NEV Owner Guide

Cost to Charge an EV in the UK (Oct 2026): Home vs Public Charging

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

Cost to Charge an EV in the UK: Home vs Public (Autumn 2026)

If you drive an EV in the UK, the single biggest factor in your running costs is where you charge. Charging at home on an off-peak EV tariff can cost a few pence per mile. Rapid charging on the motorway can cost about as much as running a petrol car.

This guide sets out the current figures, all dated and sourced, and works through the cost per mile and per month.

Figures checked on 6 October 2026. The price cap changes every three months and fuel prices have been volatile this year. Use the charging cost calculator with your own tariff.

The basic formula

Cost per mile = energy per mile (kWh) × price per kWh

UK drivers usually think in miles per kWh. For the examples below we use 3.88 miles/kWh, the official WLTP efficiency of the MG4 EV SE Long Range in MG's UK brochure. That's about 16 kWh per 100 km, or roughly 0.26 kWh per mile. Bigger SUVs use more energy, and real-world efficiency drops in winter and at motorway speeds.

Home charging

On the standard price cap

From 1 October to 31 December 2026, the energy price cap for a household on a standard variable tariff paying by Direct Debit averages 26.32p per kWh for electricity, with a standing charge of 54.83p per day (average across England, Scotland and Wales) (Ofgem).

Two things are different this quarter:

  • No VAT on electricity. The government has removed VAT from electricity bills from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027, and Ofgem's cap figures reflect that (Ofgem).
  • The cap is changing often. Ofgem will announce the January–March 2027 cap by 25 November 2026.

At 26.32p/kWh and 3.88 mi/kWh, charging costs about 6.8p per mile (£4.21 per 100 km).

On an off-peak EV tariff

Many EV owners switch to a tariff with cheap overnight electricity. Zapmap's price index reports off-peak EV tariff rates of around 8.5p/kWh, and an average of 8.6p/kWh for drivers on EV tariffs (Zapmap Price Index). Tariff terms vary by supplier and change often.

At 8.5p/kWh, charging costs about 2.2p per mile (£1.36 per 100 km), around a third of the price-cap rate.

The standing charge is paid whether or not you have an EV, so we leave it out of charging costs.

Public charging

Zapmap's price index for August 2026 (updated 4 September 2026) gives these average pay-as-you-go prices (Zapmap):

Charger type Average PAYG price Cost per mile at 3.88 mi/kWh
Standard / fast (3–49 kW) 54p/kWh about 13.9p
Rapid / ultra-rapid (50 kW+) 77p/kWh about 19.8p

Zapmap also reported year-on-year rises of about 6% for slower public charging and about 1% for rapid charging. Prices vary by network. Zapmap's August index lists, for example, Tesla Superchargers at 63p/kWh for non-Tesla drivers and 46p/kWh for Tesla drivers, and some networks above 70p/kWh (Zapmap). Many networks offer cheaper rates through subscriptions or apps, which the PAYG averages don't capture.

How does that compare with petrol?

The government's weekly fuel price statistics put the UK average price of unleaded petrol at 173.46p per litre in the week of 28 September 2026, up from 168.14p two weeks earlier. Diesel was 197.58p (DESNZ weekly road fuel prices; data).

A petrol car using 7.0 L/100 km (about 40 mpg, an example; use your own) costs:

  • 7.0 × £1.7346 = about £12.14 per 100 km, or 19.5p per mile

Side by side: 750 miles a month

Example: 750 miles a month (9,000 a year), a car doing 3.88 mi/kWh, and the prices above.

How you charge Price Per mile Per month
Home, off-peak EV tariff 8.5p/kWh 2.2p £16
Home, standard price cap 26.32p/kWh 6.8p £51
90% off-peak home + 10% rapid blended 4.0p £30
Public standard/fast only 54p/kWh 13.9p £104
Rapid/ultra-rapid only 77p/kWh 19.8p £149
Petrol car, 40 mpg 173.46p/L 19.5p £147

Rounded. Excludes standing charges, subscriptions, home charger installation and charging losses.

Two things stand out:

  1. Home charging on an EV tariff is very cheap per mile. That's where most of the savings come from.
  2. Rapid charging alone costs about the same as petrol. At August's average rapid price, a fairly efficient EV and an economical petrol car cost roughly the same per mile. Drivers without home charging should look carefully at network subscriptions, workplace charging or slower destination chargers.

Ways to pay less

  • Get an off-peak EV tariff if you have off-street parking and a smart meter. Compare the off-peak rate, the hours, and the peak rate you'll pay for the rest of the house.
  • Schedule charging for the cheap window, using the car's app or your wall charger.
  • Use rapid chargers only when you need to. On trips, charge enough to reach the next stop rather than filling up.
  • Look at network subscriptions if you charge in public often. They can cut the per-kWh rate considerably.
  • Expect winter to cost more. Efficiency falls in the cold. See why EV range drops in winter.

Calculate your own costs

Pop your own miles/kWh, tariff, public charging habits and petrol comparison into the EV charging cost calculator. It accepts miles and shows cost per mile, per 100 km and per month.

Sources

Sources