EV charging cost calculator
Charging an electric car at home costs far less than fuelling a petrol or diesel one — typically 60–75% less per mile — while public DC fast charging can cost roughly the same as petrol. This calculator turns that into your own numbers: pick a country preset, adjust your battery, efficiency and electricity price, and it works out the cost of a full charge, the cost per 100 km or mile, and your monthly and yearly spend, splitting home and public charging.
Switch to the comparison tab to put your EV against an equivalent petrol and diesel car and see the annual and five-year energy/fuel saving. Every default is taken from our cited research, you can change any input, and the result is saved in the page address so you can share or bookmark it.
Home electricity price: £0.26 · Blended home + public electricity. £0.37 per kWh
Methodology & sources
Cost of a full charge = battery capacity (kWh) × electricity price (per kWh). Cost per 100 km/mi = your EV's consumption (kWh per 100 km/mi) × a blended electricity price, where the blend weights your home rate and your public rate by the share you charge at home. Annual electricity = consumption × annual distance × blended price; the monthly figure is that divided by twelve.
For the comparison, petrol and diesel running cost = consumption (litres per 100 km/mi) × distance × pump price per litre. The five-year saving is the annual EV-vs-petrol difference multiplied by five. It counts energy and fuel only — not purchase price, depreciation, tax, servicing or insurance — so it isolates the running-cost gap. For a full line-by-line five-year total of ownership, see the EV vs petrol vs diesel article.
Consumption is expressed per 100 distance units and fuel per litre (never mpg) so the maths is unambiguous in every market; the km/miles toggle converts distances for you. Defaults by country: UK uses the Ofgem price-cap rate of about 26p/kWh at home and roughly 79p/kWh public rapid, with pump prices near £1.56 (petrol) and £1.77 (diesel) a litre; Germany uses about €0.37/kWh at home and €0.60/kWh public; the US uses about 17.6¢/kWh at home and 47¢/kWh public DC; EU-average uses about €0.29/kWh at home. EV efficiency defaults to roughly 17–19 kWh/100 km (a real-world figure that already absorbs charging losses).
Primary sources
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to fully charge an electric car?
For a typical 75 kWh battery, a 0–100% charge at home costs about £20 in the UK (at ~26p/kWh), roughly €28 in Germany (at ~0.37 €/kWh) and about $13 in the US (at ~17.6¢/kWh). Day to day you rarely charge from empty, so a top-up to cover a commute is usually only a few pounds, euros or dollars. Change the battery size and price above for your exact car and tariff.
Is it cheaper to charge at home or in public?
Home, by a wide margin. Home electricity is typically two to three times cheaper per kWh than public DC fast charging, so a driver who charges mostly at home pays far less per 100 km than one who relies on rapid chargers. The calculator's home-share slider shows exactly how your blend changes the result.
How much can an EV save versus petrol or diesel?
For a home-charging driver doing average mileage, an EV typically saves several hundred per year on energy versus petrol, which compounds to a four-figure five-year saving on fuel alone. The exact number depends on your electricity price, fuel price and mileage — switch to the comparison tab to see yours.
What electricity price should I use?
Use your actual per-kWh rate from your latest energy bill for the most accurate result. If you don't know it, the country presets load a realistic recent average. If you have a cheap overnight EV tariff, enter that lower rate as your home price to see the off-peak saving.
Does the five-year figure include the car's purchase price?
No. The five-year number here is energy and fuel only, so it isolates the running-cost difference. Purchase price, depreciation, tax, servicing and insurance are separate lines — our EV vs petrol vs diesel five-year cost article works through all of them.
Can I share my result?
Yes. Every input is stored in the page address as you change it, so you can copy the link (or use the copy button) and anyone who opens it sees exactly your numbers and result.