How Much Does It Cost to Charge an Electric Car?
One of the leading obstacles potential buyers of electric vehicles (EVs) have is uncertainties
about how charging works and about what impact it will have on their budget and on their
lives. Fortunately, learning how to analyze the cost of charging can actually turn that
obstacle into an incentive. EV charging is almost always less expensive than fueling
a gas-powered vehicle. In some instances, it can even be free.
The challenge with wrapping one's head around EV charging is the diversity of options. Usually
the only decisions a driver makes about fueling a gas-powered car are which gas station to
patronize (based on price and convenience) and what grade of gasoline to use. We are
comfortable with considering miles-per-gallon estimates when we consider buying a gas-powered
car. Suddenly, with an electric vehicle, all the calculations change. But once one wraps
one's head around the new calculations and settles into new fueling habits, EV charging
is inexpensive and easy. Measuring the Cost Per Charge
You may know what a gallon of gasoline currently costs, and you may know how many miles per
gallon your vehicle gets. To determine how much an EV owner pays per charge, you need
to know how many kilowatt-hours an EV uses per mile and what a kilowatt-hour costs.
How Much Do You Pay for Electricity? Most likely, you pay for electricity based
on how many kWh you use each month. Examine your electricity bill, and you can find the
cost per kWh. The national average is around $0.13/kWh. If you charge an electric vehicle
at home, calculating the cost of a single charge means multiplying the number of kWh
used to charge the battery by the cost per kWh. So if an EV owner charges the battery
with 25 kWh and pays $.10/kWh for electricity, the owner will pay $2.50 to charge the battery.
How Much Electricity Does an EV Use? To calculate the real-world cost of charging
an electric vehicle, you need to know how efficient the vehicle is in using electricity.
This is measured in kilowatt-hours per 100 miles: how many kWh does an EV consume in
driving 100 miles? This figure is the equivalent of miles per gallon (or rather gallons per
100 miles). For example, if an EV has an efficiency rating of 25 kWh/100 miles, it can drive 4
miles on a single kWh. With a 50 kWh battery, that same EV has a maximum range of 200 miles.
The average American daily commute is almost 40 miles.2 In theory, an EV with an efficiency
rating of 25 kWh/100 miles would use 10 kWh per day. If that EV owner pays $.10/kWh for
electricity, then they are spending a dollar a day on fuel. “Your mileage may vary,”
as they say. In a gas-powered car, MPG ratings are higher for highway driving than for city
driving, since gas cars waste more gasoline idling in stop-and-go city traffic than they
do on highways. For electric vehicles, it's just the opposite: EVs use very little energy
idling but are constantly using power on highways, so city driving is more efficient than highway
driving. Efficiency Rating of Popular Electric Vehicles:
Audi e-tron 43 kWh/100 miles Ford Mustang Mach-E 33-36 kWh/100 miles
Nissan Leaf 30-32 kWh/100 miles Kia Niro EV (2020) 30 kWh/100 miles
Chevrolet Bolt EV 29 kWh/100 miles Hyundai Kona Electric 28 kWh/100 miles
Tesla Model Y 27-30 kWh/100 miles Tesla Model 3 25 kWh/100 miles
Different Costs for Different Ways to Charge Approximately 80% of EV charging is done at
home, making it easier to calculate your monthly charging costs. But many people lack accessible
home charging; some have commutes that require them to charge at work; others take advantage
of free charging stations in shopping centers; while still others charge at high-speed charging
stations near highways while on long-distance trips. So the actual cost for charging an
electric vehicle depends on where (and when) the charging is done. Here are the methods
ranked from least to most expensive: Free. It is almost impossible to get gasoline
for free, but many businesses try to attract customers by offering free electric vehicle
charging. The charging rate is often slow, called Level 1 charging, which provides the
same 120-volts that come from an ordinary home outlet.
Off-peak at home. Some utilities charge less for off-peak electricity when demand is low.
Fortunately, most charging is done at home overnight, when rates are low.
On-peak at home. Even on-peak or flat-rate electricity charges are cheaper than prices
paid at public charging stations. Level 2 public charging stations. Level 2
charging provides 240 volts: the same as what a clothes dryer uses. Infrequent public charging
is pay-as-you-go; for regular use, public charging services offer monthly subscriptions
at lower rates. High-speed public charging. This is usually
done where charging time rather than cost matters most. High-speed charging stations
can deliver anywhere from 50KW to 250KW (even higher in rare cases). Not every electric
vehicle can accept the full power that high-speed chargers can offer, so EV owners may be over-paying
for a service that they can't fully take advantage of.
Cost of Charging vs. Price of Gas Calculating the ultimate cost of charging
an electric vehicle thus depends on many variables. But in a realistic scenario in which most
EV charging is done at home and public fast charging is limited to six times per year,
a 2020 study by Consumer Reports concluded that fueling an electric vehicle costs 60%
less than fueling a comparable gas-powered car.
Like electricity costs, gasoline costs vary from state to state. In early April 2021,
for example, gasoline in California cost an average of $3.91 per gallon, while in Mississippi
it cost $2.59. By comparison, the U.S. Department of Energy calculates what an “eGallon”
costs in each state. In late March 2021, the lowest price for an
eGallon in the United States could be found in Oklahoma, at $0.81, while in Hawaii (the
most expensive state), an eGallon cost $2.65. In every state in the United States, EV charging
was always far cheaper than gasoline. The average car in America uses 474 gallons
of gasoline annually. In California, that gas car owner would pay $1,853.34 per year
for gasoline. In Mississippi, they would pay $1,227.66. By comparison, an EV owner in California
would pay $881.64 to drive the same number of miles, while an EV owner in Mississippi
would pay $483.48—roughly half the cost in each case. Over the average lifetime of
a vehicle (11.6 years), a California EV owner would save $11,271.72 at current gas and electricity
prices, while an EV owner in Mississippi would save $8,632.49. When calculating the total
cost of owning a car, fuel-cost savings alone make a $40,000 electric vehicle roughly comparable
in price to a $30,000 gas-powered car. Equipment Costs for Charging at Home
Consumers should consider not just charging costs but potential costs for charging equipment
needed. For the majority of EV owners, that cost is zero, since most electric vehicles
are charged on a simple 120-volt outlet. Charging is done overnight, and the owner wakes the
next morning to a fully charged car. But for times when faster home charging is needed,
a 240-volt Level 2 home charging station can cut charging times significantly. A Level
2 charging station (or EVSE, for electric vehicle supply equipment) can cost from $500
to $2,000 before installation. Fortunately, there are federal tax rebates available, as
well as state and utility company incentives in many areas. Still, if a high-speed public
charger is nearby, it may be significantly less expensive to charge at a public charging
station for those few times a year when time is of the essence.