How much does it cost to charge an electric car?

Charging at home on a smart charging tariff, a full charge can cost around £4.07 in a typical electric car. The same miles in an equivalent petrol car cost £38.79. That's the short answer to how much it costs to charge an electric car. 

The real number moves depending on where you plug in and when you do it. At home, overnight is the cheapest by some way. A rapid charger on the motorway is usually the most expensive. Here's what each one costs.

• A full charge at home can cost just £4.07 in a typical electric car, compared with £38.79 for the same amount of miles in an equivalent petrol car.
• Public charging generally costs more. The weighted average pay-as-you-go price in July 2026 was 54p/kWh on chargers up to 49kW and 80p/kWh on chargers of 50kW and above, according to Zapmap.
• Public charging comes with 20% VAT. Domestic electricity was charged at 5%, which is at 0% from 1st October 2026.
• At home, your tariff sets the cost. Most home chargers are 7kW, and the speed doesn't change your rate, so eight hours on charge costs the same as five.
• On the public network, charger speed sets the cost. The faster the charger, the more you pay per kWh.

At home you buy electricity on your own tariff, so the rate you're on tells the whole story. On the public charging network you're buying someone else's electricity, paying for the hardware and paying 20% VAT, and the price rises with the speed of the charger. 

If you can get an EV charger installed at home, that’s what you'll use most days. Public charging is usually reserved for longer journeys. Two different sums, so here's each in turn.

A full charge at home can cost just £4.07 in a typical electric car, compared with £38.79 for the same amount of miles in an equivalent petrol car. Home charging is the cheapest way to top up, and it's where most drivers do most of their charging.

To work it out for your own car, multiply what you pay per kWh by the usable size of your battery.

Price per kWh × usable battery size in kWh = cost of a full charge

Worked example

• Car: MG4 Premium Long Range, 61.7kWh usable battery, 220 miles of real-world range
• Home rate: 7p/kWh on Intelligent Octopus Go - EV Saver, an Octopus Energy tariff whose discounted rate is exclusive to Octopus EV drivers
• Full charge: 7p × 61.7 = £4.07, which is 2p per mile
• Petrol comparison: a 45mpg petrol car at £1.74 a litre costs 18p per mile, or £38.79 for the same 220 miles

Charge at home for as little as £148 a year, compared with £1,411 for petrol. What you pay depends on your car, your tariff and how you drive.

More than the car does. The 6.6p per kWh in the example above is Intelligent Octopus Go - EV Saver, an Octopus Energy tariff whose discounted rate is exclusive to Octopus EV drivers. 

If you’re not an Octopus EV driver, the equivalent rate is 7.6p/kWh. Both sit well below the Ofgem price cap electricity unit rate of 26.32p/kWh from 1st October to 31st December 2026. On a standard variable rate, you'd still spend less than you would on petrol, just nowhere near as little.

Tariffs built for electric cars move your charging into the cheapest hours for you, so all you need to do is remember to plug in regularly. 

How much does public charging cost?

The average pay-as-you-go price on the UK public network in August 2026 was 54p/kWh on chargers from 3kW up to 49kW, and 80p/kWh on chargers of 50kW and above, according to Zapmap. Network subscriptions and app discounts often bring that down.

Here's how that sits against home rates.

VAT is part of the reason. Public charging is taxed at the standard 20% rate. Domestic electricity from the 1st October is now 0% (previously 5%).

The rest is hardware. A public charger needs a grid connection, groundworks and maintenance, and the installers need to cover their cost. 

You're also paying for speed and convenience: a charger that fills your battery in 20 minutes costs far more to build than a socket on your wall.

Yes. Charge at home for as little as 2p per mile, with an exclusive EV charging tariff from Octopus Energy, compared with 18p per mile for petrol. Even with public charging prices, running costs usually stay below petrol. The savings are just smaller. You may find exceptions to this with rapid charging, where you’re paying for the convenience of topping up at motorway services for example. But most people just top up enough to get them home, rather than doing a full charge on pricier public EV chargers. 

That saving is why most people look at electric in the first place. In research we ran with YouGov in June 2026, low running costs were the top factor influencing people to consider an electric car, named by 63%. Lower or no fuel costs specifically came next at 59%. Environmental benefits mattered too, but they sat behind the money.

Three places, and most drivers use a mix of all three.

• At home. Needs a 7kW charger fitted and somewhere to park off the street. Plug in when you get home, wake up full.
• At work. Plenty of employers offer free or subsidised charging. It costs nothing to ask.
• On the public network. About 115,000 charge points across roughly 40,000 UK locations in August 2026, according to Electroverse. Prices vary by network and speed.

Most home chargers are 7kW. At that rate, you add 20 to 40 miles of range for every hour plugged in, and a top-up from 20% to 80% takes somewhere between eight and 12 hours. That's why home charging suits overnight. A rapid or ultra-rapid charger can put most of a battery back in well under an hour.

Speed only changes the price on the public network. Your 7kW home charger draws from the same tariff whatever time it takes, so a slow charge and a quick one cost exactly the same. Out on the public network, speed is what you're paying for, and the fastest chargers carry the highest price per kWh.

Charging slows as the battery fills, so on a long trip, it's often quicker and cheaper to stop twice and charge to 80% than to wait for a full battery. Our guide to charging speeds breaks this down by charger type.

You've still got options, and they cost less than most people assume. No driveway is one of the most common reasons drivers hold back. In our YouGov research from June 2026, 44% of non-EV drivers named charger availability as a concern about getting an electric car, and 53% worried about running out of charge.

• Kerbside and lamppost charging. Slower and cheaper than rapid charging, built for parking outside your house overnight.
• Destination charging. Supermarkets, gyms and car parks increasingly have chargers, so you top up while you're doing something else.
• Workplace charging. If it's there, it's usually the cheapest option after home.
• A grant towards your own charger. If you rent or own a flat, the government's electric vehicle chargepoint grant covers 75% of the cost of buying and installing a socket, up to £500 (GOV.UK, August 2026).
• Any home discounts you’re eligible for. If you get your car through Octopus EV, whether it’s a personal lease or you pay through salary sacrifice, you get access to an exclusive discount on home energy from Octopus, with their Intelligent Octopus Go - EV Saver tariff. You can charge at home for just 6.6p per kWh, off peak, compared with 7.6p per kWh for non-Octopus EV drivers. 

Different things drive the cost at home and on the public network. Let’s cover them separately.

• Your tariff. The biggest impact on home charging EV cost. A smart EV charging rate vs a standard variable changes the amount you pay completely.
• When you plug in. Off-peak rates usually run overnight. Charge during the day on a peak rate and the same kWh costs several times more. Smart tariffs handle the timing for you.
• Not charger speed. Most home chargers are 7kW. A faster one would fill the battery sooner, but you're on the same rate either way, so it doesn't change the bill.

• The speed of the charger. The main lever, and the reason a motorway stop stings. That's 54p/kWh up to 49kW against 80p/kWh at 50kW and above, according to Zapmap.
• How you pay. Pay-as-you-go is the most expensive way to charge. Network subscriptions, apps and roaming cards usually bring the rate down.
• VAT. Public charging carries the standard 20% rate, while domestic electricity moves to 0% from 1st October 2026. 
• Any public charging discounts you’re eligible for. Some networks will give you a discount for using their apps (like BP Pulse). If you’re an Octopus EV driver you get a discount via Electroverse. The amount you save depends on whether you have a personal lease (which gets you at 10% discount), or pay for your car through salary sacrifice (8% discount). 

• Battery size. A bigger battery costs more to fill, but it also goes further on that fill.
• How empty the battery is. You only pay for the kWh you put in, so a top-up costs a fraction of a full charge.
• The weather. Cold weather cuts range, so the same journey needs a bit more charge in January than in June.
• The car's efficiency. Two cars with the same battery can return very different miles per kWh. Check the real-world range on the car you're looking at.

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

A full charge at home can cost just £4.07 in a typical electric car, compared with £38.79 for the same amount of miles in an equivalent petrol car. On the public network it costs more. Your own figure depends on your battery size and the price you pay per kWh.

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

Home, by a long way. Smart charging costs 6.6p/kWh on Intelligent Octopus Go - EV Saver, an Octopus Energy tariff whose rate is exclusive to Octopus EV drivers, or 7.6p/kWh without it. The average public price in August 2026 was 54p/kWh up to 49kW and 77p/kWh above, according to Zapmap.

How much does rapid charging cost?

The average pay-as-you-go price on chargers of 50kW and above was 80p/kWh, according to Zapmap. Multiply that by your usable battery size to get a full charge. Network subscriptions and app discounts usually bring the price down.

Do you pay VAT on charging an electric car?

Yes. Public charging is charged at the standard 20% VAT rate. Domestic electricity was charged at 5% and is 0% as of 1st October 2026. That difference is one of the main reasons charging at home works out cheaper.

Can you charge an electric car without a driveway?

Yes. Kerbside and lamppost chargers, workplace charging and public charge points all work without off-street parking. There were about 115,000 public charge points in the UK. Renters and flat owners can also apply for the government's chargepoint grant.

How much does charging add to your electricity bill?

Charge at home for as little as £148 a year, compared with £1,411 for petrol. The cost moves onto your electricity bill instead of the forecourt. Your own figure depends on your mileage, your car and the rate you pay per kWh.

Take your annual mileage and the usable battery size of the car you want, then run them against the per-mile figures above. If you can charge at home a smart EV charging tariff, the answer is almost always a lot less than you spend on fuel now.