How Much Does It Cost to Charge an Electric Car? Home vs. Public Charging

Last reviewed: 2026-06-08 (UTC)

For most homeowners, a current Kelley Blue Book planning example puts home charging at about $4.71 to $6.28 per 100 miles when electricity is 18.83 cents per kWh and the EV gets about 3 to 4 miles per kWh. In practical terms, that usually means a smaller home charge can still land in the single digits, while a larger battery is often still in the low teens. Public Level 2 usually costs more, and DC fast charging can cost much more.

That is why the cleanest comparison is usually cost per 100 miles, not just the price of one full battery.

This guide is about the ongoing energy cost of charging. If you are deciding whether to install a Level 2 charger at home, treat the installation as a separate one-time project cost.

A quick EV charging cost snapshot

Those are illustrative planning numbers pulled from recent examples in Kelley Blue Book, Qmerit, and Drive Clean California, not a universal tariff. The home row blends KBB's 18.83 cents per kWh benchmark with the 18 cents home examples used by Qmerit and Drive Clean California, while the public rows combine Qmerit's 25 / 53 cents examples with Drive Clean California's 30 / 40 cents example. Your utility rate, vehicle efficiency, charging losses, and how often you rely on public charging will move the answer up or down.

A simple EV charging cost calculator

Two formulas answer almost every version of this question:

• Cost to add energy = kWh added x electricity rate
• Cost per 100 miles = kWh per 100 miles x electricity rate

Once you know your home rate and your EV's efficiency, you can swap in your own numbers in under a minute.

If your car shows efficiency in miles per kWh instead of kWh per 100 miles, you can still do the math:

• kWh per 100 miles = 100 / miles per kWh

Here is a simple example using the 18.83 cents per kWh March 2026 U.S. household average cited by Kelley Blue Book:

• If your EV gets 4 miles per kWh, it uses 25 kWh to go 100 miles. That works out to about $4.71 per 100 miles.
• If your EV gets 3 miles per kWh, it uses about 33.3 kWh to go 100 miles. That works out to about $6.28 per 100 miles.
• If your car uses about 27 kWh per 100 miles, the same rate works out to about $5.08 per 100 miles.

That is a better planning tool than battery size alone. A full-charge number is easy to picture, but cost per 100 miles makes it easier to compare one EV with another and to compare EV driving with gas.

What charging at home usually costs

Home charging is usually the cheapest way to keep an EV topped up because it uses normal residential electricity pricing rather than public network pricing.

Using current home-rate examples around 18 to 19 cents per kWh, the snapshot table above is a good baseline. In practical terms, that usually means EV charging feels more like an added utility line item than a gas-station refill pattern.

A monthly example makes this easier to picture. Kelley Blue Book uses a driving example of about 1,015 miles per month. At roughly 18.83 cents per kWh, that comes out to around:

• about $48 per month if your EV gets 4 miles per kWh
• about $64 to $65 per month if your EV gets 3 miles per kWh

That same math lines up with two concrete charge-size examples from current sources: Drive Clean California says a 40 kWh Nissan LEAF costs about $7 to charge at home at roughly 18 cents per kWh, while Qmerit puts a 72 kWh battery at $12.96 at 18 cents per kWh.

One caveat: simple battery math slightly understates what your utility meter may see. Real charging is not perfectly efficient, so wall-power usage can run somewhat higher than battery capacity alone suggests.

Why home charging is usually cheaper than public charging

The big reason is simple: home charging uses your household electricity rate, while public networks charge more for access, equipment, maintenance, and, in the case of DC fast charging, speed.

Qmerit publishes a clear illustrative comparison at 18 cents per kWh at home, 25 cents on public Level 2, and 53 cents on DC fast charging. On a 72 kWh battery, that works out to $12.96 at home, $18.00 on public Level 2, and $38.16 on DC fast.

Drive Clean California shows the same pattern on a smaller battery example: about $7 at home, about $12 on public Level 2, and about $16 on DC fast for a 40 kWh Nissan LEAF at roughly 18 / 30 / 40 cents per kWh.

That does not make public charging a mistake. It means public charging usually trades a higher price for convenience, speed, or access.

Does Level 1 vs. Level 2 change what you pay?

Usually, not very much on a per-kWh basis.

If you charge at home on the same utility plan, the electricity price is usually the same whether you use Level 1 on a standard 120-volt outlet or Level 2 on a 240-volt circuit. The bigger difference is charging speed.

Typical charging-speed ranges look like this:

• Level 1: about 3.5 to 6.5 miles of range per hour
• Level 2: about 14 to 35 miles of range per hour
• DC fast charging: much faster again, sometimes up to 10 miles per minute in strong conditions

That is why Level 2 is mostly a convenience and scheduling upgrade. It can refill the car overnight more easily and can make it much easier to stay inside a cheaper off-peak charging window.

If you are comparing home charging setups, the more important question is often not 'Does Level 2 cost more per kWh?' It is 'Does Level 2 help me charge reliably at home so I can avoid slower recovery or extra public sessions?'

If off-peak scheduling is part of your decision, Watt Wallet's guide to time-of-use electricity plans is the natural next read.

If you are deciding whether to add a Level 2 charger at all, remember that charger and electrician costs are separate from energy cost. Watt Wallet's guide on whether you need a permit to install an EV charger covers that side of the decision.

What changes the answer most

There is no one universal cost to charge an EV because four things matter most.

1. Your electricity rate

A driver in a lower-rate market can pay much less than a driver in a high-rate market for the exact same EV. Kelley Blue Book cites March 2026 household averages of 29.91 cents per kWh in Rhode Island and 15.01 cents per kWh in Georgia, while Qmerit points to a broader early-2026 spread from about 12 cents in Washington to about 41 cents in Hawaii.

2. Your EV's efficiency

A more efficient EV needs fewer kWh to go the same distance. If one model gets 4 miles per kWh and another gets 3, the more efficient car costs less to drive even at the same electricity price.

3. Charging losses

Battery charging is not perfectly efficient. Federal efficiency guidance notes that battery charging efficiency is often in the 84% to 93% range, so the electricity pulled from the wall can be somewhat higher than the battery-capacity number alone.

4. When you charge

Some utilities offer lower overnight or off-peak rates. If you can shift charging into those windows, your home charging cost can drop materially. That is one reason Level 2 can make sense even when the base home rate itself does not change.

When public charging still makes sense

Home charging is usually the cheapest default, but public charging still solves real problems.

Public charging can make sense when:

• you live in an apartment or rental without reliable home charging
• you are on a road trip and need faster turnaround
• you need an occasional top-off away from home
• your home setup is not ready yet and you are bridging the gap

For many EV owners, the cheapest pattern is home charging most of the time, public charging when convenience or distance requires it.

Bottom line

If you want the shortest useful answer, here it is: charging an electric car at home is usually cheaper than charging in public, and many homeowners using a home-rate example around 18 to 19 cents per kWh will land somewhere around $5 to $6 per 100 miles.

A full charge might cost only $7 to $14 at home for many EVs, but the more useful number is still cost per 100 miles. That is the best way to compare vehicles, understand your monthly cost, and decide how much public charging changes the picture.

FAQ

How much does it cost to fully charge an electric car at home?

It depends on battery size, how empty the battery is, and your electricity rate. For current illustrative examples, Drive Clean California puts a 40 kWh Nissan LEAF at about $7 at roughly 18 cents per kWh, and Qmerit puts a 72 kWh battery at $12.96 at the same home rate. If you are charging from 20% to 80%, use only that portion of the battery in your math rather than the full pack size.

How much does it cost to drive 100 miles in an EV?

Multiply your EV's kWh per 100 miles by your electricity rate. Using the 18.83 cents per kWh March 2026 benchmark cited by Kelley Blue Book, an EV that gets 4 miles per kWh costs about $4.71 per 100 miles to drive, while one that gets 3 miles per kWh costs about $6.28. If your car only shows miles per kWh, divide 100 by that number first.

Is it cheaper to charge an EV at home or in public?

Usually, home charging is cheaper. Current examples from Qmerit and Drive Clean California both show home charging coming in below public Level 2 and DC fast charging.

Does Level 2 cost more than Level 1?

Usually not on a per-kWh basis if both are on the same home utility plan. Level 2 mainly changes speed, convenience, and how easily you can charge during off-peak hours. It is most worth it when Level 1 cannot comfortably refill your daily driving or when faster overnight charging helps you stay off public chargers.

Will my electric bill go up if I get an EV?

Yes, your electric bill will usually rise because you are adding charging load at home. A simple monthly estimate is miles driven / miles per kWh x electricity rate. In Kelley Blue Book's 1,015-mile example, that works out to roughly $48 to $65 per month at 18.83 cents per kWh, depending on vehicle efficiency. Your gas spending may fall or disappear, which is why it helps to compare transportation cost in dollars per 100 miles instead of looking at the electric bill alone.

Is charging an EV usually cheaper than gas?

Often, yes, especially when most charging happens at home. The cleanest comparison is EV cost per 100 miles versus gas cost per 100 miles. For gas, that formula is 100 / mpg x gas price per gallon. For an EV, it is kWh per 100 miles x electricity rate. That lets you compare your own numbers instead of relying on a national average.

Sources

• Alternative Fuels Data Center: Electricity basics
• Alternative Fuels Data Center: Charging at home
• Fueleconomy.gov: All-electric vehicles
• Kelley Blue Book: How much does it cost to charge an electric car?
• Qmerit: How Much Does EV Charging Cost?
• Drive Clean California: Electric car charging basics