EV Charging Cost Calculator

Cost per mile, per full charge, per month, and the gas car it beats, using your actual utility rate.

Electricity rate ($/kWh) US avg ≈ $0.17 (2025 residential); CA/HI ≈ $0.28–0.40, WA/TX/ND ≈ $0.10–0.12; CA ON-PEAK TOU ≈ $0.40+, NV/IL overnight ≈ $0.06–0.09

Efficiency (Wh per mile)

Battery size (kWh, usable)

Miles driven per month

Gas car comparison, its MPG

Gas price ($/gal)

Home Level-2 charging ≈ 12% grid loss (wall → battery); rates above are per kWh drawn from the wall. Public DC fast charging bills 2–4× your home rate, double the rate for a fast-charger-only scenario.

—cost per mile (home)

—0–100% full charge

—miles per full charge

—fuel cost per month

—gas car same miles

—yearly saving vs that car

How the math works

Cost per mile = Wh/mi × $/kWh ÷ 1000 × 1.12 (the 1.12 covers L2 charger + battery chemistry losses; DC fast adds ~5% more, billed at the station rate).
Full charge = battery kWh × rate × 1.12; range = battery kWh × 1000 ÷ Wh per mile.
Gas per mile = $/gal ÷ MPG. A 28-MPG car at $3.40 is $0.121/mi, a 250 Wh/mi EV at $0.17/kWh is $0.048/mi: about 40% of the gas cost, before maintenance and tire differences.
TOU arbitrage is the real game: at $0.06 overnight EV / $0.34 peak, the same car swings from $0.017/mi to $0.095/mi, charging schedules beat most "EV is cheaper" claims at the extremes.
Break-even for the EV purchase premium: saving/mile × 12,000 mi/yr = the annual payoff against the price delta (see the driveway-cost tool for the other $ per year).

Efficiencies are EPA-window averages; cold weather adds 15–40% consumption, highway speed adds 10–25% over city. Charging-station pricing (Sparky's, EVgo) is per-minute AND per-kWh, bill can exceed 2× home rate. Not a total-cost-of-ownership model.

Frequently asked

How much does it cost to charge a Tesla?

A Model 3 (58 kWh usable, 210 Wh/mi) at $0.17/kWh: ~$11 per full charge, ~$0.040/mile, ~$44/month for 1,100 miles. At CA peak rates the same charge is ~$25.

Is charging an EV cheaper than gas?

At US average home rate vs average gas car: yes, roughly 2–2.5× cheaper per mile ($0.05 vs $0.12). With public fast charging at $0.45–0.60/kWh, it gets close to gas, the rate line, not the car, decides.

What is a good electricity rate for charging an EV?

Under $0.15/kWh is comfortable; overnight TOU under $0.10 is gold (many utilities now run EV night rates). Over $0.35 and the fuel saving largely vanishes.