EV Charging Cost Calculator for a Trip
Calculate the charging cost of an electric car trip from its efficiency and your electricity price, including charging losses and public rapid charging, and compare it with the fuel cost of the same trip in a petrol or diesel car.
Trip & car
Electricity
Compare with a fuel car optional
Same trip: electric vs fuel
How to calculate the charging cost of an EV trip
An electric car's efficiency is measured in miles per kWh (or kWh per 100 km), the electric version of MPG. Multiply the energy the trip needs by the price of electricity, and add a little for charging losses:
charging cost = kWh needed ÷ (1 − losses) × price per kWh
Example: a 250-mile trip in an EV that does 3.5 mi/kWh uses 71.4 kWh from the battery. With 10% charging losses that's 79.4 kWh from the plug, which costs $14.44 at the US average of $0.182 per kWh.
Home charging vs public charging
Charging at home on your normal tariff (or a cheaper overnight EV tariff) is usually the cheapest way to drive. Public rapid chargers often cost two to four times as much per kWh, so a road trip that relies on them can cost as much as, or more than, the same trip in an efficient petrol car. Set the share of public charging to see the difference.
EV efficiency units explained
| mi/kWh | kWh/100 mi | kWh/100 km | Wh/km |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.5 | 40.0 | 24.9 | 249 |
| 3 | 33.3 | 20.7 | 207 |
| 3.5 | 28.6 | 17.8 | 178 |
| 4 | 25.0 | 15.5 | 155 |
| 4.5 | 22.2 | 13.8 | 138 |
| 5 | 20.0 | 12.4 | 124 |
Cold weather, motorway speeds and heating can lower an EV's efficiency noticeably, so use a winter figure for winter trips. For fuel cars, see the trip fuel cost calculator.