Home EV charging cost is the electricity you buy for the car multiplied by your applicable price per kilowatt-hour. For example, driving 1,500 km a month using 18 kWh/100 km with charging losses already included uses 270 kWh. At a hypothetical CAD0.17/kWh, that costs CAD45.90 a month in electricity.
The answer changes with distance, vehicle consumption, your electricity plan and where you charge. A full-battery charge is a different calculation from a monthly driving budget. This guide shows both, with separate Canadian and U.S. examples. Every price, efficiency figure and charging scenario below is illustrative, not a current utility quote or a rating for a named vehicle.
Use the EV Charging Cost Calculator to estimate a charge from your battery size, starting and target percentages, and electricity rate. For a broader vehicle comparison, use the EV vs Gas vs Hybrid Cost Calculator.
In this guide
- The three inputs that determine charging cost
- Charging losses and avoiding double-counting
- Canadian and U.S. monthly examples
- Cost of one charging session
- How electricity prices change the budget
- Fixed charges, tiers and time-of-use rates
- Charger power and installation costs
Start with three inputs
- Driving distance. Use your expected monthly or annual distance. Include commuting, local errands and the journeys you expect to make in the EV.
- Electricity consumption. Find a relevant kWh/100 km or kWh/100 miles figure, and identify whether it represents electricity from the supply or energy drawn from the battery.
- Your applicable electricity price. Use the price for the additional electricity consumed by charging, with the relevant consumption-linked charges. Check your own plan rather than treating a national average as your tariff.
The U.S. Department of Energy explains charging cost per mile using electricity price and vehicle electricity consumption. The arithmetic is straightforward; keeping the energy measurements consistent is the part that needs care.
Account for charging losses once
Some electricity is lost between the outlet and the energy stored in the battery. Losses vary with the vehicle, charging equipment, battery state and conditions, as DOE and EPA explain. A single percentage is not a universal rule for every home charging session.
Check the boundary of your consumption figure before adding an allowance. EPA states that the electricity-consumption rate on its vehicle label is based on energy from the outlet and already includes wall-to-vehicle charging losses. Adding another generic charging-loss percentage to that figure would count the same type of loss twice.
A dashboard reading of battery energy is a different starting point. If it excludes supply-to-battery losses, you need an appropriate adjustment or, preferably, actual charging-energy records. Do not assume that a dashboard, a charger app and a utility meter all report the same measurement.
In our comparison calculator, the extra-electricity field is a percentage added to the base consumption. It is not a charging-efficiency percentage. If your base consumption already represents supply energy, leave that allowance at zero unless you intend to model a separate, additional use that is not already included.
Monthly charging cost: Canadian and U.S. examples
Canadian example using kWh/100 km
Monthly electricity = monthly kilometres × kWh/100 km ÷ 100. Multiply the resulting kWh by the applicable price per kWh.
Assume 1,500 km a month, 18 kWh/100 km measured on a supply-energy basis, and CAD0.17/kWh. Electricity use is 1,500 × 18 ÷ 100 = 270 kWh. The electricity cost is 270 × CAD0.17 = CAD45.90 per month, equivalent to CAD3.06 per 100 km or 3.06 cents per km.
If those assumptions stayed constant for 12 months, the total would be CAD550.80. Seasonal driving and electricity prices can change the actual result. This scenario assumes all charging is at home and does not add another charging-loss allowance.
U.S. example using kWh/100 miles
Assume 900 miles a month, a supply-based consumption of 31 kWh/100 miles and a hypothetical USD0.19/kWh. Monthly energy is 900 × 31 ÷ 100 = 279 kWh. The cost is USD53.01 per month, or USD5.89 per 100 miles, equivalent to 5.89 cents per mile. Twelve identical months would total USD636.12.
These are separate examples, not a comparison of Canadian and U.S. electricity prices. CAD and USD are not converted here. In the calculator’s U.S. units, enter kWh per 100 miles, rather than miles per kWh.
How much does one charging session cost?
For a particular session, the simplest estimate is electricity drawn from the supply in kWh × the applicable rate. When using charging records, check whether the reported kWh are measured on the supply side. Use the same measurement boundary consistently.
If you only have battery information, an approximate worksheet is: battery energy added = assumed usable battery capacity × change in charge percentage. Then supply energy = battery energy added ÷ charging efficiency. Enter an efficiency such as 90% as 0.90 in that division.
For an assumed usable battery capacity of 72 kWh, charging from 20% to 80% adds 72 × 0.60 = 43.2 kWh to the battery. With a deliberately hypothetical constant charging efficiency of 90%, the supply energy would be 43.2 ÷ 0.90 = 48 kWh. At CAD0.17/kWh, the electricity would cost CAD8.16.
| Illustrative session | Supply energy | Electricity cost |
|---|---|---|
| 20% to 80% | 48 kWh | CAD8.16 |
| 0% to 100% | 80 kWh | CAD13.60 |
Do not apply this efficiency division again to an already supply-based kWh reading. Also follow your vehicle manufacturer’s charging guidance; an illustrative 0% to 100% calculation does not mean you should routinely use those charge levels.
How electricity prices change the monthly budget
For 1,500 km a month, the following sensitivity table uses three hypothetical supply-energy consumption figures and three prices. All costs are CAD, and all charging is assumed to occur at home.
| kWh/100 km | CAD0.12 /kWh | CAD0.20 /kWh | CAD0.30 /kWh |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 28.80 | 48.00 | 72.00 |
| 20 | 36.00 | 60.00 | 90.00 |
| 24 | 43.20 | 72.00 | 108.00 |
For example, 20 kWh/100 km over 1,500 km requires 300 kWh. Moving from CAD0.12 to CAD0.30 per kWh changes that electricity bill from CAD36.00 to CAD90.00 without changing the vehicle or distance. Test a range suited to your own situation rather than copying the cheapest row.
Use the right part of your electricity bill
For the additional cost of charging, distinguish consumption-linked charges from amounts you would pay anyway. Hydro-Québec’s Rate D explanation, for example, separates a fixed system-access charge from energy consumption billed in tiers. That illustrates why dividing the entire household bill by total kWh is not always the best estimate of the cost of adding an EV.
- Unchanged fixed charges: do not assign the entire existing service charge to the car when estimating the increase caused by charging.
- Consumption-linked charges: include relevant per-kWh charges and applicable taxes when building your estimate. Check the definitions on your own bill.
- Tiered pricing: additional EV consumption may be billed in a higher tier than some existing household electricity use.
- Plan changes or extra fees: include any new recurring charge caused by your chosen arrangement separately. A different plan can also change the cost of other household electricity use.
For a complicated tariff, compare an estimate of the household bill with and without the added charging demand using your utility’s current tools. Do not assume that every charge labelled delivery is entirely fixed or entirely variable.
Time-of-use charging: calculate the weighted price
Some utilities offer time-of-use plans, as the Department of Energy notes. Savings depend on your actual plan and charging hours; overnight charging is not automatically cheaper on every tariff.
Suppose 80% of a month’s 270 kWh is charged at a hypothetical CAD0.12/kWh and 20% at CAD0.27/kWh. The weighted price is 0.80 × 0.12 + 0.20 × 0.27 = CAD0.15/kWh. The cost is CAD40.50, versus CAD72.90 if all 270 kWh were bought at CAD0.27/kWh. The difference is CAD32.40. This is a price-mix example, not a utility offer.
Charger power and installation are separate questions
kW measures power; kWh measures energy. A charging session drawing a constant 7 kW from the household supply for two hours uses 14 kWh. At CAD0.17/kWh, that energy costs CAD2.38. Its nameplate power does not mean it draws that power throughout an entire night: use actual session energy when available.
Level 2 equipment can provide faster home charging than Level 1, but a higher power rating does not itself determine your electricity price. Compare both the energy consumed and the rate when evaluating costs. Vehicle limits, conditions and charging losses also matter.
Keep the purchase and installation of charging equipment separate from recurring electricity. The Department of Energy’s home-charging guidance discusses electrical capacity and professional installation. Obtain a site-specific assessment from a qualified electrical professional; this guide does not assume a universal installation price or provide wiring instructions.
Build your own charging budget
- Choose a consistent distance period and a consumption figure with a known energy boundary.
- Identify the electricity rate and any additional consumption-linked charges that apply when you charge.
- Calculate distance-based energy and cost, or use actual supply-energy records for individual sessions.
- Add public-charging costs separately when relevant. Home and public prices should not be treated as interchangeable.
- Keep equipment, installation and other vehicle ownership costs in separate budget lines.
Use the EV vs Gas vs Hybrid Cost Calculator for annual vehicle energy comparisons. For an all-home scenario, set charging to 100% at home and use your applicable home electricity price. Review the extra-electricity allowance so that charging losses are not counted twice. You can then test a different home/public mix if it matches your expected driving.
For a gasoline trip budget, our road trip fuel-cost guide uses litres or U.S. gallons. If you are comparing a conventional hybrid with a gasoline car, see the hybrid savings and break-even guide. To measure a gasoline vehicle’s consumption first, see how to calculate MPG and L/100 km from refill records.
Methodology and sources
All monetary examples and tables are original calculations using explicitly hypothetical inputs. Monthly and annual examples assume constant conditions over the stated period. Calculations retain full precision before rounding monetary totals to cents. Government and utility sources explain the concepts; they do not supply the example prices or establish a typical charging cost for your home.
- U.S. Department of Energy: Charging Electric Vehicles at Home.
- U.S. EPA: Automotive Trends Report, Appendix E explanation of electricity consumption.
- U.S. EPA: Fuel Economy and EV Range Testing.
- DOE and EPA: Where the Energy Goes, Electric Cars.
- Hydro-Québec: Rate D billing structure.
Read our Methodology & Data Sources for the site’s calculation approach and limitations. Contact us if you find a calculation error or an assumption that needs clarification.
For a side-by-side look at station rates, fixed fees and minute-based billing, see home vs public EV charging costs.
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