Charging an electric car at home in 2026 costs about $0.17 per kWh on the US average residential rate. Fill a 60 kWh battery from near-empty and you're looking at roughly $10 for a full charge. Do the same on a public DC fast-charger at about $0.48 per kWh and that same fill jumps to around $29. The gap between those two numbers is the single biggest thing that decides what your EV actually costs to run.
Cost per kWh: home vs public
Electricity is priced per kilowatt-hour (kWh), the same unit on your utility bill. Two rates matter for an EV:
- Home charging — about $0.17/kWh on the US average. This is what you pay overnight in your own garage or driveway, and for most owners it's where the majority of charging happens.
- Public DC fast-charging — about $0.48/kWh on average. You pay a premium for speed and convenience on the road. Some networks price by the minute instead of the kWh, which can cost even more if your car charges slowly.
Your home rate varies a lot by where you live. States with cheap power can sit well below the $0.17 average; high-cost states can run noticeably above it. That's why a national number only gets you so far, and why it's worth checking savings by state rather than assuming one figure fits everyone.
What a full charge costs
To estimate a full charge, multiply your battery size by your price per kWh. A rough middle-of-the-road EV has a 60 kWh usable battery, so:
- At home (~$0.17/kWh): 60 × 0.17 = about $10.
- On a fast-charger (~$0.48/kWh): 60 × 0.48 = about $29.
A larger 75–80 kWh pack scales up proportionally: roughly $13 at home, about $36–$38 public. You rarely charge from 0 to 100%, though, so real sessions usually cost less than a "full" number suggests. The math still holds for whatever slice you add.
Cost per mile: the number that actually compares to gas
A full charge only means something once you know how far it goes. That's where efficiency comes in, measured in miles per kWh (mi/kWh). The formula is simple:
- EV cost per mile = price per kWh ÷ mi/kWh
Higher mi/kWh means cheaper miles. Here's how a few well-known EVs pencil out on the home rate of ~$0.17/kWh:
- Tesla Model 3 at ~4 mi/kWh: 0.17 ÷ 4 = about $0.043 per mile.
- Chevy Bolt at ~3.6 mi/kWh: 0.17 ÷ 3.6 = about $0.047 per mile.
- Tesla Model Y at ~3.5 mi/kWh: 0.17 ÷ 3.5 = about $0.049 per mile.
Now watch what public charging does to those same cars. On DC fast-charging at ~$0.48/kWh, the Model 3 goes from about 4.3 cents a mile to roughly 12 cents (0.48 ÷ 4), and the Model Y climbs to about 14 cents. That's nearly triple. For comparison, a 30 mpg gas car at $3.30/gal costs $3.30 ÷ 30 = about 11 cents per mile in fuel alone. So a car charged mostly on fast-chargers can end up costing about the same per mile as gasoline, while the same car charged at home is dramatically cheaper. If you want the full breakdown, our guide on EV charging cost per mile walks through more examples.
Why your real cost depends on where and how you charge
Two variables move your number more than anything else:
- Your state's electricity rate. The $0.17 average hides a wide spread. Cheaper power tilts the math further in the EV's favor; expensive power narrows the lead over gas.
- Your home-vs-public mix. An owner who charges 90% at home and tops up occasionally on road trips pays close to the home rate. Someone with no home charging, relying on public DC daily, pays several times more per mile — enough to erase most of the savings. Our breakdown of home vs public charging cost covers this in detail.
There are smaller factors too: cold weather and highway speeds lower your mi/kWh, so winter miles cost a bit more than summer miles. And remember EVs skip oil changes and have fewer wear parts, worth roughly $0.03 per mile in maintenance savings on top of fuel — a real number, though it varies by vehicle and how you drive.
One thing that's not in the picture anymore: the federal $7,500 EV tax credit ended September 30, 2025, so don't count on it. Some state or utility incentives may still exist, but they vary widely, so check your own before assuming anything.
Run your own numbers
The averages here get you a ballpark, but your break-even depends on your rate, your car's efficiency, and your driving. Plug your own figures into the gas-vs-EV calculator to see your cost per mile side by side, check today's live gas prices to compare against what you'd pay at the pump, and look at savings by state to see how your location changes the answer.