The cost of charging an electric car will depend on the battery capacity and range of the vehicle, and the cost of the electricity you purchase to fill your car. The table blow shoes the battery capacity, range, and running costs for some of the most popular models of electric car.
| Battery Capacity (kWh) | Range (miles) | Cost for full charge @ 15p/kWh | Cost/mile @15p/kWh | Cost for full charge @ 7p/kWh | Cost/mile @ 7p/kWh | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full electric | ||||||
| Renault Zoe | 22 | 150 | £3.30 | 2.2p | £1.54 | 1p |
| Nissan Leaf | 30 | 155 | £4.50 | 2.9p | £2.10 | 1.4p |
| BMW i3 | 33 | 190 | £4.95 | 2.6p | £2.31 | 1.2p |
| Tesla Model S | 100 | 380 | £15.00 | 3.9p | £7.00 | 1.8p |
| Volkswagen E-golf | 24.2 | 118 | £3.63 | 3.1p | £1.69 | 1.4p |
| Hybrid electric | ||||||
| Volkswagen GTE | 8 | 31 | £1.20 | 3.9p | £0.56 | 1.8p |
| Mitsubishi Outlander | 12 | 32 | £1.80 | 5.6p | £0.84 | 2.6p |
| Mercedes C350e | 6.2 | 19 | £0.93 | 4.9p | £0.43 | 2.3p |
| Volvo XC90 T8 | 9.2 | 14 | £1.38 | 9.9p | £0.64 | 4.6p |
| Volkswagen Passat GTE | 9 | 31 | £1.35 | 4.4p | £0.63 | 2p |
For full electric cars, the cost per mile is between 2-4p/mile if charged off conventional domestic electricity. If, however, you charge overnight off economy 7 tariffs or the newer dedicated electric car charging tariffs the cost per mile can range from 1 to 2p/mile. Good Energy, OVO and Ecotricity have all launched EV charging tariffs. By contrast, the AA quotes the cost of running a car on unleaded petrol as between 11 and 19p/mile, so an electric car is approximately 5 times cheaper to run. The maintenance cost of electric cars have also been shown to be significantly less than their fossil fuel equivalents.
There are two main types of electric car charger for use in the home, fast chargers and standard chargers.
Fast chargers draw 32 amps of electric current, equating to either 7 kW of power if your home has a single phase supply, or 22kW if your home has a 3-phase supply. The majority of homes have single phase supplies in the UK, with only larger properties and commercial premises tending to be 3-phase.
A 7kW charger will fully recharge most electric cars in 3-4 hours, depending on the capacity of the battery. This would be 1-2 hours if you were fortunate enough to have a 3-phase supply. High end models such as Tesla’s and the new Jaguar I-Pace will take a little longer to charge their larger battery packs.
By contrast standard chargers only supply 3.6kW of power. Consequently they take longer to fully charge a car, taking 6-8 hours for most models. However, if you are content charging your vehicle overnight ready for use the next morning, then a standard charger is a perfectly viable option, and you may be able to benefit from cheaper prices by doing this. We may suggest a standard charger if the electricity supply to your house is limited.