EV charging cost calculator

Type your battery size, the charge you start and stop at, and your price per kWh. See what one charge costs and what each mile or kilometre costs.

The cost of a charge is the energy you add in kWh times the price per kWh. Charging a 60 kWh battery from 20% to 80% adds 36 kWh, which costs 10.80 at 0.30 per kWh.

Usable battery

The usable capacity, from your car's manual.

Charge from

Charge to

Home price per kWh

EIA, July 2026 (preliminary), U.S. residential. Source. Fast-charger prices differ by network: type what yours charges.

Fast-charger price per kWh

You type it: it differs by network.

Charging losses

Optional. Starts at 0.

Currency symbol

Efficiency (for cost per distance)

Energy added to the battery

60kWh

10% to 90% of 75 kWh.

At your home price

enter a price

We do not guess a price.

At the fast-charger price

enter a price

We do not guess a price.

That energy gives about 210 miles at your efficiency.

See the math, step by step

Energy added: 75 kWh × (90% − 10%) = 60 kWh.
Energy billed: 60 ÷ (1 − 0%) = 60 kWh.
Cost: 60 kWh × price per kWh.

This is arithmetic on the numbers you type, not a route planner or a promise: real trips change with speed, weather, hills and the charger you find. Nothing you type leaves this device.

How to calculate the cost of charging an EV

One multiplication, with one optional correction.

The energy you add is the usable battery size times the share you charge. A 60 kWh battery charged from 20% to 80% takes 60 × 0.60 = 36 kWh. The cost is that energy times the price per kWh: at 0.30 per kWh, 36 × 0.30 = 10.80. If you want the cost per mile or per kilometre, divide by the distance that energy gives, which is the energy times your efficiency.

Some energy never reaches the battery: it is lost as heat in the charger, the cable and the car. If your meter or your bill shows more kWh than your car reports, type the difference as charging losses and the calculator bills energy added ÷ (1 − losses). We found no open source with a loss figure, so the field starts at 0% and you set it.

Prices are never filled in. The home field can take a one-click suggestion, the U.S. average residential price of 18.31 cents per kWh for July 2026 (preliminary); your own tariff is better. The fast-charger field has no suggestion at all, because networks price per kWh, per minute, per session or by membership.

Worked example: 60 kWh battery, 20% to 80%

Energy added: 60 × (80% − 20%) = 36 kWh.
At 0.30 per kWh with no losses: 36 × 0.30 = 10.80. At 3.5 mi/kWh that energy gives 126 miles, so about 0.086 per mile.
With 10% losses: 36 ÷ 0.90 = 40 kWh billed, and 40 × 0.30 = 12.00.
At the U.S. residential average of 0.1831 per kWh (EIA, July 2026): 36 × 0.1831 = 6.59.

Cost of a charge at different prices

Pure arithmetic: kWh × price. The prices in the header are examples to read the grid, not market prices.

Cost of charging for several energy amounts and prices
Energy added	at 0.10/kWh	at 0.20/kWh	at 0.30/kWh	at 0.40/kWh	at 0.50/kWh
10 kWh	1	2	3	4	5
20 kWh	2	4	6	8	10
40 kWh	4	8	12	16	20
60 kWh	6	12	18	24	30
80 kWh	8	16	24	32	40

arithmetic onlyMultiply the row by the column. For a price between two columns, use the calculator above.

Where the home electricity reference comes from

The U.S. Energy Information Administration publishes the average price of electricity to ultimate customers by sector in its Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A. For July 2026 the U.S. residential figure is 18.31 cents per kWh, against 17.45 cents in July 2025. EIA calls the values preliminary estimates, and the table was released on September 24, 2026. It is a national average over all U.S. households, so it can be far from your own tariff, which may have tiers, time-of-use rates or a different state price. Outside the United States, ignore it and type your tariff.

Sources: EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A (page dated September 24, 2026) · opened October 11, 2026

How long will that charge take?

Planning a whole trip? The EV road trip charging calculator turns the same numbers into stops and a total. To compare with a petrol car, see EV vs gas trip cost.

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate the cost to charge an EV?

Multiply the energy you add by the price per kWh. Energy added is the battery size times the change in charge: 60 kWh going from 20% to 80% adds 36 kWh. At 0.30 per kWh that is 10.80. If your charger bills more energy than reaches the battery, enter the loss and the tool raises the billed energy.

What does home charging cost?

It depends on your electricity tariff. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported an average residential price of 18.31 cents per kWh for July 2026 (preliminary; released September 24, 2026). At that price, adding 36 kWh costs 6.59. Your own bill is the better number: use the price from it.

Is fast charging more expensive than home charging?

Each network sets its own price, sometimes per kWh, sometimes per minute, sometimes with a session fee or a membership discount, so there is no figure we can responsibly give. That is why the fast-charger price is always typed by you. If a charger bills per minute, divide the session price by the kWh it delivered to get a price per kWh.

What is the cost per mile or per 100 km?

Divide the session cost by the distance that energy gives you. 36 kWh at 3.5 mi/kWh is 126 miles; at a cost of 10.80 that is about 0.086 per mile. The calculator shows it in the distance unit you chose.

Should I count charging losses?

Only if you know them. Some energy is lost as heat between the plug and the battery, so the meter can read more than the battery received. We found no open source with a figure, so the field starts at 0% and is yours to set from your own bills or charger readout.

More EV charging tools

Each page answers one question about a charging trip.