What Is The Average Cost To Charge An Electric Car

Tesla Model S 75d V Bmw 540i 30l Turbo Petrol

BMW 540i annual/weekly 95RON – $2278/$43.80Tesla Model S 75 annual/weekly charging – $1064/$20.45

Electric annual/weekly advantage: $1214/$23.35

So the running cost savings can be sizable if you switch to an electric car, so the decision should be a no-brainer for most, right?

Not quite. There are many other variables to consider, however, and weve done even more number-crunching to drill down into just how budget-friendly an electric shift would or wouldnt be. For more details about the overall costs of EVs compared to conventionally-powered vehicles, be sure to read IS IT TIME TO GO ELECTRIC?

The Most Popular Method: Home Charging

In general, most electric cars can travel 3 to 4 miles per kilowatt-hour of energy, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. In 2021, residential electricity cost 13.73 cents per kWh on average, per the US Energy Information Administration. At that rate, someone who drives 1,000 miles per month would spend anywhere from $34 to $46 charging at home.

Fully recharging an electric car with a healthy range of 300 miles would require 75-100 kWh and cost $10-$14.

There are also some potential up-front costs to charging at home. All EVs come with a home-charging cable that plugs into a wall outlet and provides an extremely slow trickle of energy, approximately 3 to 6 miles of range per hour. This type of charging is known as Level 1.

For a quicker charge, many owners choose to install a more powerful Level 2 charger, which uses an upgraded 240-volt circuit to deliver some 20-40 miles of range per hour. Tesla’s Level 2 charger costs $550, and the company estimates an additional $750-$1,500 for an electrician to hook it up.

Can The Average Person Afford An Electric Car

However, before you can buy an EV, you must first be extremely wealthy. According to IbisWorld, one-third of US households earn more than $100,000 per year and 15% earn between that and $150,000. If they spent wisely, they could save up money for one electric vehicle.

In Utah, there are several used electric car markets, some of which sell for as little as $10,000. Most cars have ranges of less than 100 miles, but with an average American car driving 39 miles per day, many drivers can live with a short range. When people hear the word electric, they think of Tesla. According to one dealer, the majority of people do not want to part with that kind of money. If youre looking to buy a used electric car, youll typically pay more than the price of a brand-new one. Electric vehicle registration in Utah has increased by more than two-thirds in the last two years, but it accounts for only a small percentage of all vehicle sales in the state. The battery life of a vehicle is determined by the distance traveled, and older vehicles have a shorter range.

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Charging An Electric Car At Costco Isnt Expensive But Many Stores Dont Have Chargers

Blessing for our newest #EV DC Fast Charger in Iwilei, near Costco! #ElectricVehicles#ElectrificationOfTransportation#HawaiianElectric

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Not all Costco Wholesale locations have electric vehicle chargers. In fact, many of the stores do not. Looking on PlugShare, a few have solar-powered chargers that work on and off. Some chargers only require $1 per hour for payment some stores have no charging at all.

Costco used to have many electric car chargers but removed some due to lack of use. These days, most of the chargers are located near California stores. Since these chargers are usually meant for a quick pit stop during errands, drivers arent paying much for 30 minutes of charging. If Costco is charging a $20 temporary hold, theres a good chance most charging sessions wont go over that amount.

On locations with public chargers in place, the chargers appear to be the SemaConnect brand, which Blink owns. Drivers do not need a membership to charge with SemaConnect chargers.

How Does The Incentives For Zero

In addition to provincial incentives, there are also federal EV incentives the Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles program offers up to $5000 for purchasing or leasing new zero-emissions vehicles.

You can find a list of eligible vehicles here as well as the incentives for varying lease times.

Incentives from the iZEV program will be applied at the point of sale by the dealership. It will appear directly on the bill of sale or lease agreement on eligible ZEVs on, or after, the eligibility date. The dealer must apply taxes and fees to the purchase or lease before applying the incentive.

The dealer must submit the documentation required to be reimbursed for an incentive provided to consumers at the point of sale.

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Costs Of Charging An Ev At Home

Electricity rates are subject to many factors, including the region where you live, the time of year, and even the time of day when peak charges apply. For the most part, electricity usage and costs are at their lowest late at night. Thats good news for anyone considering an EV, according to Voelcker.

While shoppers worry about access to public charging stations, they need to know that as much as 90% of electric car charging is done overnight at home, Voelcker said. The cheapest way to charge your electric car is almost always at home, overnight. Some utilities have special low rates for the overnight period when their demand is lightest.

Where you live directly impacts your electric bill. People living in Maine pay nearly double for each kWh of energy used than in states like Wyoming or Nebraska.

Public Level 2 Charging Costs

The cost of charging your EV with a public Level 2 EV charger can vary dramatically because every public EV charger can have different prices. For example, your company or office building may offer free EV charging stations to employers and visitors in their parking deck or parking lot.

So, in that case, your daily commute in your EV could be free! If you can charge enough to get a complete charge, you may be able to decrease your overall cost of charging since you wont need to plug in at home as much.

Public Level 2 chargers range in price from free to an hourly or per kW charge, depending on the charger and location. Keep in mind that you may also have parking charges at a parking meter or deck in addition to charging costs. Usually, you can check apps like Plugshare or ChargePoint to see the price, availability, and even the chargers status .

Image credit: ChargePoint app, public EV charger availability

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Level 2 Public Charging

Level 2 is the most prevalent type of pubic charging, and youll find units installed in retail parking lots, public parking garages, and new-car dealerships, typically in or near larger cities, college towns, and other areas where theres a higher concentration of EVs.

Some Level 2 public charging stations can be used at no cost, while others charge a fee. This can either be on a pay-as-you-go basis using a credit card, or via an account with a charging network like ChargePoint or Blink. The cost to charge an EV differs from provider to provider and from state to state. Some states allow pricing based on the kWh of electricity used, while others only allow providers to charge on a per-minute basis. While the ChargePoint network allows the property owner where the charger is situated to set rates, Blink charges between $0.04-$0.06 per minute or from $0.39 to $0.79 per kWh, in states where thats permitted.

Chevrolet says its Bolt EV will get back an average 25 miles of operating range per hour of Level 2 charging. Thats a cost of between $2.40 and $3.60 at the above rates, compared to the EPAs estimate of $2.15 to drive a gas-powered Chevrolet Cruze for 25 miles.

How Much Does It Cost To Charge Your Ev At Public Charging Stations

Its one of the first questions people ask about electric vehicles is the cost to charge electric cars. This is usually going to be the most common thing that will concern people when using public charging stations.

The cost of charging an electric car at a public charging station depends on several factors. But to ballpark it, the average cost per kWh is between $0.40 and $0.70, and you get around 3 to 4 miles for every kWh. With this in mind, the average EV vehicle could require around $30 to be fully charged. A larger vehicle may cost around $40.

These arent universal prices, so keep in mind that you could be paying more or less at any given station. The biggest variable is whether youre using a level 1, level 2 or level 3 charger.

The three main types of charging stations have obvious advantages and disadvantages:

• Level 1 chargers

This is the most common charger to see in households, as it works in a normal home outlet. But it is a slow charging option that takes quite a few hours. Were talking about 10 to 40 hours, depending on the battery size. The main reason for this is that this charger is only 120 volts.

• Level 2 chargers

Level 2 chargers upgrade the voltage output to 240, which accelerates your charge time to just a few hours. But the cost is also higher than with a level 1 charger, whether youre charging at a public station or installing a charging station at home. A professional at-home installation could set you back between $2500 and $3000.

Final thoughts

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How Much Electricity Does An Electric Car Use Per Month

Electric cars are very efficient and use very little electricity. The average electric car uses about 30 kWh of electricity per month, which is about the same as the average household uses in a day.

An electric cars cost can be calculated by taking your kilowatt-hour rate and dividing it by the amount of electricity used. This example shows that an electric car uses 341 kWhs of electricity per month for a total of $41 per month in electricity. Depending on how much you drive, you could use as much electricity as you want in a month. There are 31,287 charging stations in the United States and Canada. The time you charge at home should be within your Electric Time-of-Use plan. If you want to charge at home, a smart AC Level 2 Charging Station might be the best option.

Electric Cars: Are They Really Cheaper To Drive

When electric cars become more popular, the question of how much electricity they use becomes more pressing. The electricity used by electric and gasoline vehicles is less than that used by other types of vehicles. An electric car, such as the Nissan LEAF, can travel 130 miles on just 25-40 kWh of electricity and achieve a 130MPGe rating. Furthermore, charging an electric vehicle frequently costs less than charging one for a gasoline vehicle. For example, charging an electric car with a 40-kWh battery, such as the Nissan LEAF, would cost around $7 to fully charge.

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Do Electric Cars Run Up Your Electric Bill

Electric car owners tend to charge their vehicles at home rather than in public charging stations. A $30 to $60 monthly fee will typically be charged to your electric cars utility bill. Electric vehicles are generally less expensive to fuel and maintain than conventional vehicles, but they are more expensive to purchase.

Electric cars are becoming more popular as people become more environmentally conscious. You can keep more than a hundred dollars in your wallet every month by driving a plug-in sedan for a thousand miles. According to studies, electric vehicle owners can expect to pay $4,600 less in maintenance over the course of their vehicles lives. To save money on electricity bills, you can charge your electric vehicle during off-peak hours. A hybrid vehicle reduces both CO2 emissions and carbon footprints within minutes . It is no longer possible to shop around for the best gas prices. The vehicle produces no tailpipe emissions, so there will be no exhaust fumes to be concerned about.

It is simple to reduce charging costs during off-peak hours. When it comes to the cost of replacing EV battery packs, the cost of doing so can be quite high. Most EV manufacturers provide extended battery warranty plans.

Electric Vehicles Vs Gas

It may be surprising, but in terms of fuel consumption, electric vehicles come out on top. The table below shows a comparison by BCHydro in various BC cities of electricity vehicle energy consumption costs vs gas consumption costs for comparable vehicles :

As you can see, in this specific scenario, the costs of charging an electric vehicle were considerably lower than gasoline costs.

Additionally, a Forbes article also found that EV costs were generally cheaper. In the USA, operating an electric vehicle cost around $485 a year whereas the average amount for a regular gas-powered vehicle was $1117.

Furthermore, since electric vehicles have fewer moving parts, no exhaust system and fewer parts that need to be changed , maintenance costs may also potentially be lower.

Overall, the costs of owning an electric car can potentially be lower than owning a regular gasoline car.

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Cost To Charge An Electric Car At Rapid Chargers

Rapid chargers are typically found in motorway service stations and range from being free to one of the more expensive ways to charge.

• Pod Points rapid chargers cost 28p/kWh at Lidl which is about £6.50-7.50 for 30 minutes of charging .
• Most network rapid chargers cost 44p/kwh which is about £11 for 30 minutes of charging .
• The Tesla Supercharger Network has points across the UK which are often free to use for owners of Tesla electric vehicles.
• Other sites can be found around the UK and typically have an associated tariff that is chosen by the operator.

Tip: Rapid charging is unlikely to be a part of your day-to-day charging routine, as your other charging will fulfil most of your needs, usually at lower cost. But access to well placed rapid chargers is critical for longer journeys.

Yes Its Cheaper Than Gas But By How Much

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The single biggest question most people ask about electric cars is how much does it cost to charge one?

If youre looking at an electric car vs. a gas car, doing a bit of upfront research on charging costs vs. gas costs will help you make an informed decision.

To answer the question of cost, we enlisted the help of John Voelcker, a longtime automotive journalist and industry analyst, who specializes in electric vehicles. Hes heard every argument thats been made for electric vehicle ownership, including the cost of recharging compared with traditional refueling.

You need to do some math

Dont sweat it, the math involved is pretty simple. For the most accurate estimate, it helps if you have a recent electric bill for reference. Thats because were kicking things off by calculating the amount you pay for electricity in a given month. In particular, we want to find out how much you spend for each kilowatt-hour of electricity used.

For home charging, find your electric bill, then divide the of kilowatt-hours you used into the bottom-line dollar total. Thatll give you the price you paid per kWh, explains John Voelcker. Average U.S. households pay about 12 cents/kWh, but it varies widely across the country.

To use a simplified example, if you used 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity and your monthly bill is an even $100, youre paying exactly 10 cents for each kWh. Most bills arent this nicely formulated and clear-cut, of course.

Do the numbers add up?

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Electric Car Charging Cards

In addition to smartphone apps, radio frequency identification electric car charging cards are provided by some of the major UK public charging networks, such as Polar, GeniePoint, Ecotricity, Shell Recharge and ChargeYourCar. To use public charging points, you’ll need to register with a membership scheme before use.

Zap-Map can help identify which charging schemes charging points belong to. There are alternative maps you can use too, here’s a few to get you started:

Electric Car Maintenance Costs

As all drivers will know the older a car is the more servicing it requires. Luckily electric cars have fewer moving parts so naturally this means fewer things to go wrong.

Many leasing companies and manufacturers also offer maintenance packages for an additional cost to help cover any unforseen issues.

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How Long Do Electric Car Batteries Last

That depends on a range of things such as the manufacturer, exposure to extreme temperature and charging habits. On average, your electric vehicles car battery loses 1-2% function per year generally, most individuals will change vehicles long before their electric vehicle battery becomes unusable.

As a general estimate, you can expect an electric vehicle battery to last between 10-20 years before needing replacement.

Below are a few things to keep in mind in order to extend your electric vehicles battery life:

• Avoid prolonged usage in extreme weather conditions.
• Keep your battery charged between 60-80% depleting your battery to 0% frequently will cause your battery to degrade faster.
• Fast charging your vehicle frequently will also cause your battery to degrade faster.