Charging Costs and Time
Straight forward advice on the real cost of charging your EV
A key question for people that are new to Electric vehicles is ‘how long does it take to charge and how much does it cost’.
Charging will vary depending on which Electric vehicle you choose as the battery size differs. Consider the battery just like a fuel tank on a traditional vehicle.
Battery capacities vary, let’s use an example of a 50kwh battery.
Time
A home or workplace charger that delivers 7kwh will take just over 7 hours to full charge a 50wkh battery.
A 3.6kwh charger will more than twice as long.
7kwh charger x 7 hours = 49kwh
This may sound like a long time but driver habits are likely to change with EV’s.
Instead of filling your fuel tank once a week, you’re more likely to seek smaller top-ups each day – just like your mobile phone.
Learn more about electric vehicles including battery capacity using our Electric Vehicle database
Cost
The typical cost of electricity at home is approximately 28p per kwh.
This varies depending on your provider and some networks such as Octopus Go provide discounted off-peak charging for as little as 7.5p per kwh.
To fully charge a 50kwh battery at home will cost
50kwh x £0.28 = £14.00
or even less with an off-peak tariff 50kwh x £0.075 = £3.75
3.6kwh or 7kwh, the cost will be the same.
Charging speed doesn’t affect the cost, it simply affects how long it takes to charge your vehicle.
Charging on the Road
Charging at the roadside is the same process as charging at home or work but the charge speeds are faster and the cost is usually higher. Just like motorway service station fuel prices, you are paying for convenience.
Many public networks offer chargers that deliver 50kwh or more. The latest rapid chargers can deliver 300kwh but charging station technology is progressing faster than vehicles as many current vehicles can only charge at speeds of up to 150kwh. Check how fast your vehicle chargers using our Electric vehicle database.
Charging on the Road
Charging at the roadside is the same process as charging at home or work but the charge speeds are faster and the cost is usually higher. Just like motorway service station fuel prices, you are paying for convenience.
Check how fast your vehicle chargers using our Electric vehicle database
Many public networks offer chargers that deliver 50kwh or more.
The latest rapid chargers can deliver 300kwh but charging station technology is progressing faster than vehicles as many current vehicles can only charge at speeds of up to 150kwh.
Time
A roadside charger that delivers 50kwh will take approximately 1 hour to recharge a 50wkh battery up to 80% capacity.
A 100kwh charger will take half the time if your vehicle can accept this speed.
To prevent damage to your vehicle’s battery, chargers will automatically slow as they reach capacity.
This is why many website only refer to 80% capacity when referring to roadside chargers.
Cost
The cost varies depending on which network you choose and the location. As with traditional fuel stations you often pay more for convenience.
The average cost is approx 80p per kwh but please check before charging.
To charge a 50kwh battery to 80% at the roadside will cost 40kwh x £0.80 = £32.00