EV Home Charging Cost Calculator
Blog posts compare EVs to gas cars using a national average electricity price that has nothing to do with what you actually pay. Enter your own rate and your car's real numbers to see your true cost per mile and yearly savings. Nothing uploaded.
Result
Full comparison
Cost Per Mile
Annual Cost
Learn more: what home EV charging costs per mile
Two cost-per-mile numbers
The calculator divides your electricity rate by your EV's miles per kWh to get an EV cost per mile. It divides the gas price by miles per gallon to get the same figure for a gas car. Annual cost is each figure times your yearly miles.
At $0.15 per kWh and 3.5 miles per kWh, an EV costs $0.043 per mile. A gas car at $3.50 a gallon and 30 mpg costs $0.117 per mile, about 2.7 times as much. With the default inputs ($0.16 per kWh, 12,000 miles a year) the EV costs $549 a year against $1,400 for gas, a saving of $851.
The rate you enter matters most
The result is only as good as the electricity rate you type in. NeoCharge's guide to time-of-use rates gives an example schedule with a $0.40 per kWh peak rate and a $0.15 off-peak rate, a nearly 3:1 gap. It also says many utilities offer plans where off-peak rates are 40-60% lower than peak rates.
Run those two rates through the calculator at 3.5 miles per kWh. Off-peak is $0.043 per mile and peak is $0.114 per mile, which is about the same as the gas car above. Check your own utility plan and your charging hours before you pick a rate.
What the calculator does not include
It uses one rate for all your charging, so a mix of home and public charging needs a blended rate that you work out yourself. It also does not add vehicle price, insurance or maintenance. It compares running energy cost only.
FAQ
Does the calculator include charging losses?
There is no separate loss setting. Enter an efficiency figure measured at the wall, which already counts charging losses, so that you are paying for the energy you are billed for. A battery-only efficiency figure would make the EV look cheaper than it is.
Why does EV efficiency vary between models?
Weight, shape, tires and heating or cooling all change how many miles you get per kWh, much as they change a gas car's mpg. Use the real-world figure for your own vehicle where you can, not the best-case rating.
Does the savings figure cover public fast charging?
No. It assumes every kWh costs the rate you entered. If you charge in public often, enter a blended rate, because public charging usually costs more per kWh than home electricity and the saving shrinks.