More drivers than ever before are considering a switch to an electric car. While energy prices are on the up, driving an EV can definitely still be cheaper than a petrol one. Here we answer the question – how much to charge an EV?
EVs can end up being cheaper to fuel, but the trade-off is the time sacrifice, waiting for the vehicle to recharge. In some cases, however, a 40-minute stop can save £40, which is not to be sniffed at.
This article comprehensively answers the key questions UK drivers have about charging and the associated costs. These include answering how much to charge an EV in the UK, what the savings are using an Economy 7 smart meter, whether you can still charge up for free at Tesco, and whether you still have to pay to park when using a public charger.
So, keep reading to find out what the cost to charge an EV in 2023 really is.
How much to charge an electric car in the UK?
Charging your electric vehicle (EV) can be done in one of three places – at home, at your destination or during the journey. That translates to cheap, cheap-ish and pricey, since the charging will be slow, slow-ish and super fast, respectively. And that dictates how long it takes to charge up.
We’ll deal with each of these locations in more detail below, but a rough guide is
- Home: costs are £0.12-£0.41 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), plus initial installation cost and nominal monthly sub c. £800-£1,200
- Destination: Free-£0.60 per kWh, plus monthly membership or connection fee
- Journey: £0.16-£0.69 per kWh (taken from Shell Recharge and Ionity ultra-fast charging, which are the more expensive providers in the market).
Does it cost a lot to charge an electric car at home?
No, it doesn’t cost a lot to charge at home. In fact, charging at home is the cheapest way to run an EV (unless you persistently charge at work for free, of course). To better understand home energy usage, please refer to the graph above (put together by Richard Carmichael and the team at Imperial College when researching whether EV charging could be switched to off-peak).
Electricity is charged out at a price per kilowatt-hour (kWh). Most energy suppliers will just charge a flat-rate, regardless of the time of day the energy is used. But in order to help people better manage their household expenditure, some energy providers also offer tariffs, where the price per kWh changes based on supply and demand i.e. peak and off-peak times.
How much to charge an EV from 0 to 100%?
The tables below show the cheapest EVs to charge and the most expensive. The numbers enable you to compare home and public charging. The figures are based on zero to full, which isn’t an especially natural way to charge but reduces the variables for the purpose of comparison.
EVs that are cheapest to charge
| Vehicle | Battery size (kWh) | Charging cost: At home (min 12p) | At home (max 34p) | Public charger (min 16p) | Public charger (max 69p) | Vehicle range* |
| Nissan Leaf | 40 | £4.80 | £13.60 | £6.40 | £27.60 | 239 |
| Mini Electric | 33 | £3.91 | £11.08 | £5.22 | £22.49 | 145 |
| Mercedes EQE 300 | 90 | £10.80 | £30.60 | £14.40 | £62.10 | 395 |
| Audi Q4 E-Tron | 55 | £6.60 | £18.70 | £8.80 | £37.95 | 239 |
| Peugeot e-208 | 50 | £6.00 | £17.00 | £8.00 | £34.50 | 217 |
| Vauxhall Mokka Electric | 50 | £6.00 | £17.00 | £8.00 | £34.50 | 209 |
| Smart #1 | 66 | £7.92 | £22.44 | £10.56 | £45.54 | 273 |
| Volkswagen ID.5 | 77 | £9.24 | £26.18 | £12.32 | £53.13 | 313 |
| Ford Mustang Mach-E (SR) | 68 | £8.16 | £23.12 | £10.88 | £46.92 | 273 |
| Tesla Model 3 (SR+) | 54 | £6.48 | £18.36 | £8.64 | £37.26 | 215 |
EVs that are most expensive to charge
| Vehicle | Battery size (kWh) | Charging cost: At home (min 12p) | At home (max 34p) | Public charger (min 16p) | Public charger (max 69p) | Vehicle range* |
| Audi Q8 E-Tron | 95 | £11.40 | £32.30 | £15.20 | £65.55 | 225 |
| Mercedes eVito | 66 | £7.92 | £22.44 | £10.56 | £45.54 | 162 |
| Audi E-Tron 50 | 71.2 | £8.54 | £24.21 | £11.39 | £49.13 | 175 |
| Citroen e-Berlingo XL | 50 | £6.00 | £17.00 | £8.00 | £34.50 | 125 |
| Porsche Taycan Turbo S | 93.4 | £11.21 | £31.76 | £14.94 | £64.45 | 245 |
| Tesla Model X | 100 | £12.00 | £34.00 | £16.00 | £69.00 | 270 |
| Volvo C40 Recharge | 78 | £9.36 | £26.52 | £12.48 | £53.82 | 215 |
| Vauxhall Vivaro Electric | 50 | £6.00 | £17.00 | £8.00 | £34.50 | 143 |
| Lexus RZ 450e | 75 | £9.00 | £25.50 | £12.00 | £51.75 | 215 |
| BMW iX iDrive 40 | 76.6 | £9.19 | £26.04 | £12.26 | £52.85 | 220 |
*A brief note on vehicle range: A few numbers exist per model, depending on variants, WTLP testing, real-world range and range is affected by driving style and weather conditions, etc. While all efforts have been made to accurately represent these figures for the purposes of comparison, they should not be relied upon in isolation. Please research and feel free to contact the team with any questions.
Should I have Economy 7 for home charging my EV?
Economy 7 is a well-known tariff which enables households to benefit from cheaper prices during the night. Similarly, to encourage motorists to make the switch to electric cars, energy providers such as EDF Energy offer EV specific packages, like the GoElectric 35 and GoElectric 98.
The table below shows a selection of tariffs. Below it is EDF’s guide to energy prices based on location (we too were surprised by some of the differences location created):
By comparison, it is clear that the cheapest off-peak price does not always make the best deal. Standing charges are daily fees you pay regardless of whether you use the energy or not.
Is it better to have an Economy 7 meter?
It might be, since residential energy costs vary by location and provider. The off-peak energy prices for electric vehicle tariff seem competitive. Yet, they are restricted to a five-hour window and an Economy 7 tariff typically offers eight hours of a cheaper rate. Promise we’re not copping out to say, you’ll need to check the providers in your area.
Do I have to get a specific EV charging point?
While you can charge an electric vehicle from a three-pin socket, the rate of current is much slower than using a dedicated charge point. A home charger can be initially expensive to install, especially if you’re in England or Wales since there’s no longer any government subsidy available (Go, Scotland!).
However, these 3kW or 7kW charging points will charge an EV battery in a shorter time, so if you are on a time-restricted tariff this will be a worthwhile investment. You can find out more about home charging, and why EV charger installation is so expensive, in this article dedicated to EV home charging.
Is electric car charging free at Tesco?
It used to be, but not anymore. Electric vehicle drivers now have to pay to use the Pod Point-run Tesco EV charging network, which used to be the biggest free source of electricity for motorists.
This question moves us neatly on to the subject of ‘destination charging’ costs. Destination charging is exactly what it is, i.e. charging at a specific destination. It tends to be somewhere you’ll spend time. Places with high dwell times include but are not limited to grocery shops, shopping malls, cinemas, restaurants, hotels, hairdressers, libraries, town centres, hospitals and theatres.
Do you have to pay for parking when charging?
Yes, you most likely have to pay for parking if you drive an EV. While historically, EVs have charged and parked for free while doing so, this is not always the case.
This is likely down to the way the car park is set-up, i.e. Automatic Numberplate Recognition (ANPR) monitors which vehicles come in and out of the facility and those without a payment reconciled against them are flagged for penalty.
Since paying to park is significantly cheaper than any fine, unless it’s indicated otherwise, assume you need to pay to park.
Will charging slowly save me money?
When batteries are initially connected, they charge more slowly. When they warm, the chemistry works more quickly. Because heat builds, the vehicle then manages the charge to slow the temperature increase to protect the battery from degradation. More is explained about charging efficacy in this article here.
Unless you’ve driven your EV to ‘the red’ inadvertently, you’ll never arrive at a charge point completely empty. State of Charge (SoC) tests have shown the best way to protect a battery from degradation is to charge between 10% and 80%.
As mentioned, there’s no need to charge all the way to 100% each time either. At about 20% of battery capacity, the car will make a point of nagging you to find a charger, which you’ll do, unless you’re confident about making it to your (slower) destination charger (home or otherwise) with the remaining juice.
All of this can take a bit of getting used to, after all it is a notable change from rocking up to a fuel station and refuelling in mere minutes. Yet, if the above calculations are anything to go by, there are some serious savings to be made—not least to the planet.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that some public EV charging points in destination locations charge an ‘overstay penalty’. This means there is a maximum time you can charge your vehicle for, so you’d rarely get a full charge out of your window. Overstay penalties can be as dear as £0.50 per minute, so double check the rules of the parking bay, which ought to be displayed clearly upon arrival at the parking spot.
Do electric cars pay for themselves?
In some ways, yes, electric vehicles can pay for themselves. While the government is no longer offering grants to incentivise drivers to buy EVs—a subsidy that has decreased significantly in recent years—the lower running costs in both driving and maintaining an electric car help justify the difference between the EV and a fossil-fuelled equivalent.
Offsetting the cost of installation: The cost of installation isn’t cheap, but this cost can also be offset by monetising the charge point on a community charging platform such as Co Charger. You can also help friends top up their EVs when they visit, without the awkward notion that you’re paying for their fuel.
Going solar to get 100% renewable and sell energy: If householders are in a position to invest in solar panels for their property, 100% renewable energy and bi-directional charging can enable EV drivers to charge for next to nothing and even receive discount on their household energy bills.
Through the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG), the government has effectively mandated energy companies to offer to buy excess solar power, which goes back into the Grid. This not only enables the Grid to move closer to 100% renewable energy on a full-time basis but also helps it manage demand at peak times.
Electric Nation’s pilot scheme with Western Power Distribution (WPD) has seen one case study whereby a solar panel householder was not only reducing her power from £50 to £25 per month, but also selling £25 of power back to the Grid—this is the kind of zero-sum game we can get on board with.
Is it still cheaper to run an electric car in 2023?
Even if you’re not in a position as a household to earn solar power discounts or charge point income, it can still be cheaper to run an electric car in 2023 over buying a petrol or diesel car. While many may still find the cost of purchase prohibitive, the used electric car market is gaining increased supply.
While householders without access to a private charge point may not see the same savings as those that do, there are still savings to be had, using a community charge point. Through JustCharge or Co Charger, the community EV charger sharing platforms, EV drivers can use a neighbour’s charge point.
Rates are set individually by those loaning the EV charger. But they tend to operate at an hourly fee, rather than a price-per-kWh rate, with a minimum charge. Thus an eight-hour overnight charge, which would likely top-up to full, could be as little as £12. Joel Teague, CEO of Co Charger, says, ‘We have seen a steady increase in average Co Charger hosting rates from around £1.75 per hour for a 7.4kW home charger (24p per kWh) up to nearly £2.20 now (30p). We expect that to keep going up with electricity costs as it should. Our Hosts maybe there to help their neighbours to switch to electric but they should expect to get paid for it!
‘While that 26% hike sounds a lot, in practice it means that a 200-mile charge has gone up about £14 to £17 in several months. [Comparatively], petrol has seen that kind of rise in a few hours recently. Given that Co Charger Chargees haven’t had to pay for a home charge point that’s still crazy cheap motoring.
‘For most people it is true to say that while an EV is priced higher it costs LESS over all. My advice to everyone is to do their sums; it is quite likely that switching will save a lot of money.’
