How much does it cost to charge an electric car?

Close

News

6 mins read

31 August 2026

If you’re thinking of switching to an electric car, then chances are you’ll have heard some very different figures about how much it will cost to charge.

There’s a good reason for that. Most forecourt fuel prices fall within a 10% window, but the cost of electricity can vary by a factor of 12 depending on where and when you plug in, how quickly you need to top up and how you pay for it.

This guide looks at the most common scenarios – and how to keep your costs down.

How much does it cost to charge an EV at home?

If you’re lucky enough to have a driveway or garage, then home is the cheapest and most convenient place to plug in. Even with the recent hikes in home energy prices, you’ll still be paying less per mile for electricity than you were for petrol or diesel.

It’s best to think of an EV’s battery as being a bit like a fuel tank: different models have different sizes, and the larger the pack, the more it’ll cost to fully charge.

For example, fully charging a Tesla Model Y Premium Long Range on an Ofgem-capped home energy tariff (26p per kWh) would cost £22.55. As a more useful metric; that’s about 6p per mile (based on a 378-mile WLTP range) compared with 16p per mile for a petrol Volkswagen Tiguan.

Some energy providers offer special tariffs for electric car owners. These include cheaper rates for overnight charging (typically between 11.30 and 5.30am) and half-hourly slots during the day when there’s an abundance of capacity in the grid.

For example, Intelligent Octopus Go offers off-peak rates of just 6.7p per kWh. That would bring a full charge of our Tesla Model Y down to £5.78, or just 2p per mile.

The good news, if you’re one of the near half-million company car drivers in an EV, is that both costs are lower than the HMRC-approved 7p per-mile rate for claiming back the cost of charging for business trips.

How much does a home wallbox cost?

One of the perks of an electric car is that it can charge pretty much anywhere with a three-pin socket, but that’s often not the best way to do so.

Most manufacturers offer a cable compatible with domestic sockets as an optional extra, but they’re best thought of as an emergency back-up. They’re usually limited to 10 amps for safety, which limits charging speeds – our example Tesla would take around 39 hours to fully charge at that rate.

Back to top

Dedicated home chargers are weather-proof and designed for much higher power outputs. The typical output is 32 amps, which would ‘brim’ the Model Y in just 12 hours. Most owners top up long before they’re that close to empty, though.

Prices vary, but expect to pay between £500 and £1500 for a ‘smart’ home wallbox including installation. Some of these (such as the Ohme Home Pro) will also integrate with dual-rate EV tariffs, which means they’ll start charging automatically when prices drop.

There are ways to save money here, too. Several manufacturers offer a free wallbox when you buy or lease a new EV, while drivers in flats or rented accommodation or who are installing on-street home chargepoints can claim grant funding of up to £500 from the government. If you’re a company car driver, your employer can pay for a home charger without it being classed as a taxable Benefit-in-Kind.

How much does it cost to charge in public?

The UK has more than 120,000 public chargers, according to the latest Zapmap data. They’re almost always more expensive than plugging in at home, in part because you’ll pay 20% VAT instead of 5% for domestic electricity, but there are several factors that can affect how much they cost to use.

Most public chargers, around 90,000 or them, are ‘slow’ or ‘standard’ units, typically located in places like shopping centres, train station car parks and other areas where vehicles are parked for a long time. If you’re stopping for a while, they’re the cheapest way to top up – a few of them are still free to use.

Back to top

The rest are known as ‘rapid’ chargers. You’ll find a handful at almost every motorway service area in the UK, and they offer much faster speeds designed for short rest stops. You’ll get most of your range back in about half an hour, although some cars – such as the new Porsche Macan Electric – can charge at about twice that speed.

Similar to filling up at a motorway services forecourt, convenience comes at a cost. Zapmap claims the average cost of a standard charger is 54p per kWh, while a rapid charger comes in at 80p. That’ll take our example Tesla’s per-mile costs up to 12p or 18p respectively.

The latter per-mile figure is pricier than the Tiguan we mentioned earlier, but most round trips are likely to include a portion using cheaper home electricity, which will bring the average cost per mile down a bit. In short; the more energy you put in at home, the less you’ll pay.

How can you save money on public charging?

If you’re a regular motorway-miler, there are some ways to cut costs. InstaVolt, for example, offers reduced rates between 8pm and 7am at some of its charging hubs. BP Pulse, meanwhile, gives subscribers a 20% discount for a £7.85 monthly fee. Our example Tesla could claw that back in savings on a single rapid charging session.

It isn’t only charging networks that offer membership options. Signing up to one of Bonnet’s monthly subscriptions can shave 15% off public chargers, while Octopus offers cut-price charging for home energy customers through its Electroverse app.

Back to top

Many car manufacturers also offer simplified charging by enabling access to numerous providers under their own charging schemes. For instance, Audi's E-tron Charging Service account gives access to nearly 20 different energy firms and 75% of the UK's public charging points, while new E-tron models come with the choice of either £500 worth of free charging, a free Ohme home charger or £500 off the vehicle's price.

Tesla owners get their own dedicated rapid-charging Supercharger network of more than 1400 chargers plus a number of Destination fast-chargers at locations such as hotels. Owners of a Tesla Model S or Tesla Model X registered before 2017 are eligible for free charging, while some owners received 6000 miles of free charging if they bought their cars between 15 December 2022 and 12 January 2023.

Non-Tesla owners can now also use selected Supercharger sites and take out Tesla membership for £8.99 per month or £90 a year to access discounted prices. With membership, non-Tesla owners pay as much for Supercharger power as Tesla owners. Tariffs change according to location and time of day, but they range from 54p to 67p per kWh. Even without membership, they’re often cheaper than other networks on-site.

Tesla also charges ‘idle fees’ if you remain connected to the charger once your car has a full battery – it's to reduce waiting times at chargers, so others can get connected. If the Supercharger station is more than 50% full, you will be charged 50p for every minute you’re parked at over 80% state of charge, rising to £1 if the station is completely full.

And remember, there will often be an activation fee to pay ahead. This is refundable, depending how much energy you use, and it typically ranges from £1-£40.

James Disdale

Title: Special correspondent

James is a special correspondent for Autocar, which means he turns his hand to pretty much anything, including delivering first drive verdicts, gathering together group tests, formulating features and keeping Autocar.co.uk topped-up with the latest news and reviews. He also co-hosts the odd podcast and occasional video with Autocar’s esteemed Editor-at-large, Matt Prior.

For more than a decade and a half James has been writing about cars, in which time he has driven pretty much everything from humble hatchbacks to the highest of high performance machines. Having started his automotive career on, ahem, another weekly automotive magazine, he rose through the ranks and spent many years running that title’s road test desk. This was followed by a stint doing the same job for monthly title, evo, before starting a freelance career in 2019. The less said about his wilderness, post-university years selling mobile phones and insurance, the better.