How much does it cost to charge an electric car?

What is the average cost to charge an electric car in 2026?

The average US home electricity price is 18.2 cents per kWh for 2026, up from 17.3 cents in 2025 and projected at 18.7 cents for 2027, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's Short-Term Energy Outlook of October 6, 2026. The EIA's monthly data put July 2026 at 18.31 cents per kWh. A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is the unit on both your electric bill and a charger screen: 1 kWh runs a 1,000-watt appliance for one hour.

The average public charging price is $0.419 per kWh, according to AAA's EV charging prices on October 18, 2026. AAA's figure covers all public and commercial charging, Level 1, Level 2 and DC fast together, so a DC fast session usually costs more than that average and a public Level 2 session often less.

The example below converts those prices into cost per 100 miles, per month and per year for an EV that covers 3 miles per kWh, the conservative rule of thumb Blink Charging cites, and a gasoline car at 30 MPG. Each row divides 100 miles by 3 miles per kWh (33.3 kWh) and multiplies by the price; the gasoline row divides 100 miles by 30 MPG (3.33 gallons). The months are 1,000 miles and the years 12,000 miles.

Prices: EIA Short-Term Energy Outlook (2026 residential average) and AAA (public charging and gasoline, October 18, 2026). Efficiency: 3 miles per kWh rule of thumb from Blink Charging; 90% Level 2 efficiency from the studies compiled by Recurrent.

How do you calculate the cost to charge your EV?

The cost to charge an EV is the energy you add, in kWh, multiplied by the price per kWh. The U.S. Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels Data Center gives a worked example: a car that uses 27 kWh per 100 miles, charged at 10.7 cents per kWh, costs about $0.03 per mile. The same car at the 2026 average of 18.2 cents costs about $4.91 per 100 miles.

Three numbers are all you need. Your car's efficiency is on the trip screen as miles per kWh (mi/kWh) or kWh per 100 miles. Your home price per kWh is on the utility bill, including delivery charges. A public price is on the charger, its app or the receipt. Outside the US, the same formula works in kWh per 100 km: 3 miles per kWh is about 20.7 kWh per 100 km.

• Per session: kWh added × price per kWh. Adding 52.5 kWh at 18.2 cents costs $9.56.
• Per 100 miles: kWh per 100 miles × price per kWh, or 100 ÷ mi/kWh × price per kWh. At 3 mi/kWh and 18.2 cents, that is $6.07.
• Per month: miles driven ÷ mi/kWh × price per kWh. 1,000 miles ÷ 3 mi/kWh × 18.2 cents is $60.67.
• With charging losses: divide a home result by your charging efficiency: 0.9 for Level 2 (about 11% more), 0.8 for Level 1 (25% more).

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

A full charge of a 75 kWh battery costs about $13.65 at the 2026 average home rate of 18.2 cents per kWh and about $31.43 at AAA's public average of $0.419 per kWh. Most drivers rarely charge from empty to full, so the more useful figure is a typical session. Charging the same battery from 10% to 80% adds 52.5 kWh, about $9.56 at home and $22.00 at the public average.

Blink Charging puts that 10% to 80% session at $15 to $35 at public chargers. AAA's state averages give a similar spread: the same 52.5 kWh costs about $16.64 in Kansas, the cheapest state at $0.317 per kWh, and $28.35 in Hawaii, the most expensive at $0.540. At home, add charging losses: drawing 52.5 kWh into the battery through a 90% efficient Level 2 charger takes about 58.3 kWh from the wall, or $10.62.

Prices: EIA and AAA. Home costs do not include charging losses.

Why does your car get less energy than you pay for?

Charging loss is the electricity drawn from the wall that never reaches the battery: heat in the car's onboard charger, the cable and the battery itself. At home the meter counts the wall side, so losses show up on the electric bill. Most cost estimates skip them, which understates home charging by roughly a tenth on Level 2 and a fifth or more on Level 1.

Recurrent compiled the studies that measured it. Level 1 charging on a 120 V outlet loses the most, and DC fast charging is efficient in mild weather but can lose more than half its energy in deep cold. The speed and equipment side of the Level 1 or Level 2 decision is in Level 1 vs Level 2 charging.

• Level 1: 83.8% efficient on average in a 2014 study, about 80% in a 2017 study. At 80%, $6.07 per 100 miles becomes $7.58.
• Level 2: 89.4% in the 2014 study, above 90% in the 2017 study, around 93% to 95% at higher currents. At 90%, $6.07 per 100 miles becomes $6.74.
• DC fast: 93% at ambient temperature in a 2018 study on a 50 kW charger, but under 40% at -13°F (-25°C) in the same study.

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

Home charging costs depend mostly on your state's electricity price, which varies almost fourfold. In July 2026, residential electricity cost 12.72 cents per kWh in Louisiana and 48.00 cents in Hawaii, against a US average of 18.31 cents, according to the EIA's Electric Power Monthly. At 3 miles per kWh, that is $4.24 per 100 miles in Louisiana and $16.00 in Hawaii, before charging losses.

Time-of-use (TOU) rates can cut home charging costs further. A TOU plan prices electricity by the hour, usually cheapest overnight, which is when most EV owners charge at home with Level 1 or Level 2 equipment, according to the AFDC. California's DriveClean says most electric utilities offer TOU rates that greatly reduce costs; ask your utility for its EV or TOU plan and use its off-peak price in the formula. Equipment is a separate, one-time cost covered in Level 1 vs Level 2 charging.

Source: EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A, July 2026 (preliminary). Charging losses not included.

How much does it cost to charge an electric car at a charging station?

Public charging averaged $0.419 per kWh nationally on October 18, 2026, according to AAA, from $0.317 in Kansas to $0.540 in Hawaii. At 3 miles per kWh, that is $13.97 per 100 miles on average, $10.57 in Kansas and $18.00 in Hawaii.

Charger type sets most of the price. Blink Charging puts public Level 2 at $0.20 to $0.50 per kWh and DC fast charging at $0.35 to $0.60 per kWh. DC fast charging feeds the battery directly with direct current at high power, which is why it costs more and why highway trips cost more per mile than commuting on home power. How often you fast charge also matters for the battery, covered in how charging habits affect battery life.

Public chargers do not all bill the same way. Some charge per kWh, some per minute or per hour (Blink lists hourly pricing at some sites), some add a session fee, many add an idle fee for staying plugged in after the session ends, and networks offer memberships that lower the per-kWh price for a monthly fee. Some automakers include free public charging at certain stations, according to DriveClean.

Is it cheaper to charge an electric car than to buy gas?

Charging an electric car at home costs less than half as much as gasoline per mile. At the national averages, home charging costs $6.07 per 100 miles, or $6.74 with Level 2 losses, against $14.33 for a 30 MPG car at AAA's $4.2988 per gallon on October 18, 2026. Public charging at AAA's $0.419 per kWh costs $13.97 per 100 miles, close to gasoline.

A quick break-even rule compares a kWh price with a gallon price. Multiply the kWh price by your car's MPG divided by the EV's mi/kWh. For a 30 MPG car against a 3 mi/kWh EV, that factor is 10, so public charging at $0.419 per kWh matches gasoline at $4.19 a gallon. With gasoline at $4.30, the average public charger is slightly cheaper; a DC fast charger at $0.60 per kWh matches gasoline at $6.00.

Most owners mix both, so the real comparison is a blend. An EV charged 80% at home with Level 2 and 20% in public costs 0.8 × $6.74 + 0.2 × $13.97 = $8.19 per 100 miles, about 57% of the 30 MPG car. Gasoline prices also move fast: KBB, citing AAA, put the national average at about $4.49 in late September 2026. To compare with your own gasoline car, calculate its real MPG first.

What changes your EV charging cost?

The cost to charge an electric car moves with eight factors. Battery size is not one of them per mile: a bigger battery costs more per full charge but not per mile driven.

• Your electricity rate: from 12.72 cents per kWh in Louisiana to 48.00 cents in Hawaii in July 2026 (EIA).
• Time of day: a time-of-use plan makes overnight charging cheaper than the standard rate.
• Home vs public share: every 10% of charging moved from home to public adds about $0.79 per 100 miles at national averages ($13.97 public minus $6.07 home, divided by 10), or $0.72 counting Level 2 losses.
• Charger type and network: public Level 2 at $0.20 to $0.50 per kWh, DC fast at $0.35 to $0.60 (Blink).
• Charging losses: about 10% on Level 2 and 20% on Level 1 at home (Recurrent).
• Cold weather: EV efficiency can drop roughly 39% in mixed driving, about two-thirds of the extra energy heating the cabin, according to fueleconomy.gov. At 3 mi/kWh, that is about 1.8 mi/kWh, and $6.07 per 100 miles at home becomes about $9.95.
• Your car's efficiency: at 4 mi/kWh instead of 3, home charging at 18.2 cents costs $4.55 per 100 miles instead of $6.07.
• Session fees and idle fees: a per-minute or per-session price can make a short or slow public session cost more per kWh than the posted rate suggests.

How do you count the cost of a plug-in hybrid?

A plug-in hybrid (PHEV) has two energy costs, so it needs two formulas: the EV formula for electric miles and miles ÷ MPG × gasoline price for the rest. For example, a 1,000-mile month with 600 electric miles at 3 mi/kWh, charged at home at 18.2 cents, costs $36.40 in electricity. The other 400 miles at 40 MPG and $4.2988 a gallon cost $42.99, for $79.39 in all, or $7.94 per 100 miles.

The electric share decides most of that result, and it is easy to guess wrong. WrenchTime lets a plug-in hybrid log the electric-only share of each trip, with a suggested value drawn from your own history, so its fuel and electricity figures do not contaminate each other.

How to track your real EV charging cost per mile

National averages are a starting point, not your cost. Your own rate, your home and public mix, your charging losses and the season all differ, and the only way to see the combined result is to record each charging session: energy in kWh, cost, charger type, location, battery percentage before and after, and odometer. A few weeks of sessions give your real cost per kWh and per mile.

WrenchTime, an iPhone app for logging maintenance, fuel and EV charging on cars and motorcycles, records each charging session with exactly those fields and shows charging efficiency in mi/kWh, kWh/100 mi, km/kWh or kWh/100 km, a home charging ratio, and charts for cost over time, electricity price trend and cost per distance. With WrenchTime Pro it can also read the energy, total cost and price per kWh off a charger screen or receipt, on device. The EV charging log guide covers the details.

Key takeaways: the cost to charge an electric car

The numbers and formulas on this page, each with its source.

• Home: about $6 per 100 miles at the EIA's 2026 average of 18.2 cents per kWh and 3 mi/kWh, $6.74 with Level 2 losses.
• Public: about $14 per 100 miles at AAA's national average of $0.419 per kWh (October 18, 2026).
• Gasoline: $14.33 per 100 miles for a 30 MPG car at AAA's $4.2988 per gallon, so home charging costs less than half and public charging about the same.
• Formula: kWh added × price per kWh; divide a home result by 0.9 on Level 2 or 0.8 on Level 1 for charging losses.
• Full charge: a 10% to 80% session on a 75 kWh battery costs about $9.56 at home and $22.00 at the public average.
• Your mix: 80% home and 20% public charging costs about $8.19 per 100 miles, about 57% of a 30 MPG car.

See what charging really costs you

Log your next few charging sessions in WrenchTime and your own cost per kWh, cost per mile and home charging ratio replace the national averages above. The free version covers 1 vehicle with 3 charging entries per month, and WrenchTime Pro removes those limits and adds charger screen and receipt scanning. The EV charging log guide explains how it works.