We're pleased to introduce you to a new tool that calculates how much it will cost to charge an electric car. Just enter the details of your electric car and your home charging costs per kWh, and the calculator will give you an estimate for your monthly charging costs.
How much does it cost to charge an electric car?
Research from which.co.uk tells us the average cost to charge an electric car [How much does it cost to charge an electric car? - Which?] for 9,000 miles each year is between £400 - £700. Smaller cars cost less. Larger cars cost more. Hybrid car owners have to include costs for petrol or diesel.
Here's a summary of the costs for different car sizes:
- £400 to £500 a year to charge compact cars, such as the VW E-Up or a small hatchback like the Renault Zoe.
- £450 to £600 for medium cars and compact SUVs, such as the Leaf and Hyundai Kona.
- £560 to £700 for large cars and SUVs, such as the E-tron.
According to our data, the amount of power an electric car uses is largely influenced by its weight and size. But like their combustion counterparts some electric cars are much more frugal with battery power than others.
Cost per mile of home charging an electric car
Most drivers will save more than £1000 per year by switching to an electric car. Charging at home can be much cheaper than paying for a full tank of petrol every week.
To find the actual cost of charging at home, you need to know just three things:
- Your car's watts per mile.
- The number of miles you will drive.
- Your electricity cost per kWh.
To work out your cost, just multiply all three together. Here's an example:
- The Volkswagen e-Up runs at .117 kW per kilometer.
- If you drive 200 miles (321 kilometres), you'd need just over 37 kW of power.
- At 16.6 pence per kWh (the UK average), you'd pay £6.14 to charge your car.
Running an electric car is much cheaper than running a petrol or diesel engine, especially if you can charge your car at home.
How much does it cost to charge an electric car per day?
Once you know your cost per kilometre, then it's easy to work out the cost per day. Simply multiply your cost per mile times the number of miles you drive each day. This is how you calculate the cost per day for charging your electric vehicle.
From our example above, the e-Up would cost about £0.93 to drive 30 miles every day.
How much does it cost to fully charge an electric vehicle?
To know how much it costs to charge your electric car from zero to fully charged, you just need to know how much charge your vehicle requires. Then you multiply the amount of electricity you need by how much it costs for one kWh of electricity.
The Jaguar I-Pace has the largest battery on the market. You would pay around £14.94 to charge it from zero to its full capacity of 90 kWh.
Is home charging an electric car cheaper than gas?
Home charging an electric car is almost certainly cheaper than running any petrol car. Here's a quick comparison:
- The most fuel-efficient cars (such as the Vauxhall Astra or Citroen C1) get about 56 miles per gallon, which is the same as 90 kilometres. One gallon equals 4.54 litres. The average UK cost of petrol is £1.253 per litre. So 4.54 litres times £1.253 equals £5.69 for driving 90 kilometres.
- The Volkswagen e-Up would require 10.53 kWh to drive the same 90 kilometres. At £0.166 per kWh, the e-Up cost of charging would be £1.75 for the same distance.
These are average figures, but they show you how to calculate the cost per mile of an electric car versus a petrol or diesel car. The costs to charge your electric vehicle will always be lower. Switching to an electric car could save you lots of money every year.
How much does it cost to use a public charging point?
The average non-member cost to use a public charging point is £0.25 per kWh. Some places, such as Tesco, offer free charging points. Assuming you pay the full rate, driving 90 kilometres in the Volkswagen e-Up costs £1.75 for home charging. Public charging points would cost £2.64 for the same distance.
Rapid chargers across the UK charge more for the time savings. The charging time is lower, but the costs are higher.
Summary
Play around with our calculator and work out how much it costs to charge an electric car. You can try out any model car you want to see how they compare. You'll soon discover electric vehicles are cheaper to run than any petrol or diesel car.
