EV Charging Cost Calculator
This EV charging cost calculator answers a simple question: what does charging actually cost each month? Pick your state and the tool fills in that state's average residential electricity rate (EIA, August 2026), then blends your home and fast-charging mix into one monthly cost, one cost per mile, and a direct saving-versus-gas figure. Enter your own rate instead if your plan differs from the state average, and see exactly how the math works — no live prices, no buying advice, just the charging cost.
Total miles you drive in a month — from your odometer or a typical month.
From your EV energy screen, or battery size ÷ real range. 0.25–0.35 is typical for most EVs.
Residential average rate from EIA Table 5.6.A, August 2026 (preliminary). Your own plan rate may differ — pick the custom option to enter it.
Share of charging done at home. The rest is fast (public DC) charging.
Example price — enter your network's actual price. Only matters when home charging is below 100%.
For the EV vs gas comparison. Enter the price you pay at your station.
The gas car you compare against — your current car, or a typical 25 mpg sedan.
Monthly charging cost
67.58
- Electricity used1000 miles × 0.3 kWh per mile.
- 300kWh
- Blended charging rate80% home at $0.1816 (United States average residential average) + 20% fast at $0.40 per kWh.
- 22.53¢/kWh
- EV cost per mile$0.2253 per kWh × 0.3 kWh per mile.
- 0.0676
- Gas car monthly fuel cost1000 miles ÷ 25 mpg = 40.00 gallons × $3.50.
- 140
- Gas cost per mile$3.50 per gallon ÷ 25 mpg.
- 0.14
- Monthly saving vs gas$140.00 gas − $67.58 charging.
- 72.42
How it was calculated
- Electricity: 1000 miles × 0.3 kWh per mile = 300.00 kWh.
- Blended rate: 80% home at $0.1816 (United States average residential average) + 20% fast at $0.40 per kWh.
- Monthly charging: 300.00 kWh × $0.2253 = $67.58.
- EV cost per mile: $0.2253 × 0.3 = $0.0676.
- Gas: 1000 miles ÷ 25 mpg = 40.00 gallons × $3.50 = $140.00 (0.1400 per mile).
- Saving vs gas: $140.00 − $67.58 = $72.42 per month.
How it works
Electricity used = monthly miles × efficiency. Driving 1,000 miles at 0.3 kWh per mile uses 1,000 × 0.3 = 300 kWh in the month — the same idea as gallons from miles ÷ mpg for a gas car, only multiplied instead of divided.
Blended rate = (home share × home rate) + (fast share × fast price). At 80% home charging on a 29.75¢/kWh California average and 20% fast charging at 40¢/kWh, the blend is 0.80 × 29.75 + 0.20 × 40 = 31.8¢/kWh — one rate that represents the whole month's mix.
Monthly charging cost = kWh used × blended rate, and EV cost per mile = blended rate × efficiency. Those 300 kWh at 31.8¢/kWh cost 300 × $0.318 = $95.40 a month, or $0.318 × 0.3 = $0.0954 per mile.
The gas comparison runs the same miles through a gas car: gas cost = (miles ÷ mpg) × gas price, and the saving is gas cost − charging cost. At $3.50 a gallon and 25 mpg, 1,000 miles of gas costs $140.00, so the EV saves $140.00 − $95.40 = $44.60 that month. A negative saving means the gas car is cheaper on fuel at those rates.
Worked examples
300 miles at $0.16/kWh: $14.40
Drive 300 miles at 0.3 kWh per mile and you use 300 × 0.3 = 90 kWh. At $0.16 per kWh that is 90 × $0.16 = $14.40 for the month, or $0.048 per mile. The same 300 miles in a 25-mpg gas car at $3.50 a gallon costs 300 ÷ 25 × $3.50 = $42.00, so the EV saves $42.00 − $14.40 = $27.60.
California month: $95.40 vs $140 gas
Drive 1,000 miles at 0.3 kWh per mile in California (29.75¢/kWh residential average, EIA August 2026), charging 80% at home and 20% fast at 40¢/kWh: the blended rate is 31.8¢/kWh, the month uses 300 kWh, and charging costs $95.40 — $0.0954 per mile. The same 1,000 miles at $3.50 a gallon and 25 mpg costs $140.00, so the EV saves $44.60 a month.
How to measure
- Find your efficiency on the car's energy screen (kWh per mile, or miles per kWh — invert miles-per-kWh to get kWh per mile), or divide battery size by real range: a 75 kWh pack that really goes 250 miles uses about 75 ÷ 250 = 0.3 kWh per mile.
- Find your true home rate on your bill: total bill ÷ kWh used. That includes delivery charges, which is the same basis as the EIA state averages — a bare "supply only" rate will understate your charging cost.
- Estimate your home share honestly: nightly home charging is usually 70–90% for commuters. If you road-trip often or cannot charge at home, drop it toward 50% or lower and watch the blended rate climb toward the fast price.
- Use a full month of miles, not one week. A 250-mile week is roughly 1,000 miles a month, but holidays, road trips, and winter range loss all move the real number — winter efficiency can be 20–30% worse in cold climates.
- If your efficiency figure comes from the dashboard, it is battery-side: wall energy runs a bit higher because charging loses roughly a tenth to heat. For a bill-accurate figure, use a wall-metered kWh-per-mile if you have one.
Assumptions & limitations
Planning estimate
- State rates are EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A, average residential prices for August 2026 (preliminary estimates, released October 23, 2026). They are statewide averages computed as revenue ÷ sales, including taxes and fees — your plan's marginal rate will differ, which is why the custom-rate option exists. Rates refresh when EIA publishes a new month.
- The fast charging price is entered by you (the $0.40/kWh default is an example, not a network price). Public fast charging varies widely by network, location, and membership — enter your network's actual price for a real number.
- Efficiency is treated as constant across the month. Real driving mixes city and highway, and cold weather, speed, and heating all move kWh per mile — treat the result as a planning estimate, not a bill quote.
- Charging cost only. The charger, its installation, the car payment, insurance, and maintenance are NOT included — this page answers what charging costs, not whether to buy an EV. No buying advice is given here.
- Tesla appears only as an example name (a common "how much to charge at home" question). Measurely is not affiliated with Tesla or any charging network, and no example figure is a quote from them.
- All figures are estimates for planning a budget, not a quote, a reimbursement rate, or financial advice.
Frequently asked questions
Home charging bills at your residential electricity rate — the state average here, or your own rate if you enter it — and it is almost always the cheaper of the two. Fast (public DC) charging is priced by the network per kWh and is usually much higher; the $0.40/kWh default on this page is only an example, so enter your network's real price. The tool blends the two by your home-charging share: at 80% home and 20% fast, one month's rate sits much closer to the home rate than to the fast price, which is why charging at home whenever you can is the single biggest lever on the monthly number.
It depends on miles and your rate, not the badge — any EV follows the same math. As an example only (Tesla is not affiliated with this page): 1,000 miles at 0.25 kWh per mile uses 250 kWh, and at the U.S. residential average of 18.16¢/kWh (EIA, August 2026) that is 250 × $0.1816 = $45.40 a month. Pick your state above for your state's average, or enter your bill's rate for your exact figure.
From the U.S. Energy Information Administration's Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A — average residential prices by state for August 2026, released October 23, 2026. EIA computes them as revenue divided by sales, so they include taxes and fees, and EIA labels the 2026 values preliminary. They are statewide averages: your utility and plan may charge more or less, which is why you can pick "My state is not listed" and type your own rate from your bill.
Usually one of four reasons: your plan's rate is above the state average (time-of-use peaks, demand charges, or a high-cost utility); your real efficiency is worse than the figure you entered (winter, highway speed, heating); charging losses mean wall energy runs roughly a tenth above what the dashboard reports; or the month included extra miles you didn't count. Re-run the tool with your bill's rate and a wall-metered efficiency to close most of the gap.
No — charging cost only, on purpose. A home charger and its installation are one-time costs, and whether an EV is worth buying depends on far more than electricity. This page deliberately gives no buying advice: it answers what charging costs each month, and the gas comparison shows the fuel saving alone, not total ownership cost.
Yes, and the tool tells you with a warning instead of hiding it. It happens when electricity is expensive (Hawaii's 47.18¢/kWh average is the extreme), the gas car is very efficient, or gas is cheap: at 47.18¢/kWh and 0.35 kWh per mile, the EV costs about $0.165 per mile, while a 40-mpg gas car at $3.00 a gallon costs $0.075 per mile — gas wins on fuel there. If you see a negative saving, check whether your real rate and efficiency match the inputs before concluding anything.