EV charging cost calculator
Estimate EV charging cost from battery size, state-of-charge window, electricity rate, and charging efficiency.
What this calculator covers
Use this EV charging cost calculator to estimate the electricity spend for one charging session.
Frequently asked questions
- Why does the calculator ask for charging efficiency?
- Not all the electricity drawn from the wall ends up stored in the battery. Losses occur in the onboard charger, wiring, and battery management system. A typical Level 2 home charger runs at roughly 85–95% efficiency, so the wall must deliver more energy than the battery actually receives.
- What state-of-charge range should I use for everyday charging?
- Most EV manufacturers recommend keeping the battery between about 20% and 80% for daily use to extend long-term battery health, reserving a full 100% charge for longer trips. The defaults in this calculator reflect that common 15–80% window.
- How do I find the electricity rate to enter?
- Your rate per kWh appears on your monthly utility bill. If you charge overnight on a time-of-use plan, use the off-peak rate that applies during your charging hours rather than the blended average rate.
- Does the result include public charging fees or network subscription costs?
- No. The estimate covers electricity cost only, based on the entered rate per kWh. Public DC fast chargers often price by the minute or by session rather than per kWh, and may include network fees that this calculator does not model.
Tool
Run the calculation
Result
RESULT · CHARGING COST
â„–188
Primary result
$10.66
Charging from 15% to 80% costs about $10.66 at $0.18/kWh after applying 90% charging efficiency.
- Battery energy added
- 53.3 kWh
- Wall energy drawn
- 59.22 kWh
- Cost per kWh
- $0.18/kWh
- Charging cost
- $10.66
Step-by-step solution
- 1.Find the battery energy added across the state-of-charge window: 53.3 kWh.
- 2.Adjust for charging efficiency to estimate wall energy of 59.22 kWh.
- 3.Multiply the wall energy by $0.18 per kWh to estimate $10.66.
Walkthrough
Visual walkthrough
EV charging cost starts with the battery energy you want to add, then accounts for efficiency losses before pricing the wall energy.
01
Measure the charging window
53.3 kWh
The state-of-charge change determines the amount of energy the battery itself must receive.
02
Account for charging losses
59.22 kWh
Because charging is not 100% efficient, the wall must deliver more energy than the battery actually stores.
03
Price the wall energy
Applying the local electricity rate converts the wall-energy estimate into the session cost.
$10.66