EV Charging Cost Calculator
Calculate the cost to charge an EV from current to target charge percentage, accounting for charger efficiency, plus estimated added driving range.
kWh
%
%
$
/ kWh
%
miles / kWh
Leave as-is or clear it if you don't want an added-range estimate.
Results
Cost to Charge
$8.75
Energy Added to Battery
52.50 kWh
Energy Drawn From Wall
58.33 kWh
Estimated Added Range
184 miles
How Does the EV Charging Cost Calculator Work?
Enter your EV's battery capacity, its current charge level, your target charge level, and your electricity price. The calculator finds how much energy needs to reach the battery (capacity × percentage to add), then divides by the charger's efficiency to find how much energy is actually drawn from the wall — chargers lose a portion of energy as heat during conversion, so you pay for more than the battery actually receives. That wall-drawn figure, multiplied by your electricity price, gives the total charging cost. If you provide your vehicle's efficiency in miles per kWh, the calculator also estimates the driving range added by the charge.
Example
A 75 kWh battery charged from 20% to 90% needs 52.5 kWh delivered to the battery. At 90% charger efficiency, that requires drawing about 58.3 kWh from the wall. At $0.15/kWh, the charge costs about $8.75. At 3.5 miles per kWh, the 52.5 kWh added to the battery is worth roughly 184 miles of extra range.
Common Use Cases
- Comparing home charging costs against public fast-charging station prices.
- Budgeting monthly EV charging costs based on typical daily driving.
- Deciding how far to charge before a trip based on cost versus needed range.
- Estimating cost-per-mile for an EV to compare against a gasoline vehicle.
FAQs
Why is the energy drawn from the wall more than what reaches the battery?
Charging involves converting AC power from the wall into DC power stored in the battery, and that conversion isn't perfectly efficient — some energy is lost as heat. A 90% efficiency figure means you draw about 11% more energy from the wall than actually ends up stored.
What efficiency should I use for my charger?
Most modern Level 2 home chargers run around 85-95% efficient; fast DC chargers can vary more. If you don't know your charger's exact rating, 90% is a reasonable default estimate.
Does this include demand charges or time-of-use rates?
No — this calculator uses a single flat electricity price. If your utility charges different rates by time of day, run the calculation using the rate that applies during your actual charging window for a more accurate cost.