EV charging cost calculator: home, workplace and public
Enter your battery size to see the real cost of a full charge, a 10-80% top-up and pence per mile, at home, at work and on the public network — with the rate and its source shown for each.
£4.80cheapest full charge (home (ev off-peak tariff))
A 60kWh battery, full from empty.
The same charge costs £46.20 on public rapid charging: home charging is the moat of EV running costs, not the car.
Full cost table
| Where | Rate | Full charge (0-100%) | 10-80% top-up | Pence/mile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public rapid charging | 77p/kWh | £46.20 | £32.34 | 20.8p |
| Home (standard rate) | 26.3p/kWh | £15.79 | £11.05 | 7.1p |
| Home (EV off-peak tariff) Cheapest | 8p/kWh | £4.80 | £3.36 | 2.2p |
Workplace charging
Many UK workplaces offer free or subsidised charging to staff, which is worth more per year than most fuel cards: a full charge at the standard rate would otherwise cost about £15.79. Ask your employer whether it participates in the Workplace Charging Scheme, a government grant that covers up to 75% of the cost of installing chargepoints.
Common questions
Why is public rapid charging so much more expensive than home charging?
Home electricity carries 5% VAT; public charging carries the standard 20% rate, and rapid/ultra-rapid networks also price in the cost of the hardware, the grid connection and faster turnover. Zapmap's UK-wide tracking puts the gap at roughly 3× home rates for rapid charging, checked 26 September 2026.
Does a 10-80% charge really cost 70% of a full charge?
Yes: cost scales with the kWh added, not with time. Charging 10-80% adds 70% of the battery's usable capacity, so it costs 70% of a 0-100% charge at the same rate. Charging speed (kW) affects how long it takes, not the pence per kWh.
- EV vs petrol vs diesel: cost-per-mile calculator
- EV charging cost calculator (home, workplace, public)
- Cost to charge an electric car, by model
Sources and assumptions, checked 26 September 2026
- Home rate: Ofgem energy price cap, Direct Debit GB average, 1 October to 31 December 2026 (ofgem.gov.uk).
- Off-peak EV tariff: Octopus Intelligent Go, typical published off-peak EV rate, national indicative figure, checked September 2026 (octopus.energy). Off-peak rates vary by the UK's 14 regional distribution zones.
- Public rapid charging: Zapmap EV Charging Price Index, weighted UK average for 50kW+ rapid/ultra-rapid chargers, pay-as-you-go, August 2026 (zapmap.com).
- EV efficiency default: Typical real-world efficiency across current UK family EVs (3.5-4.6 mi/kWh depending on model; see the model table below), checked 26 September 2026.
- Annual mileage default: Commonly cited UK average annual car mileage figure, checked September 2026.
- Petrol/diesel mpg defaults: Typical real-world (not WLTP-sticker) fuel economy for mixed UK driving: WLTP figures usually overstate real-world economy by 15-25%.
Petrol and diesel prices are today's live average from our own data (see the note under the result). Everything else is a default you can override in the form; the maths and the sources are shown so you can check them, not just trust them.