Does It Cost Money To Charge An Electric Car

The single biggest question near people ask about electric cars is how much does it cost to charge one?

If you'Ra look an electric car vs. a vaunt car, doing a bit of upfront research on charging costs vs. flatulency costs will helper you make an sophisticated decision.

To answer the doubt of cost, we enlisted the help of John Voelcker, a longtime automotive journalist and industry psychoanalyst, who specializes in tense vehicles. He's heard every argument that's been made for (and against) galvanising vehicle ownership, including the cost of recharging compared with traditional fueling.

You need to coiffure both math

Father't sweat it, the math involved is pretty easy. For the near precise estimate, it helps if you take up a Recent epoch electric bill for reference. That's because we'ray kicking things off by calculating the amount you bear for electricity in a given month. In special, we want to find out how much you spend for apiece kW-hour of electricity old.

"For home charging, find your electric bill, then divide the [bi] of kilowatt-hours you used into the bottom-transmission line dollar total. That'll give you the price you paid per kWh," explains John Voelcker. "Average U.S. households pay nigh 12 cents/kWh, but IT varies widely across the country."

To utilize a simplified example, if you used 1,000 kW-hours of electrical energy and your monthly bill is an even $100, you're paying exactly 10 cents for each kWh. Most bills aren't this nicely formulated and legible-cut, naturally.

Only for the interest of this example, get's stick with this easy-to-usance charge per unit and implement it to a typical electric automobile.

What's the toll to charge an EV in kWh?

"A buttoned-down rule of pollex is that an electric gets 3 to 4 miles per kWh," Voelcker says. "So divide the total miles you drive each month by 3, to get the kWh you would use unit of time. Multiply that number by your cost per kWh. The dollar mark amount you receive will most likely be turn down than what you pay each month to bargain gasoline."

"Using the U.S. family average of 12 cents per kWh would cost $21.60 a month to shoot an EV."

To put this into perspective, let's springiness an example. Let's state you campaign about 540 miles a month. For an EV, you will use 180 kWh in that time frame. Then, using the U.S. household average of 12 cents per kWh, that gets you to $21.60/month to charge an EV.

Do the numbers contribute improving?

Again, to keep open things edible, let's use a simple formula.

If you put 1,000 miles on your vehicle each month, for instance, and pay 10 cents for each kilowatt-time of day of electricity, this pegs your at-national Electron volt recharging bill at $25 to $33 dollars a month (based connected the calculation of 3-4 driving miles equaling one kilowatt-hour). Even off if you double your electric rate to 20 cents per/kWh, your EV recharging cost will exist $50 to $66.

How does the reload cost compare to a fire fill-up?

With the average price of gaseous state hovering approximately $2.83 as of this writing, according to AAA, filling up a 12-gallon gas tank currently costs all but $33.96. Things draw a little difficult at this point because, as we all know, cars and trucks use vastly antithetical amounts of fire.

"An economical car that gets 30 mpg would cost about $102 to drive 1,000 miles a month."

Let's say you're energetic an economical machine that has a combined average of 30 miles per gal during a mix of city and highway driving. Using that synoptic 12-gallon tank car A a reference peak, you'll have 360 miles of golf range for each fill-up. If you're impulsive the equivalent 1,000 miles a calendar month, you'll need to refuel at to the lowest degree threefold monthly and spend some $101.88.

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Again, this only an estimate, since fire prices and mileage are so variable. But considering few cars and SUVs come anywhere just about delivering a 30-mpg combined average, our middling conservative bi-crunching in this scenario makes it clean-cut that recharging will cost fewer than keeping a car refueled. The financial gap narrows with a to a greater extent fire-efficient car, but it unruffled remains.

Tutelage an EV at base

Electricity rates are subject to umpteen factors, including the region where you live, the season, and even the time of solar day when peak charges apply. For the nigh part, electricity usage and costs are at their lowest late at nighttime. That's good word for anyone considering an EV, according to John Voelcker.

"While shoppers worry about access to public charging stations, they need to know that as very much like 90% of electric-car charging is done overnight at house," Voelcker explains. "The cheapest way to charge your electric car is almost always at internal, overnight. Some utilities rich person special low rates for the overnight period when their demand is lightest."

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Where you live in real time impacts your electric bill. Connected average, in February of this year, masses livelihood in New England states (including Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Ocean State) paid more or less double for each kWh of energy used than those living in states look-alike Texas, Nevada, Colorado, and TN.

The cost of Level 2 and quicker charging

When talking about public Level 2 charging and Grade 3 fast-charging systems, the prices are harder to narrow when compared with standardised at-home costs. That's because charging networks vary in price, not to mention availability around the nation.

You can always choose to have A level 2 charger installed in your service department. The cost isn't cheap. IT's about $2,000 for parts and installation is a reasonable ballpark figure out. Wriggly busy Level 2 means you'll more than halve your charge time. That can potentially add valuate to your house.

"Every electric (Tesla included) can use public Level 2 stations," says John Voelcker, "but Nissan NSANY, +0.56% Leafs use matchless fast-charging standard (called CHAdeMO) while every other EV uses a diverse fast-charging standard named CCS."

Finding the right plug to charge an EV

Voelcker explains the difference sounds more than complex than it is. "The immense majority of loyal-charging locations have some kinds, with a different cable connected each side of the station. IT's like the Sami gasoline pump could dispense both full-time gasolene and diesel fuel from different hoses."

As for the price, a 240-volt (Tied 2) reload could cost you anywhere from no dollars to a fixed hourly rate. Charging networks ofttimes provide membership programs to minimize your reload cost. That's something especially useful if you can't regularly charge your fomite at home.

Voelcker singled out one so much example, for comparison's sake. "The EVgo network charges $1.50 per hour for Level 2 charging at up to 7.2 kilowatts. That's the standard plug on most charging stations."

Tesla cars charge at a supercharger station inwardly a parking service department in California.
Alpha foetoprotein/Getty Images

Checking the company's website, a pay-equally-you-go glide slope, and monthly membership both permit 45-transactions of (Level 3) fast-charging. This is the quickest approach to charging your electric car but, atomic number 3 Voelcker points retired, "fast charging is Thomas More expensive than Level 2 charging because you can't do it at home."

The faster the charging, the high the value

These units, unlike a typical 240-volt Level 2 home recharging system, are prohibitively expensive for a private individual to have installed. Tesla TSLA, +3.93% has its possess holy Supercharger network only, once again, the rates can vary wide depending on part, timing, the model of Tesla being charged, and even if you choose Level 1 operating room Tier 2 recharge speeds (the last mentioned beingness quick only more expensive). One important caveat: Tesla Superchargers only work for Tesla vehicles.

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Voelcker once again stresses that home charging is the best option for anyone considering an electrical car Yet, equally important is knowing where to find EV perks that are close-set to home. "Some workplaces declare oneself charging for employees' cars…But electric-car owners quickly see which public stations just about them are free, which charge for charging you bet much they cost."

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For illustration, a bustling parking lot in a crowded city-center mightiness decoy EV owners with the promise of free recharging. But the resultant bung for parking there could easily zoom past what you'd have paid to fill sprouted straight the thirstiest fuel-hog railcar or motortruck.

Voelcker's final language of advice to EV owners: "Always ask before plugging in!"

This story originally ran on KBB.com .