NEV Owner Guide

Cost to Charge an EV in Australia (2026): Home vs Public Charging

Published 2026-10-06 · Updated 2026-10-06

Cost to Charge an EV in Australia: Home vs Public (2026)

Electric cars are no longer niche in Australia. In September 2026, EVs made up 24.2% of new vehicle sales (26,287 of 108,778), slightly ahead of petrol models, according to VFACTS figures reported by CarExpert. Plenty of those buyers are now asking the obvious question: what does it actually cost to charge?

The short answer is that it depends mostly on where you charge. Home charging, especially off-peak, is far cheaper than fast charging on the road. Here's how the numbers work out, with sources and dates for every price.

Prices in this article were checked on 6 October 2026. Electricity plans and fuel prices change often, so plug your own numbers into the charging cost calculator.

The basic formula

Charging cost per 100 km = your car's consumption (kWh/100 km) × price per kWh

For the examples below we use 16 kWh/100 km, close to the official WLTP figure for a compact EV such as the MG4 (16.0 kWh/100 km for the UK-spec SE Long Range, converted from MG's 3.88 mi/kWh in its brochure). Larger SUVs use more. Real-world use is usually higher on the highway and in cold weather.

Home charging: what you pay per kWh

There's no single national electricity price in Australia. A useful public reference is the Default Market Offer (DMO), the maximum price retailers can charge customers on default ("standing offer") plans in the regions it covers. The DMO for 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 sets these residential flat-rate usage caps, including GST (DMO 2026–27 determination; AER overview):

Network area Usage cap (c/kWh) Cost per 100 km at 16 kWh/100 km
Ausgrid (NSW) 33.14 $5.30
Endeavour Energy (NSW) 33.73 $5.40
Essential Energy (NSW) 35.01 $5.60
Energex (south-east Queensland) 27.97 $4.48
SA Power Networks (South Australia) 41.91 $6.71

Three things to keep in mind:

  1. These are caps, not averages. Many market offers are cheaper. Check the unit rate on your own bill.
  2. The supply charge isn't included. You pay a daily supply charge (for example 166.23 c/day on Ausgrid's flat-rate DMO) whether you own an EV or not, so it doesn't change the cost of charging.
  3. Victoria isn't covered. It has its own Victorian Default Offer.

Off-peak and time-of-use plans

If your plan has cheaper off-peak hours and you schedule charging overnight, costs fall further. On the Ausgrid time-of-use DMO, the off-peak cap is 24.04 c/kWh and the peak cap 60.20 c/kWh (DMO 2026–27). At 16 kWh/100 km:

  • Off-peak: about $3.85 per 100 km
  • Peak: about $9.63 per 100 km

That gap is why scheduled charging, which most EVs and wall chargers support, matters so much. Charging at peak times can cost two and a half times as much as off-peak.

Rooftop solar

If you charge from your own solar panels during the day, the real cost is roughly the feed-in payment you give up by not exporting that energy. Feed-in rates vary by retailer. Check your plan and enter that figure as your home price in the calculator.

Public fast charging: what you pay per kWh

Public DC fast chargers are run by several networks, each setting its own prices. As one example, the NRMA network uses location-based pricing. Many sites list $0.69/kWh and others range up to $0.99/kWh, with prices shown for paying through the My NRMA app or the card reader (NRMA EV charging).

At 16 kWh/100 km:

  • At $0.69/kWh: about $11.04 per 100 km
  • At $0.99/kWh: about $15.84 per 100 km

So fast charging typically costs two to four times as much as charging at home. It's still useful (road trips, apartment living, quick top-ups), but it's not where the savings are.

How does that compare with petrol?

Petrol prices rose sharply in September 2026. The national average for regular unleaded was 227.3 c/L in the week to 20 September, up from 201.6 c/L in late August, according to Australian Institute of Petroleum data reported by the ABC.

For a petrol car using 7.0 L/100 km (an example figure for a small-to-medium car; check your own):

  • 7.0 × $2.273 = about $15.91 per 100 km

Side by side: 1,200 km a month

Here's an example of someone driving 1,200 km a month (about 14,400 km a year) in a car using 16 kWh/100 km:

How you charge Price used Per 100 km Per month
Home, off-peak (Ausgrid ToU cap) 24.04 c/kWh $3.85 $46
Home, flat rate (Ausgrid cap) 33.14 c/kWh $5.30 $64
80% home off-peak + 20% fast charging blended $5.28 $63
Fast charging only, $0.69/kWh 69 c/kWh $11.04 $132
Petrol car, 7.0 L/100 km 227.3 c/L $15.91 $191

All figures are rounded and use the prices above. They exclude supply charges, charger hardware and charging losses.

The pattern is clear. An EV charged mainly at home costs a fraction of what petrol does per kilometre. An EV that relies only on fast chargers still came out cheaper than petrol at September 2026 prices, but the gap is much smaller.

Ways to cut your charging cost

  • Schedule charging for off-peak hours. Most cars and wall chargers let you set a start time.
  • Check your plan. If you're on a default offer, a market offer or an EV-specific plan may be cheaper. Compare unit rates, not just discounts.
  • Use solar when you can. If you work from home or the car is parked by day, charging from your panels can be the cheapest option.
  • Use fast chargers strategically. On trips, charge only as much as you need to reach the next stop or home. Charging speed usually slows as the battery fills, so long sessions to 100% on a fast charger tend to be slow as well as expensive.
  • Mind the weather. Consumption rises in cold weather. See why EV range drops in winter.

Work out your own numbers

Your tariff, car and driving are unique. Our EV charging cost calculator lets you enter your own consumption, home and public prices, home/public split and petrol comparison, and gives you a cost per 100 km and per month.

Sources

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