EV Charging Cost Calculator: Home vs Public vs Petrol

Rates and data last verified 12 September 2026 by the ExpertSure editorial team. Sources are listed in the methodology below the calculator.

How much does it cost to charge an electric car at home compared to public charging or petrol? Enter your mileage, electricity rate, and driving habits below to see an instant annual cost comparison across five charging scenarios.

How to use this calculator

Enter the distance you expect to drive in a year, then add your car’s efficiency in miles per kWh. Use a recent electricity bill for the home rate. For public charging, use the price shown by the network you expect to use. The starting figures are examples you can change. They are not a quote, a forecast or a statement of average UK driving costs.

The home-rate default of 26.11p/kWh comes from the Ofgem price-cap table for July to September 2026. It is an average for direct-debit customers, including VAT. Your region, payment method and tariff can change the rate. Replace it with your own unit price, and recheck it when the cap period changes.

The off-peak, public-charging and petrol figures are illustrative inputs. They do not represent a named supplier’s current offer. An EV tariff may have conditions covering your meter, charger, car and charging hours. Check the supplier’s current terms and daytime rate before switching. A cheaper overnight rate does not automatically mean a cheaper household bill.

What the results include

The calculator divides annual mileage by miles per kWh to estimate electricity use. It multiplies that amount by each electricity rate to show annual energy costs. For petrol, it divides mileage by UK miles per gallon, converts gallons to litres using 4.546, then applies the pump price. Use UK MPG rather than US MPG for the comparison.

Each row also shows cost per mile and the difference from the petrol scenario. These results compare energy only. They exclude charger installation, vehicle purchase, finance, insurance, servicing and charging losses. Electricity standing charges are also excluded. Actual energy drawn from the grid may exceed the battery’s recorded use, so these figures should guide a comparison rather than set an exact budget.

Check the results using your own figures before making a purchase. A change in annual mileage affects every annual total. A change in vehicle efficiency affects the EV rows, while a change in MPG affects the petrol row. If you mainly charge in winter or on long motorway trips, use an efficiency figure that reflects those trips. A brochure figure may not reflect your use.

How the solar example works

The solar row assumes that 60% of the EV’s charging electricity comes from solar and the remaining 40% comes from the grid at your home rate. That fixed split is an illustration. The calculator does not model roof size, location, seasons, battery storage or the time your car is plugged in. It also assigns no energy cost to the solar portion.

Solar charging can still have an opportunity cost because electricity used by the car cannot also earn an export payment. Solar equipment and installation costs are outside this comparison. Treat the solar row as a scenario to explore, not a forecast of your own generation or savings. Compare it with your generation data and export tariff before drawing conclusions.

Our solar panels and EV charging guide explains the equipment and timing considerations.

Planning a home charger

Check whether your property can support a home charger and obtain an installation quote. Access to private parking, cable routing and electrical work all affect the proposal. Compare equipment, installation, warranty and support together. The calculator does not estimate those costs or promise that energy savings will repay them within a particular time.

See our EV charger installation costs guide, lower-cost home charger comparison and home charger guide. Check compatibility with any tariff or energy-management system you intend to use.