Charging an electric car at home in the UK costs around £10–£25 for a full charge in 2026, depending on electricity rates.
How much does it cost to charge an electric car at home in the UK?
Charging an electric car at home in the UK typically costs around £8 on a cheap EV or other time-of-use tariff and around £17 on a standard tariff for a typical full charge. Energy Saving Trust gives those example figures for a typical EV, and notes that home charging is cheaper than public charging.
The exact cost depends on your car’s battery size, how much electricity you need to add, and the tariff you use. Ofgem says the electricity price cap for standard variable tariffs changed from 1 April to 30 June 2026, while specialist EV tariffs can offer much cheaper overnight rates
Typical home EV charging cost in the UK
- Cheap overnight EV tariff: often around £8 for a typical full charge
- Standard home tariff: often around £17 for a typical full charge
- Annual example on a standard tariff: around £540 per year
- Annual example on a cheap EV tariff: around £130 per year, if most charging is done in the off-peak window
Cost breakdown
A home charging cost is mainly made up of:
- Your electricity unit rate
- Your car’s battery size
- How much charge you actually need
- Whether you charge on a standard or off-peak EV tariff
As a rough guide, Energy Saving Trust says a full charge at home for a typical EV costs about £17, while the same kind of charging on a time-of-use tariff can be closer to £8.
What affects the price?
Several things can move the cost up or down:
- Battery size — larger batteries usually cost more to fill than smaller ones.
- Tariff type — standard tariffs usually cost more than EV-specific overnight tariffs.
- Charging habits — topping up a little costs less than charging from very low to full. This is an inference from how electricity billing works and how EV battery charging is measured in kWh.
- Vehicle efficiency — cars that travel further per kWh are cheaper to run per mile. Heatable’s worked example uses 4 miles per kWh as a simple benchmark.
- Home energy rate changes — Ofgem updates the price cap every quarter for standard variable tariffs, so the cost can change over time.
What’s usually included in the cost?
When people talk about the cost of charging an EV at home, they usually mean:
- the electricity used to charge the battery
- the price per kWh on your tariff
- the amount of energy needed to refill the battery or top it up
It does not usually include the one-off cost of buying and installing the charger itself. That is a separate cost. DriveElectric says a home charger installation typically costs £800 to £1,500 in the UK
Example running costs
MoneySavingExpert gives a simple comparison for EV charging at home:
- Around £10 per week on a standard variable tariff
- Around £2.50 per week on the cheapest EV tariff
- That works out to roughly £540 per year versus £130 per year in its example.
Heatable gives a similar worked example using 7,000 miles a year and 4 miles per kWh. On the April–June 2026 Ofgem baseline of 24.67p/kWh, that would be about £432 per year, while at 7.5p/kWh overnight it would be about £131 per year.
Is home charging cheaper than public charging?
Usually, yes. Energy Saving Trust says a typical full charge costs about £8 at home on a time-of-use tariff, compared with around £37 for public fast charging and around £53 for public rapid charging in its example.
That is one reason home charging is often the cheapest and most convenient option for EV owners with off-street parking.
Is it worth switching to an EV tariff?
For many drivers, yes. If most of your charging can be done overnight, an EV tariff can reduce the cost significantly compared with charging on a standard tariff. MoneySavingExpert and supplier tariff examples both show sizeable savings when charging is shifted to cheap off-peak hours.
Whether it is worth switching depends on your supplier options, how often you charge at home, and whether the rest of your household electricity use fits the tariff structure. That last point is an inference based on how time-of-use tariffs work.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a full charge cost at home?
For a typical EV, a full home charge is often around £17 on a standard tariff or around £8 on a cheap overnight tariff, based on Energy Saving Trust examples.
Is it cheaper to charge overnight?
Yes. Cheap EV tariffs are designed to make overnight charging much cheaper than charging at normal daytime rates.
Can I work out my own charging cost?
Yes. A simple way is to multiply the number of kWh you put into the car by your electricity rate per kWh. That is the basic method implied by Ofgem unit-rate pricing and by worked examples from EV tariff guides.
Does home charging always beat public charging on cost?
In many cases, yes, especially on an off-peak tariff. Energy Saving Trust’s examples show home charging well below public fast and rapid charging costs.
Related guides
- How much does an EV charger installation cost in the UK?
- How much does public EV charging cost in the UK?
- How much does car insurance cost in the UK?
- How much does it cost to run a car per month in the UK?