What it costs to charge an electric car at home in 2026

Charging an electric car at home is usually the cheapest way to run one, and the gap between EV charging and petrol prices is wider than most people expect. A full charge at home can cost just £4.07 in a typical EV, compared with £38.79 for the same amount of miles in an equivalent petrol car. 

The cost of charging an electric car at home is something most drivers want to pin down before they switch, understandably, so here it is in full: what you'll pay per charge, what a charger costs to fit, and what moves the number.

• A full charge at home can cost as little as £4.07 on an EV tariff.
• That works out at as little as 2p a mile, against 18p a mile for petrol.
• A smart EV charging rate is around 7-8p per kWh (the unit you pay for electricity in). A standard variable rate is 26.32p per kWh, so the tariff you're on matters more than the car you pick when it comes to your running costs. 
• A 7kW home charger typically costs £800 to £1,200 including fitting. Renters and flat owners can claim 75% back, up to £500, thanks to the latest government EV chargepoint grant.
• Many cars from Octopus EV come with a free or discounted home charger, depending on the model you choose.

Charging an electric car at home can cost just £4.07 for a full battery, on a smart EV charging tariff from Octopus Energy, or roughly £16 on a standard variable rate. That's for a car with a 61.7kWh battery, using rates from 1st October 2026. Your own figure depends on your battery size and your tariff.

Electricity is sold by the kilowatt hour, written as kWh. An electric car's battery is measured in kWh the same way a fuel tank is measured in litres, so the sum is simple:

Battery size in kWh x your rate per kWh = the cost of a full charge.

Take an MG4 Premium Long Range, the car behind our cost comparisons. It has a 61.7kWh battery. On an overnight rate of 6.6p per kWh, a full charge costs £4.07. On a standard variable rate of 26.32p, the same charge costs £16.24.

You can run that sum for any car. Simply find the battery size on the spec sheet, multiply by your unit rate, and there's your number.

Charging isn't perfectly efficient, so a small amount of what you pay for is lost as heat rather than reaching the battery. It's why a real-world charge costs a touch more than the maths suggests, and cold weather makes it a little more noticeable.

Home charging usually costs a fraction of what petrol costs, whichever way you cut it. 

Here are three comparisons, all based on an MG4 Premium Long Range against a petrol VW Golf at 45mpg, using figures explained here.

Your own savings will differ. It depends on the car you drive, how many miles you cover, the weather (because that can impact your EV’s efficiency), and how much of your charging you do away from home.

Yes, if you charge at home the majority of the time, your home energy tariff has the biggest influence on your EV charging cost. Charging on a standard variable rate can cost more than three times what a smart EV charging rate costs. Switching tariffs would do more to reduce your running costs than choosing a different electric car would.

Here's what a unit of electricity (aka a kilowatt hour, or kWh) costs on each, correct as of 1st October 2026. The rates are based on Octopus Energy tariffs. The full charge column is based on an MG4 Premium Long Range with a 61.7kWh battery.

There are things the table doesn’t tell you. 

• Most EV charging tariffs have a cheaper (usually overnight) window and a higher peak (usually daytime) rate, so the saving depends on you charging your EV in that overnight window. 
• But with Intelligent Octopus Go, you’re not limited to overnight charging. Just plug in your compatible EV, tell the Octopus Energy app how much charge you need, and when you need your car ready. It’ll automatically schedule your charge for when energy is cheapest. You'll get up to 6 hours of smart charging or just 7.6p/kWh every day. Plus, your entire home gets the same cheap rate overnight - and whenever your car is smart charging.
  • If you don't have time to add the amount of charge you need, the Octopus Energy app will tell you how much it can add in that timeframe.
• There’s also a standing charge on top of the unit rate, whichever tariff you're on, so it’s worth checking what that is to be clear on your overall costs. 

The way an EV tariff works is straightforward. You get a set number of cheap hours overnight, which applies to the whole house rather than just the car. Run the dishwasher and the washing machine in that window too, and the savings will stretch further than the driveway.

Intelligent Octopus Go - EV Saver is Octopus Energy's EV tariff, and the discounted rate is exclusive to Octopus EV drivers. It takes a penny off the standard rate, making it 6.6p rather than 7.6p. You sign up with Octopus Energy, and you'll need a smart meter and a compatible car or charger. Rates and eligibility can change, so check the current terms with your energy supplier before you switch.

• Your tariff. The single biggest factor, as above.
• Your car. A bigger battery costs more to fill, but it goes further on that charge. The per-mile figure is the one worth comparing.
• The weather. Cold weather can impact your range, so the same charge will probably take you fewer miles in January than it does in June.
• How you charge. Most EV drivers top up rather than fully filling up to 100%. Plugging in most nights and charging to around 80% is normal, and you'll rarely pay for a full charge from empty.
• Where you charge. Public charging generally costs more than what home charging costs, partly because it's taxed at 20% rather than the domestic rate. Our charging costs guide covers the public network in detail.
• VAT on home electricity. It is set to fall to 0% from 1 October 2026 until 31 March 2027. It’s due to be a temporary cut, so it's worth being aware of when it ends as well as when it starts.

A 7kW home charger typically costs between £800 and £1,200 fitted, according to Heatable's cost guide, with the EV chargepoint itself accounting for roughly half of that. A more complicated installation can reach £1,500 or more. 

• A long cable run between your fuse box and where the car parks
• Drilling through thick walls, or lifting paving to bury a cable
• Groundwork, if the parking space is away from the house
• An upgrade to your fuse box, if the existing one can't take the load

A straightforward install sits at the lower end. Our charger installation guide covers the process in detail.

If you rent, or you own a flat, you can claim 75% of the cost of buying and installing a chargepoint socket, up to £500, through the government's EV chargepoint grant. Homeowners with a driveway aren't covered by this particular scheme, so it's worth checking which category you fall into before you budget.

Many cars from Octopus EV come with a free or discounted home charger, depending on the model and how you're getting the car. So make sure you check what you’re eligible for, before you pay for a charger separately.

They can. Solar electricity you use yourself is electricity you haven't had to pay for, so charging from your own panels during the day cuts the cost again.

Most people charge overnight, when the panels aren't generating anything. So solar and EV charging work best together when you add a home battery to store the energy to use later, or a charger that can follow what the panels are producing and top the car up through the day.

Worth being honest about the scale of it. A smart charging EV tariff already gets you to around 7-8p a unit, so solar improves on an already low number. If you have panels, use them. If you don't, the tariff is where the bigger saving sits compared with fuelling a petrol car.

Switching to an electric car usually means three separate jobs: the car, something to charge it with, and a tariff that makes the charging cheap. With Octopus, you’ll get all three from one place.

Lease an electric car with us and you can add a home charger or charging credit alongside it. Depending on the model you’ll either get the charger for free, or it’ll be discounted. We’ll do our best to time it so the charger arrives with the car, so you’re all set. 

On the energy side, Intelligent Octopus Go - EV Saver is Octopus Energy's EV tariff, with a discounted rate that's exclusive to Octopus EV drivers. 

The package makes it cheaper and easier to switch to electric driving. We help you lower your EV running costs because the car, the charger and the tariff all work together.

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

About £4.07 for a full charge on a smart EV tariff, or roughly £16 on a standard variable rate, based on a 61.7kWh battery and rates from 1st October 2026. To work out your own figure, multiply your car's battery size in kWh by your rate per kWh.

Is it cheaper to charge at home or at a public charger?

Home charging is significantly cheaper. Public charging costs several times more per unit, partly because it's taxed at 20% while home electricity is taxed at the domestic rate. Most drivers charge at home for everyday driving and use the public network on longer trips.

Do I need a special charger to charge an electric car at home?

You don't have to have one, but you'll want one. A dedicated 7kW home charger adds 20 to 40 miles of range an hour, per our charging speed guide, and smart chargers can schedule into your cheap window automatically. Installation has to be done by a qualified installer.

Can I charge an electric car from a normal plug socket?

You can, using the cable that comes with most electric cars, but it's slow. A three-pin socket delivers a fraction of what a home charger does, so a full charge can take well over a day. It's fine as a backup, not as your everyday method.

Can I charge an electric car with solar panels?

Yes. Solar electricity you generate and use yourself costs you nothing per unit, so it can reduce your charging costs further. The complication is that most charging happens overnight, so you'll usually need a home battery or a solar-aware charger to make real use of it.