EV Charging Cost Calculator

How much does it cost to charge an EV vs. petrol?

Solar Sharer Offers and other free-power plans have made EV charging even cheaper than charging your car off solar already was. With the right charger and charging schedule, some drivers can cover their everyday driving using free electricity. But you don't need a special electricity plan to save: even charging at flat grid rates can cost substantially less per 100 km than driving a petrol or diesel car.

Enter your details below to see how the different options compare for your situation.

Your cars

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Your car’s typical consumption, or its official figure if that’s all you have.

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The car you are comparing against.

The price you normally pay.

Your electricity rates

Both of these are on your electricity bill.

Enter the rate you pay when charging. For example, this could be an overnight off-peak or daytime solar sponge rate.

Solar your car uses costs you the feed-in tariff you give up by not exporting it.

How you charge

Use the closest option to what your EV can take.

50%

About half your charging happens while the sun is up.

Solar Sharer Offers and other free power plans

Skip this unless you are on a plan with a free-power window.

The total daily household allowance. 24 kWh is a common default.

Free charging can end when the window closes or when the free-kWh allowance runs out.

80%

The share of the free-kWh allowance left for your car after other household loads.

From your plan’s terms.

Use this if the rest of the charging is all at roughly one rate.

For example, a shoulder rate straight after the free period.

Any charging after that moves to the later rate. Together with the free window, this can’t exceed 24 hours.

The rate that applies after that.

Want to dig further into these numbers? Our EV charging cost guide breaks down what it costs to charge at home from the grid, rooftop solar, cheaper electricity periods and public chargers.

Planning to charge your EV from solar? Make sure you have enough panels on the roof to cover both the car and your normal household loads. See how much solar you need to support an EV.

When choosing a charger, keep in mind that your car's maximum AC charging rate can also be a bottleneck.

Check our Top 10 EV charger brands to see which brands Australian owners rate highly.

If the numbers have convinced you that a faster Level 2 charger makes sense for your situation, get up to three quotes from EV charger installers we've personally vetted.