How much does it cost to charge an electric car?

It’s no secret that the cheapest way to charge an electric car is at home with a competitive EV energy tariff. However, it’s estimated that a third of the UK’s 27 million households don’t have off-street parking – and as a result, many electric car owners rely on public charging points.

A decade ago, it was possible to charge up for free, or for very little, at a number of sites, often with free parking thrown in as an added incentive to switch to an electric car. Nevertheless, the situation has changed, with many big businesses getting into the charging game.

Any remaining free or low-cost chargers are typically older and slower machines, which could take more than 17 hours to restore the battery of a large electric SUV. To charge up at a faster rate – sometimes as little as half an hour – you’ll likely need to pay a significant price.

Where’s the cheapest place to charge an electric car? 

For the majority of EV drivers, the cheapest place to charge by far is at home, especially if you have an EV home electricity tariff. If you're using the public charging network, the costs vary enormously – but by how much?

To answer this question, we compared the cost of 54 different rapid and ultra-rapid charging options and a further 24 types of slow chargers. We chose the Ioniq 5 for this price comparison because it can be charged at a rate of up to 350kW (faster than many other EVs) so it can benefit from using many of the most powerful public rapid chargers available. 

We chose only to calculate the cost of charging the car from 10% to 80% as letting an EV’s batteries drop below 10% isn’t recommended, and it’s good practice to only charge to 80% to prolong battery life.  

What are the cheapest and priciest ultra-rapid charging options? 

Our research showed that the most expensive charging companies were Geniepoint, whose top rate is 90p per kWh, followed by BP Pulse and Shell Recharge at 89p per kWh. At these rates, it’ll cost £46.62 and £46.10 respectively to charge a Hyundai Ioniq 5 Long Range from 10%-80%. All of these costs are for a pay-as-you-go charge, meaning you can start charging with a contactless credit or debit card, rather than using an app.

Instavolt users pay nearly as much as this if they charge at peak hours, costing £45.07 to charge from 10% to 80%. However, this figure drops to just £27.97 to Instavolt app users who plug in between 9pm and 7am.

If you want a cheaper ultra-rapid charge, you’ll be better off with the likes of Ionity. Its Passport Power Up scheme costs users a monthly fee of £10.50 but allows them to charge at a rate of just 43p per kWh. For the Ioniq 5, that’s a cost of £32.77, including the initial membership fee. 

The cheapest ultra-rapid EV charging comes from Be.EV. With a free account, their off-peak charging rate is 55p per kWh, meaning it would cost £28.49 to charge the Ioniq 5. The rate rises to 65p per kWh if you plug in between 7am and 9pm; however, it still comes to a very reasonable £33.67. 

Tesla owners also benefit from free access to the Supercharger network, which can charge at speeds of up to 250kW. During off-peak hours (4am to 8am), Teslas can charge up at a rate of 24p per kWh – cheaper than many slow charging rates. This figure rises to 29p per kWh if you plug in between 12am and 4am and 47p per kWh from 8am to 12am. 

If you don’t own a Tesla, you can still use a Supercharger by getting a membership, which currently costs £8.99 per month. Non-Tesla drivers also incur a slightly higher charge rate, varying from 32p to 63p per kWh. As a result, it would cost £25.57 to charge the Ioniq 5 at the cheapest rate and £41.62 in peak hours.

Pod Point remains one of the cheapest charging companies with good national coverage, charging 62p per kWh for a 50kW charge at Tesco stores and Lidl supermarkets – the latter rising to 74p per kWh to customers without the Lidl Plus app. Some Tesco supermarkets also feature 75kW charging points, which cost 69p per kWh.

All prices are correct as of 22 July 2025.

The cheapest rapid EV charging rates – and the most expensive

What’s the cheapest slow EV charging cost – and the most expensive? 

There’s a lot of money to be saved in taking advantage of the off-peak tariffs some network operators offer.

Char.gy offers a night-time rate of just 39p per kWh when you charge between midnight and 7am (20p less than the company’s daytime tariff) – meaning the Ioniq 5 could be charged for £20.20.

If you live in or frequently drive around Scotland, then one of the cheaper networks you could use is Charge Place Scotland. Its rates vary, but its 40p per kWh rate for users in Glasgow is great value, working out at £20.72. You can also charge at the same rate with E.on’s 7.4kW chargers.

At the other end of the spectrum, Shell Recharge’s slower chargers are the most costly at 79p per kWh. At £40.92, this is even more expensive than some of the faster charging options. 

BP Pulse’s free pay-as-you-go service also proved expensive, with a charging rate of 65p per kWh meaning it would cost £33.67 to replenish the Ioniq 5’s battery. If you use a BP Pulse charger regularly, paying a monthly membership fee of £7.85 to cut the rate to 44p per kWh could help you save money in the long run.

The cost of using slower public EV chargers

How much does it cost to fully charge an electric car at home?

The cost of charging an EV will depend on the size of its usable battery capacity; the larger the battery, the longer it will be to charge, and the pricier it will be. EV battery packs vary in size far more than petrol and diesel car fuel tanks, so the differences can be far greater. 

To charge a Fiat 500e’s battery, which has a usable capacity of 21kWh, from 10% to 80% with a home charger at the current energy price cap of 25.73 pence per kilowatt hour, you’ll pay £3.78. In comparison, home charging a Mercedes EQS to the same percentage, which has a usable capacity of 108kWh, at the same rate would cost £19.45.

Fortunately, the most popular electric models are family cars, SUVs and hatchbacks, like the MG4. With the 61.7kWh ‘Long Range’ battery fitted, a charge from 10% to 80% costs a much more reasonable £11.11.

Is it cheaper to run an electric car than a petrol model?

Traditionally, one of the major selling points of electric cars has been their lower running costs; however, the rising cost of energy means this is no longer always the case. While it’s possible to charge an electric family car at home for less than £4, extensive use of public chargers can make an EV more expensive to run than an equivalent petrol model.

When we compared the running costs of an EV and petrol car over a 200-mile road trip, we found that charging an electric Hyundai Ioniq 5’s battery cost £44.68 – nearly £20 more than topping up the tank of a petrol-powered Hyundai Tucson. 

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