EV charging calculator
How much does it cost to charge your EV at home?
Estimate home charging cost from how much you drive, your EV's efficiency, charging losses, and your electricity price.
Home charging
Your EV charging estimate
Energy from the wall
0 kWh/month
Battery energy used
0 kWh/month
Driving energy = miles ÷ mi/kWh. Wall energy = driving energy ÷ charging efficiency. Cost = wall energy × electricity price.
Why charging losses matter
The wall supplies more energy than the battery receives.
Heat, electronics, battery conditioning, and the charging process itself consume some electricity. That is why a cost estimate based only on battery capacity can be too low.
Get a closer estimate
Use your own rate and real-world efficiency.
If your utility has time-of-use pricing, use the rate that applies when you normally charge. Your car's recent mi/kWh figure is also more useful than a generic efficiency assumption.
Compare driving costs
How does home charging compare with gasoline?
Use the same monthly miles to compare your EV electricity cost with a gasoline car's fuel cost.
Example
What does 1,000 miles a month look like?
At 3.5 mi/kWh and 90% charging efficiency, driving 1,000 miles requires about 317 kWh from the wall. At 15¢/kWh, that is roughly $48 per month in home charging electricity.
This calculator estimates electricity use only. It does not include charging-station subscription fees, demand charges, parking fees, fixed utility charges, or public fast-charging prices.
Battery energy vs wall energy
Your utility meter sees more energy than the battery gains.
Charging is not perfectly efficient. Some electricity is used by the charger, power electronics, battery conditioning, and thermal management. That is why this calculator first estimates battery energy from miles driven and vehicle efficiency, then divides by charging efficiency to estimate energy drawn from the wall.
At 90% charging efficiency, putting 45 kWh into the battery requires about 50 kWh from the wall. Your home electricity cost should be based on that wall energy.
What changes the answer most
Miles, efficiency, and electricity price matter more than battery size.
A larger battery does not automatically mean a higher monthly charging bill. Monthly cost is driven primarily by how far you drive, how many miles the vehicle travels per kWh, charging losses, and the rate you pay for electricity. Battery capacity mainly affects the cost of a specific partial or full recharge.
If your utility has time-of-use rates, enter the price that applies when you normally charge rather than a generic statewide average.
Home vs public charging
Do not use a home-rate estimate as a public fast-charging price.
Public charging networks can price electricity very differently from residential utilities and may add session, parking, membership, or time-based charges. This tool is designed primarily for home charging.
For a fuller explanation, read How EV Charging Costs Work.