What does it cost to recharge an EV?

Electric cars make plenty of promises. They are cleaner and better for the environment. They are silent to drive. And they are more spacious inside.

What should seal the deal for most new car buyers is that EVs are significantly cheaper to run and ‘refuel’.

While the other factors are easy to quantify, the latter isn’t as clear cut as there are various ways – each with varying costs – to recharge an electric vehicle.

Unlike a conventional car, where owners are bound to refuel at commercial petrol stations where the price of gasoline fluctuates constantly depending on global economic factors, taxes and the fuel station owner’s margin, EV drivers can ‘fill-up’ anywhere there is electricity.

In the best-case scenario, recharging an electric vehicle using solar power can be free – minus the cost to install the expensive panels and associated network.

Conventional wisdom suggests that even when recharged from the national electricity grid, an EV can be cheaper to run than a car of similar size that’s powered by an internal combustion engine.

But how much cheaper (if at all) will vary according to the tariff charged by your electricity retailer or the public charging station.

Furthermore, no-one knows how prices for power from the grid will rise or fall over the next decade. That will influence the running costs of your EV too.

And as EVs hit the road and fewer drivers pay the government a fuel excise, expect the government to find new ways to tax EV owners.

The most expensive peak-hour electricity tariff we’ve seen offered by a retailer is 66.08 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh). Even at that rate – without drawing on solar power or a battery – a small EV would still be $47 a month cheaper than its petrol counterpart.

The second-generation Nissan LEAF has a 40kWh battery. In WLTP (combined-cycle) testing, the LEAF can travel up to 270km between battery recharges.

Taking the LEAF as our benchmark, and a tariff of 0.28 cents per kWh, the Nissan EV would cost $11.48 to recharge from zero to 100 per cent of battery capacity – 40kWh.

That’s the tariff (which is on the back of your electricity bill) multiplied by the LEAF’s battery capacity in kilowatt-hours.

With the Australian Institute of Petroleum presently reporting petrol pricing of around $1.50 a litre across five capital cities, the cost of running a Toyota Prius for 270km – the same distance as the range for the LEAF – will cost the owner $13.77.

On paper, it’s ‘advantage LEAF’ for running-cost savings. There are a couple of additional points to consider, however.

Firstly, if you recharge the LEAF during peak hour, and your tariff is as high as the figure of 66.08 cents per kWh already mentioned – and that is the worst-case scenario we’ve seen so far – the cost of recharging the LEAF will be double the cost of refuelling the Prius for the same distance.

On that basis it will cost the LEAF owner $26.43 for 270km of range – or the full 40kWh recharge.

On the other hand, of course, the Prius is exceptionally economical in comparison with other petrol-engined cars. A conventional car boasting a combined-cycle fuel economy figure of around 7.0L/100km would be ostensibly using fuel at double the rate of the Prius.

And from a cold start, most 2.0-litre small cars will barely reach normal operating temperature within a 10km journey. Throw in some traffic and unfavourable light sequences and the car’s fuel economy may be no better than 10L/100km.

On that basis, the petrol car’s fuel cost may rise as high as $40 for 270km travelled. This is where the EV should take back the lead.

Here are some handy hints to lower the cost of recharging an electric car:
• Recharge the car from solar panels if you have them installed
• Recharge during off-peak hours
• Shop around for the lowest tariff
• Check out electricity retailers who offer reduced-cost charging for EVs

The following is a guide to how much it costs to recharge the electric cars that are currently on sale in Australia.

In our methodology, we have assumed that when recharging from home the battery will be filled from 10 to 100 per cent of its capacity, with a peak electricity rate of 30c/kWh and an off-peak rate of 15c/kWh (the average cost for electricity across Australia, although rates vary according to state).

When the vehicle is recharged on a DC rapid-charging station, we have assumed it will be filled from 10-80 per cent of its capacity at a cost of 40c/kWh.

For Tesla vehicles, the cost of using its Supercharger network is 52c/kWh, but we've stayed with the 40c/kWh figure for the sake of comparing apples with apples.

Audi e-tron 50
Battery Capacity: 71kWh
Driving Range: 334km
Home Charging (Peak): $19.17
Home Charging (Off-Peak): $9.59
Rapid Charging: $19.88

Audi e-tron 55
Battery Capacity: 95kWh
Driving Range: 438km
Home Charging (Peak): $25.65
Home Charging (Off-Peak): $12.83
Rapid Charging: $26.60

BMW iX xDrive40
Battery Capacity: 77kWh
Driving Range: 420km
Home Charging (Peak): $20.79
Home Charging (Off-Peak): $10.40
Rapid Charging: $21.6

Hyundai Kona Electric Standard Range
Battery Capacity: 39.2kWh
Driving Range: 305km
Home Charging (Peak): $10.58
Home Charging (Off-Peak): $5.29
Rapid Charging: $10.98

Hyundai Kona Electric Extended Range
Battery Capacity: 64kWh
Driving Range: 557km
Home Charging (Peak): $17.28
Home Charging (Off-Peak): $8.64
Rapid Charging: $17.92

Jaguar I-PACE
Battery Capacity: 90kWh
Driving Range: 446km
Home Charging (Peak): $24.30
Home Charging (Off-Peak): $12.15
Rapid Charging: $25.20

Kia Niro EV
Battery Capacity: 64kWh
Driving Range: 455km
Home Charging (Peak): $17.28
Home Charging (Off-Peak): $8.64
Rapid Charging: $17.92

Lexus UX 300e
Battery Capacity: 54.3kWh
Driving Range: 360km
Home Charging (Peak): $14.66
Home Charging (Off-Peak): $7.33
Rapid Charging: $15.20

Mazda MX-30
Battery Capacity: 35.5kWh
Driving Range: 224km
Home Charging (Peak): $9.59
Home Charging (Off-Peak): $4.79
Rapid Charging: $9.94

Mercedes-Benz EQA
Battery Capacity: 66.5kWh
Driving Range: 480km
Home Charging (Peak): $17.96
Home Charging (Off-Peak): $8.98
Rapid Charging: $18.62

Mercedes-Benz EQC
Battery Capacity: 80kWh
Driving Range: 354km
Home Charging (Peak): $21.60
Home Charging (Off-Peak): $10.80
Rapid Charging: $22.40

Nissan LEAF
Battery Capacity: 40kWh
Driving Range: 270km
Home Charging (Peak): $10.80
Home Charging (Off-Peak) $5.40
Rapid Charging: $11.20

Nissan LEAF e+
Battery Capacity: 62kWh
Driving Range: 450km
Home Charging (Peak): $16.74
Home Charging (Off-Peak) $8.37
Rapid Charging: $17.36

Porsche Taycan 4S
Battery Capacity: 79.2kWh
Driving Range: 365km
Home Charging (Peak): $21.38
Home Charging (Off-Peak) $10.69
Rapid Charging: $22.18

Porsche Taycan Turbo S
Battery Capacity: 93.4kWh
Driving Range: 420km
Home Charging (Peak): $25.22
Home Charging (Off-Peak) $12.61
Rapid Charging: $26.15

Renault Kangoo ZE
Battery Capacity: 33kWh
Driving Range: 264km
Home Charging (Peak): $8.91
Home Charging (Off-Peak) $4.46
Rapid Charging: $9.24

Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus
Battery Capacity: 60kWh
Driving Range: 508km
Home Charging (Peak): $16.20
Home Charging (Off-Peak): $8.10
Rapid Charging: $16.8

Tesla Model 3 Long Range Plus
Battery Capacity: 75kWh
Driving Range: 657km
Home Charging (Peak): $20.25
Home Charging (Off-Peak): $10.13
Rapid Charging: $21.00

Tesla Model 3 Performance
Battery Capacity: 75kWh
Driving Range: 628km
Home Charging (Peak): $20.25
Home Charging (Off-Peak): $10.13
Rapid Charging: $21.00

Tesla Model S Long Range
Battery Capacity: 100kWh
Driving Range: 663km
Home Charging (Peak): $27.00
Home Charging (Off-Peak): $13.50
Rapid Charging: $28.00

Tesla Model S Performance
Battery Capacity: 100kWh
Driving Range: 704km
Home Charging (Peak): $27.00
Home Charging (Off-Peak): $13.50
Rapid Charging: $28.00

Tesla Model X Long Range
Battery Capacity: 100kWh
Driving Range: 633km
Home Charging (Peak): $27.00
Home Charging (Off-Peak): $13.50
Rapid Charging: $28.00

Tesla Model X Performance
Battery Capacity: 100kWh
Driving Range: 619km
Home Charging (Peak): $27.00
Home Charging (Off-Peak): $13.50
Rapid Charging: $28.00

Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric
Battery Capacity: 78kWh
Driving Range: 450km
Home Charging (Peak): $21.06
Home Charging (Off-Peak): $10.53
Rapid Charging: $21.84