How much does it cost to charge an electric car
When asking about how much it costs to charge an electric car in the UK, you may consider two options:
- absolute costs,
- relative costs.
Absolute costs show you how much money you spend to charge the battery in full. However, you can’t compare different EV makes and models by their absolute costs. For example, expenses of filling an 80 kWh battery are undeniably higher than filling a 40 kWh one.
In contrast, with relative costs, you get a great comparison base. For example, it is good to know about your expenses per mile. To clarify, this enables you to calculate your expenses for riding a certain distance.
Still, no matter what cost you consider, there is one thing you intuitively understand. The costs to charge at home, work, public EV charging points (including rapid ones) vary. So, let’s find out the difference.
Charging costs on a home-charge scheme
Charging at home is one of the most-used options as electric car owners always install EV Charging stations for home use.
So, to calculate the cost to charge an EV at home in the UK, take the following points into consideration:
- Battery size (usable),
- Electric car efficiency, Wh/mi,
- Electricity unit rate.
The battery size and energy efficiency differ from car to car. Thus, to be more specific, we took the most popular electric cars in the UK and analysed their specifications.
Specifications of the most popular electric cars
| Make, model | Usable battery, kWh | Real Range, mi | Efficiency, W/mi |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battery Electric Vehicles | |||
| Volkswagen Golf GTE | 32 | 120 | 265 |
| Nissan Leaf | 36 | 135 | 265 |
| BMW i3 | 37.9 | 145 | 260 |
| MG ZS EV | 42.5 | 135 | 310 |
| Renault Zoe | 52 | 200 | 260 |
| Tesla Model S | 95 | 325 | 290 |
| Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles | |||
| Outlander PHEV | 11 | 23 | 475 |
| BMV 530E | 9.2 | 21 | 435 |
Sources: gov.uk, ev-database
Here there are two points of conclusion. First, electric cars with higher battery capacity have a higher range. To clarify, they can ride a longer distance without recharging their battery. Second, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles have smaller battery size and lower efficiency.
When it comes to electricity unit rates in the UK, there are two things to consider. First, energy prices greatly differ between regions. Therefore, we will use the average prices in our estimations. Second, an EV owner may enjoy differentiated rates (day and night unit rates) or just pay standard rates all day round.
Average electricity rates in the UK, p/kWh
| Differentiated rates | Standard rates | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Day unit rate | Night unit rate | Day unit rate | Night unit rate |
| 19.9 | 9.5 | 16.3 | 16.3 |
Sources: nimblefins
As you can see, tariffs with differentiated rates offer lower prices for off-peak hours but higher prices for a peak period. The price difference here is more than twice. In contrast, tariffs without peak and off-peak differentiation offer the same day and night unit rates that are lower than day unit rates in differentiated tariffs. Thus, it is rational for EV owners to choose the tariff depending on their practice.
So, how much does it really cost to charge various electric cars at home in the UK? Now we have come close to the answer.
Absolute EV charging costs
On average, to fill 32-42.5 kWh battery, EV owners’ spendings are the following:
- £3.04 – 4.04 providing they have differentiated tariffs and feed their cars overnight,
- £6.37 – 8.45 providing they have differentiated tariffs and charge their cars during peak hours,
- £5.22 – 6.93 providing they have non-differentiated tariffs.
Then, to feed Renault Zoe with its 52 kWh battery, average costs are the following:
- £4.94 providing they have differentiated tariffs and charge their cars overnight,
- £10.35 providing they have differentiated tariffs and top up the battery during peak hours,
- £8.48 providing they have non-differentiated tariffs.
At last, the Tesla owners should be prepared to pay from £9.03 to £18.91 if they have differentiated tariffs and charge their cars, respectively overnight or during peak hours. In case the electricity tariff is standard, their total expenses to fill the battery in full is £15.49
The absolute average cost to charge an EV at home, £
| Make, model | With differentiated rates | With standard rates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Overnight | Day/overnight | |
| Battery Electric Vehicles | |||
| Volkswagen Golf GTE | 6.37 | 3.04 | 5.22 |
| Nissan Leaf | 7.16 | 3.42 | 5.87 |
| BMW i3 | 7.54 | 3.60 | 6.18 |
| MG ZS EV | 8.45 | 4.04 | 6.93 |
| Renault Zoe | 10.35 | 4.94 | 8.48 |
| Tesla Model S | 18.91 | 9.03 | 15.49 |
| Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles | |||
| Outlander PHEV | 2.19 | 1.05 | 1.79 |
| BMV 530E | 1.83 | 0.87 | 1.50 |
When it comes to plug-in hybrids, the absolute charging costs for the 9-11 kWh batteries are as follows:
- £0.87 –1.05 if having differentiated tariffs and overnight charging,
- £1.83 –2.19 if having differentiated tariffs and filling the battery during peak hours,
- £1.5 – 1.79 if having standard tariffs.
Relative EV charging costs
On average, the cost of riding 100 miles for electric cars owners when they feed their EVs at home are the following:
- £2.47 – 2.95 if they have an Economy7 tariff and feed their cars during off-peak hours,
- £5.17 – 6.16 if they have an Economy7 tariff and charge their cars during peak hours,
- £4.24– 5.05 if they have a standard tariff.
The Tesla owners’ home-charge spending per every 100 miles follows the same scheme, being just about £0.25 – 0.5 higher.
The relative average cost to charge an EV at home, for every 100 miles, £
| Make, model | With differentiated rates | With standard rates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Overnight | Day / overnight | |
| Battery Electric Vehicles | |||
| Volkswagen Golf GTE | 5.27 | 2.52 | 4.32 |
| Nissan Leaf | 5.27 | 2.52 | 4.32 |
| BMW i3 | 5.17 | 2.47 | 4.24 |
| MG ZS EV | 6.16 | 2.95 | 5.05 |
| Renault Zoe | 5.17 | 2.47 | 4.24 |
| Tesla Model S | 5.77 | 2.76 | 4.73 |
| Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles | |||
| Outlander PHEV | 9.45 | 4.51 | 7.74 |
| BMV 530E | 8.66 | 4.13 | 7.09 |
As for the hybrid owners, they have to pay almost two times more for every mile ride. To clarify, the efficiency of their cars is almost twice lower compared to the battery electric cars.
Charging costs on a workplace charging scheme
Charging at work is increasing its affordability and popularity during the last years. That is to say, with OLEV grants, many large, medium-sized, and small businesses install EV charging stations to provide charging facilities to their employees.
When it comes to the cost to charge an electric car at work, there are three options depending on the employer adopts:
- Free facilities,
- Facilities with a time-limited tariff,
- Facilities with shared costs.
The first option is used as benefits organizations provide to their personnel. In this case, the EV owner charging cost is zero. To clarify, the organization pays charging bills out of its budget and includes these costs into its expenses.
The time-limited tariff is used when an employer encourages his employees to share workplace charging facilities. In other words, an organization installs a certain number of EV stations but does not cover its employees needs in full. Therefore, it specifies a time period (for example 4 hours a day) when an employee can use the facility for free. Thus, as the period ends, the employee has to pay the costs out of his pocket. Generally, the specified period is enough to top up the battery and employees do not use the station longer than the time period. Thus, in this case, the EV owner charging cost is zero as well.
The shared-cost tariff implies the costs are divided between an employer and its employee who use a workplace station. However, the cost to charge an electric vehicle at work is still as much as twice lower than when feeding it at home.
The absolute average cost to charge at work, £
| Make, model | Free facilities | Time-limited tariff | Shared costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battery Electric Vehicles | |||
| Volkswagen Golf GTE | 0 | 0 | 3.19 |
| Nissan Leaf | 0 | 0 | 3.58 |
| BMW i3 | 0 | 0 | 3.77 |
| MG ZS EV | 0 | 0 | 4.08 |
| Renault Zoe | 0 | 0 | 5.18 |
| Tesla Model S | 0 | 0 | 9.46 |
| Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles | |||
| Outlander PHEV | 0 | 0 | 1.10 |
| BMV 530E | 0 | 0 | 0.92 |
Cost for charging EV at public EV charging stations
So, let’s calculate how much it costs to charge an electric car at public charging stations.
Nowadays, more and more restaurants, shopping centers, and other public entities provide their customers with charging facilities. Many of them provide these in public facilities for free to attract EV owners and get their loyalty as a customer. Of course, it is unlikely you will be able to charge your car battery in full, but a free top up option is very attractive, isn’t it?
Besides, in the UK, there are a large number of public EV charging networks that provide slow, fast, and rapid options. Also, there are many services to find public stations. For example, such services as Zap Map and AE Charging Point provide a filter search and route planning to make things easy.
Depending on the exact network and the stations it has, you will need either a mobile app or RFID card to start using the station. These mobile apps are free and easy to download and RFID cards as free and easy to order online.
The tariffs greatly vary. So, we will use the top average charging prices of £0.3/kWh. Typically, this is the price at rapid chargers.
Cost to charge an EV at a rapid charging station, £
| Make, model | Cost to fill a full battery | Cost per 100 miles |
|---|---|---|
| Battery Electric Vehicles | ||
| Volkswagen Golf GTE | 9.6 | 7.95 |
| Nissan Leaf | 10.8 | 7.95 |
| BMW i3 | 11.37 | 7.80 |
| MG ZS EV | 12.75 | 9.3 |
| Renault Zoe | 15.6 | 7.80 |
| Tesla Model S | 28.5 | 8.70 |
| Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles | ||
| Outlander PHEV | 3.3 | 14.25 |
| BMV 530E | 2.76 | 13.05 |
Sources: zap-map
So, filling 32-42.5 kWh battery at public charger costs:
- £9.6 –12.75 when charging a full battery,
- £7.95 – 9.3 per 100 miles.
Feeding an electric car of larger battery costs more in absolute estimation. In our example, for Renault Zoe with its 52 kWh battery, it costs as follows:
- £15.6 to fully charge a car,
- £7.8 per 100 miles.
The Tesla owners should be prepared to pay £28.5 to fully feed their cars or £8.7 per 100 miles.
At last, owners of hybrids with 9-11 kWh batteries have to bear the following expenses:
- £2.76 – 3.3 to fully charge a battery,
- £13.5 – 14.25 per 100 miles.
To conclude, it is worth to mention to feed an electric car at public stations is the most expensive option unless their hosts provide free facilities. So, it is unlikely to be a daily-use option. Though, it is very useful (and often the only) option when taking a long ride.