Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming more and more popular and you may be curious about the cost to charge an EV.
In this short blog, I'll take a look at how much it costs in 2022 to charge three of the most popular EVs in the UK. I'll share with you the average costs for both home and public EV charging.
The Cost of Charging an EV at Home
The cost of charging an EV at home can be a fairly significant expense, depending on the charger and the type of EV.
While charging an EV at home can be fairly expensive, there are several options available to reduce this expense. One option is to install a solar array to generate electricity for charging, which can significantly reduce costs associated with electricity usage.
At the time of writing, the average domestic electricity rate in the UK was about 28p per kWh.
This translates into the following costs to charge the below EVs from 0%-100% at home:
Nissan Leaf (40 kWh battery) = £11.20
Tesla Model 3 (50 kWh battery) = £14
Renault Zoe (52 kWh battery) = £14.56
Of course, in reality, many drivers are charging at home for much less than this.
They're able to do this by charging at off-peak times and through subscribing to special EV electricity tariffs such as Octopus Go.
This particular plan is currently offering off-peak EV charging (between 00:30 and 04:30) for just 7.5p per kWh. This equates to around 2p per mile. Meaning to fully charge the Tesla Model 3 listed above could be as low as £3.75!
The Cost of Charging an EV at a Public Charging Point
Public EV charging stations costs currently range from free to as high as 69p per kWh.
This huge variation is caused by the speed and location of EV chargers.
Slow chargers (also known as rapid chargers) are the cheapest, with rapid and ultra-rapid being faster and more expensive.
In terms of location, you can often find free EV chargers at destinations such as retail parks, garden centres and supermarkets. At the other extreme, expect to pay top price for EV chargers located on motorways. Of course, just remember that free chargers will be slow – while expensive chargers will be able to charge most EVs from 0%-80% within an hour. (80% is the recommended charging limit for rapid and ultra-rapid EV charging.)
So let me now give you the cost to charge our three EVs to 80% at fast and rapid public EV charging points. I'm going to use an average cost, but just remember that the different networks charge different prices.
Cost to charge from 0-80% on a public EV fast charger at 30p per kWh:
Nissan Leaf (40 kWh battery) = £9.60
Tesla Model 3 (50 kWh battery) = £12
Renault Zoe (52 kWh battery) = £12.48
Cost to charge from 0-80% on a public EV rapid charger at 50p per kWh:
Nissan Leaf (40 kWh battery) = £16
Tesla Model 3 (50 kWh battery) = £20
Renault Zoe (52 kWh battery) = £20.80
Again, like home EV charging, there are ways to reduce these costs. Check out our EV charging discounts and our feature on the Bonnet EV app.
Will an EV Save You Money?
As you can see from the above, the cost to charge an EV can be fairly pricey in 2022, but still manages to compare favourably with the cost of filling up a petrol or diesel car.
You'll also note that it's typically cheaper to charge from home, but you have to balance this against the cost of installing a home EV charging point.
Ultimately, there can be no doubt that EVs save on fuel costs.
A recent study by the University of Leeds showed that a family with an EV could save around £1,700 over five years on average. And when you factor in the potential money you could save by avoiding parking and congestion charge zone fees, the savings can be even greater.
I switched to an EV in 2020 – and I've no plans to ever go back to a fossil-fuelled vehicle!