A 250-mile road trip in a Tesla Model 3 on home-rate electricity ($0.15/kWh, charged before leaving) costs about $10.42; the same trip done entirely on $0.40/kWh public fast chargers costs about $27.78 — still usually cheaper than the $29.17 a 30-MPG gas car would burn ($3.50/gal). Real trips are a mix; adjust the charging-mix sliders for public-heavy road-trip driving.

The cheapest to charge are the most efficient: the Lucid Air Pure and Hyundai Ioniq 6 lead the database at roughly 12.6–13.1 kWh/100 km, followed closely by the Tesla Model 3 Long Range RWD at 13.7 kWh/100 km. At $0.15/kWh home rates that is about $3.38–$3.68 per 100 miles. The most expensive are heavy trucks like the GMC Hummer EV and Ram ProMaster EV (42.1 kWh/100 km, about $11.29/100 mi). Select any model from the vehicle database above to compare instantly.

No — they cover energy only. Real-world costs can add session/idle fees at public stations, membership fees, and eventual battery replacement far outside this calculator's scope. The estimates are also based on EPA-derived efficiency figures; your real consumption varies with speed, weather, and driving style (use the driving-conditions selector). Treat results as planning estimates, not guarantees.