Running costs
What it costs to charge an electric car
Enter the distance, efficiency and share charged at home to compare charging costs.
How much does it cost to charge an electric car?
In Great Britain, the Ofgem price cap unit rate from 1 July 2026 is 26.11p a kWh, making a typical family electric car about 8.1p a mile at home after charging losses. At Zapmap's published UK rapid charging rate as of 1 June 2026, the same car costs about 23.1p a mile.
Ofgem, Energy price cap unit rates and standing charges (as of 1 July 2026); Zapmap, Zapmap Price Index: average weighted price to charge on the public network (as of 1 June 2026)
The Ofgem figure is the standard variable tariff paid by direct debit. A driver on an overnight electric vehicle tariff pays a fraction of it, and a driver with no off street parking pays the public rate for everything.
8.1p
23.1p
16.9p
Checked on 7 September 2026.Ofgem, Energy price cap unit rates and standing charges (as of 1 July 2026)
Charging cost at three electricity rates
| Where you charge | Unit rate | 100 miles | Per mile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home, price cap standard variable | 26.11p | £8.06 | 8.1p |
| Public, up to 49kW | 54p | £15.79 | 15.8p |
| Public, 50kW and above | 79p | £23.10 | 23.1p |
Efficiency by segment
| Segment | Miles per kWh | 100 miles at home |
|---|---|---|
| City car | 3.9 | £7.44 |
| Supermini | 4.0 | £7.25 |
| Family hatchback | 3.7 | £7.84 |
| Estate | 3.6 | £8.06 |
| Medium SUV | 3.6 | £8.06 |
| Large SUV | 2.9 | £10.00 |
| Executive saloon | 4.0 | £7.25 |
Factors that change charging cost
- Charging losses. The car reports what came out of the battery and the meter bills what went in, a difference of roughly a tenth on a home charger.
- Cold weather. Efficiency falls in winter, so the same car costs noticeably more a mile in January than in July.
- Tariff. An overnight electric vehicle tariff can be a third of the standard variable rate, which is a bigger saving than changing car.
- Where you park. No off street parking means paying the public rate for every mile, and that is what decides whether an electric car saves money at all.
Common questions
- How much does it cost to charge an electric car at home?
- At the Ofgem price cap unit rate of 26.11p a kWh, a car doing 3.6 miles per kWh costs about 8.1p a mile once charging losses are counted. That is a fraction of a petrol equivalent at today's pump price.
- Why does the meter record more than the car says it used?
- Because some energy is lost as heat in the charger, the cable and the battery itself. A car reporting miles per kWh is telling you what came out of the pack, and the bill is for what went in, which is typically around 10 per cent more on a home charger.
- Is public charging really three times the price?
- On a rapid charger, roughly. Slower public chargers sit between the two. That gap is why the single biggest factor in what an electric car costs to run is whether you can charge it where you park overnight.
- Does the standing charge count?
- Not for this sum. You pay the daily electricity standing charge whether or not you own a car, so adding it to the cost of driving would double count it against the household bill.
Sources
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Weekly road fuel prices (as of 31 August 2026)
- Ofgem, Energy price cap unit rates and standing charges (as of 1 July 2026)
- Ofgem, Changes to energy price cap between 1 July and 30 September 2026 (as of 1 July 2026)
- Zapmap, Zapmap Price Index: average weighted price to charge on the public network (as of 1 June 2026)