EV Charging at Home vs Public Chargers: The True Cost Comparison

One of the biggest advantages of an electric car is how cheap it is to "fuel." But the cost varies enormously depending on where and when you charge. The difference between the cheapest and most expensive way to charge the same car can be 10x.

Home charging costs

With a home charger, you control when you charge. That means you can use off-peak electricity:

• Standard tariff (24p/kWh): 60kWh battery costs £14.40 for a full charge (~200 miles)
• EV tariff off-peak (7p/kWh): Same charge costs £4.20


• Solar panels + battery: Effectively free during sunny months

On an EV tariff, you're looking at roughly 2-3p per mile. A petrol car doing 40mpg costs about 16p per mile at current fuel prices. That's an 80-85% saving.

We built an EV charging cost calculator where you can plug in your specific car and tariff to get exact figures.

Public charging costs

The public network is more expensive and more variable:

• Slow chargers (7-22kW, supermarkets etc.): Often free, or 30-40p/kWh
• Fast chargers (50kW): 55-70p/kWh


• Ultra-rapid (150kW+): 70-85p/kWh


• Tesla Superchargers: 50-60p/kWh

At 70p/kWh, that same 60kWh charge costs £42. Still cheaper than petrol, but ten times more than home charging on an EV tariff.

The annual difference

For a typical driver doing 10,000 miles per year:

The numbers are clear: home charging with an EV tariff is transformatively cheap. Public charging for occasional longer journeys is fine. But relying entirely on public chargers erodes most of the financial benefit of going electric.

Getting set up

If you don't have a home charger yet, getting quotes is quick and free. Installation typically costs £800-1,200 and pays for itself within months. We wrote about the full installation experience if you want to know what to expect.

The other crucial step is switching to an EV-friendly energy tariff. The difference between a standard and an EV tariff is worth £400-500 per year for a typical driver. Don't skip this step.