EV charging
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Battery size times your electricity rate is the full-charge cost; add the car's efficiency and you get cost per mile — the number that makes the gas comparison honest.
The two numbers that matter
A full charge costs battery capacity times your electricity rate. Cost per mile is even simpler: rate divided by the car's efficiency in miles per kWh — most EVs deliver 3–4 mi/kWh in mixed driving.
Per mile: 0.16 ÷ 3.5 ≈ 4.6¢ — vs ~11¢ for a 30 MPG gas car
Where you charge changes everything
Home charging at residential rates is the EV's economic superpower — and overnight/off-peak plans push it lower still. Public DC fast charging typically runs $0.35–0.55 per kWh, which can approach or exceed gas cost per mile: an EV's savings are mostly made in the garage, not on the highway. Charging losses of 5–10% (energy lost as heat) mean your meter reads slightly more than the battery gains; treat these figures as the optimistic bound.
Cold weather can trim efficiency 20–30%. Comparing against your actual gas car? Get its real economy with the MPG calculator and its trip costs with the fuel cost calculator.
EV charging FAQ
Battery size times your electricity rate: a 75 kWh battery at $0.16/kWh costs about $12 for a full charge — typically 230–280 miles of range.
Electricity rate divided by efficiency: at $0.16/kWh and 3.5 mi/kWh, about 4.6 cents per mile — roughly half to a third of a comparable gas car's fuel cost.
Usually much more — $0.35–0.55 per kWh is common, which can rival gas per mile. The economics of EVs are built on home and workplace charging.
Charging losses of 5–10% (heat, conversion) mean the wall meter delivers more kWh than the battery stores, and cold weather reduces the miles each kWh buys.