Charging an electric car at home is the cheapest fuelling most people will ever do, and it is also the largest new load most houses have added in a generation. Both things are true at once, which is why the bill goes up and the total cost of driving goes down.
A Level 2 home charger delivers about 7,200 W, costing $1.33 per hour of charging at 18.44ยข per kWh. A typical overnight session of four hours adds roughly 29 kWh and costs $5.31. Charging 12,000 miles a year at around 3.5 miles per kWh works out to about 630 dollars annually at the national average rate, against roughly 1,600 dollars of gasoline for a 28 mpg car at 3.75 a gallon.
Calculate it for your own level 2 ev charger
Change any box. The result updates as you type.
Planning estimate. The rate box is prefilled with a regional average; the figure on your own bill is the one that matters. Power is draw while running, not while switched on.
| Run time | Electricity used | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Per hour of runtime | 7.20 kWh | $1.33 |
| Per day at 4 hours | 28.80 kWh | $5.31 |
| Per week | 201.60 kWh | $37.18 |
| Per 30-day month | 864.00 kWh | $159 |
| Per year of that pattern | 10,512.00 kWh | $1,938 |
Level 1, Level 2, and why speed is not price
Level 1 charging on a standard 120 V outlet delivers about 1,400 W, or three to five miles of range per hour. It is slow but it costs exactly the same per kWh as Level 2, because a kilowatt-hour is a kilowatt-hour. Level 2 is faster, not cheaper.
Level 2 units are commonly 7.2 kW on a 40 A circuit, or 11.5 kW on a 60 A circuit. The car decides how much of that it will accept; many vehicles cap onboard AC charging at 7.2 or 9.6 kW regardless of what the charger can supply. Installing an 11.5 kW unit for a car that accepts 7.2 buys nothing.
Charging is also not perfectly efficient. Expect to pay for roughly 10 percent more energy than reaches the battery, lost as heat in the onboard charger and cables. Cold weather adds more, because the car heats the battery before and during charging.
| Rated power | Per hour | Per day (4 h) | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3,300 W | $0.61 | $2.43 | $73.02 |
| 5,000 W | $0.92 | $3.69 | $111 |
| 7,200 W | $1.33 | $5.31 | $159 |
| 9,600 W | $1.77 | $7.08 | $212 |
| 11,500 W | $2.12 | $8.48 | $254 |
Cost by charging session length
| Hours per day | kWh per day | Per day | Per 30 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 h | 7.20 | $1.33 | $39.83 |
| 2 h | 14.40 | $2.66 | $79.66 |
| 4 h | 28.80 | $5.31 | $159 |
| 6 h | 43.20 | $7.97 | $239 |
| 8 h | 57.60 | $10.62 | $319 |
| 10 h | 72.00 | $13.28 | $398 |
The one appliance where time of use really pays
An EV is the best time-of-use load a household can have, because you genuinely do not care when it charges as long as it is done by morning. Many utilities offer EV-specific rates with overnight prices well below the standard tariff, sometimes a third of the daytime rate.
Scheduling is set in the car, in the charger app, or both. Set it in one place only; conflicting schedules between vehicle and charger are the most common reason people wake up to an uncharged car. Our time-of-use EV charging calculator shows what the shift is worth on your tariff.
| Your rate | Per hour | Per day (4 h) | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10.00¢/kWh | $0.72 | $2.88 | $86.40 | $1,051 |
| 13.00¢/kWh | $0.94 | $3.74 | $112 | $1,367 |
| 15.00¢/kWh | $1.08 | $4.32 | $130 | $1,577 |
| 18.44¢/kWh | $1.33 | $5.31 | $159 | $1,938 |
| 22.00¢/kWh | $1.58 | $6.34 | $190 | $2,313 |
| 26.00¢/kWh | $1.87 | $7.49 | $225 | $2,733 |
| 30.00¢/kWh | $2.16 | $8.64 | $259 | $3,154 |
| 35.00¢/kWh | $2.52 | $10.08 | $302 | $3,679 |
EV charging cost by state
Four hours of Level 2 charging, roughly 100 miles of range, in every state.
| State | Rate | Per hour | Per day | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 16.77¢ | $1.21 | $4.83 | $145 |
| Alaska | 28.23¢ | $2.03 | $8.13 | $244 |
| Arizona | 15.23¢ | $1.10 | $4.39 | $132 |
| Arkansas | 14.36¢ | $1.03 | $4.14 | $124 |
| California | 33.25¢ | $2.39 | $9.58 | $287 |
| Colorado | 16.16¢ | $1.16 | $4.65 | $140 |
| Connecticut | 27.37¢ | $1.97 | $7.88 | $236 |
| Delaware | 19.38¢ | $1.40 | $5.58 | $167 |
| District of Columbia | 25.40¢ | $1.83 | $7.32 | $219 |
| Florida | 15.17¢ | $1.09 | $4.37 | $131 |
| Georgia | 15.84¢ | $1.14 | $4.56 | $137 |
| Hawaii | 52.00¢ | $3.74 | $14.98 | $449 |
| Idaho | 12.35¢ | $0.89 | $3.56 | $107 |
| Illinois | 23.85¢ | $1.72 | $6.87 | $206 |
| Indiana | 18.15¢ | $1.31 | $5.23 | $157 |
| Iowa | 14.14¢ | $1.02 | $4.07 | $122 |
| Kansas | 15.13¢ | $1.09 | $4.36 | $131 |
| Kentucky | 14.98¢ | $1.08 | $4.31 | $129 |
| Louisiana | 14.15¢ | $1.02 | $4.08 | $122 |
| Maine | 28.63¢ | $2.06 | $8.25 | $247 |
| Maryland | 21.77¢ | $1.57 | $6.27 | $188 |
| Massachusetts | 28.82¢ | $2.08 | $8.30 | $249 |
| Michigan | 22.01¢ | $1.58 | $6.34 | $190 |
| Minnesota | 16.95¢ | $1.22 | $4.88 | $146 |
| Mississippi | 16.16¢ | $1.16 | $4.65 | $140 |
| Missouri | 13.68¢ | $0.98 | $3.94 | $118 |
| Montana | 14.67¢ | $1.06 | $4.22 | $127 |
| Nebraska | 13.59¢ | $0.98 | $3.91 | $117 |
| Nevada | 13.60¢ | $0.98 | $3.92 | $118 |
| New Hampshire | 27.33¢ | $1.97 | $7.87 | $236 |
| New Jersey | 23.27¢ | $1.68 | $6.70 | $201 |
| New Mexico | 14.12¢ | $1.02 | $4.07 | $122 |
| New York | 29.93¢ | $2.15 | $8.62 | $259 |
| North Carolina | 15.09¢ | $1.09 | $4.35 | $130 |
| North Dakota | 13.61¢ | $0.98 | $3.92 | $118 |
| Ohio | 19.52¢ | $1.41 | $5.62 | $169 |
| Oklahoma | 13.38¢ | $0.96 | $3.85 | $116 |
| Oregon | 16.27¢ | $1.17 | $4.69 | $141 |
| Pennsylvania | 21.55¢ | $1.55 | $6.21 | $186 |
| Rhode Island | 29.46¢ | $2.12 | $8.48 | $255 |
| South Carolina | 16.18¢ | $1.16 | $4.66 | $140 |
| South Dakota | 15.73¢ | $1.13 | $4.53 | $136 |
| Tennessee | 14.47¢ | $1.04 | $4.17 | $125 |
| Texas | 16.44¢ | $1.18 | $4.73 | $142 |
| Utah | 12.96¢ | $0.93 | $3.73 | $112 |
| Vermont | 24.89¢ | $1.79 | $7.17 | $215 |
| Virginia | 17.61¢ | $1.27 | $5.07 | $152 |
| Washington | 14.95¢ | $1.08 | $4.31 | $129 |
| West Virginia | 16.80¢ | $1.21 | $4.84 | $145 |
| Wisconsin | 19.74¢ | $1.42 | $5.69 | $171 |
| Wyoming | 14.80¢ | $1.07 | $4.26 | $128 |
Circuit size and whether your panel can take it
A 7.2 kW charger on a 40 A circuit is a continuous load, which under electrical code must not exceed 80 percent of the breaker rating. That is why a 7.2 kW unit needs a 40 A breaker rather than a 30 A one, and why the wire size matters.
The other question is whether your panel has room. A 200 A service with electric heating, an electric range and a water heater may not have the headroom for a 60 A charger circuit without a load calculation. Options include a smaller charger, a load-management device that throttles charging when the house draws heavily, or a service upgrade. The EV charger circuit estimate calculator and the whole-home load calculator cover the arithmetic.
How this compares to everything else you plug in
Per hour against the other large circuits in the house. The charger is the biggest, which is why panel capacity comes up so often.
| Appliance | Typical power | Cost per hour |
|---|---|---|
| Level 2 EV charger | 7,200 W | $1.33 |
| Electric water heater | 4,000 W | $0.74 |
| Electric clothes dryer | 3,000 W | $0.55 |
| Central air conditioner | 3,500 W | $0.65 |
| Electric oven | 2,400 W | $0.44 |
| Space heater | 1,500 W | $0.28 |
Questions people actually ask
How much does it cost to charge an EV at home?
Is it cheaper to charge at home or at a public charger?
How many watts does a Level 2 EV charger use?
Does charging an EV overnight save money?
How much will an EV add to my electricity bill?
Is Level 1 charging cheaper than Level 2?
Related running costs
Running it on solar
A level 2 ev charger uses 28.80 kWh a day, which needs about 20 standard 400 W panels. Full array, battery and inverter sizing is on how many solar panels to run a level 2 ev charger.
Run the numbers on your own bill
- EV Charging Cost Calculator
- EV vs Gasoline Cost Calculator
- Time-of-Use EV Charging Savings Calculator
- EV Charger Circuit Estimate Calculator
Costs on this page use a national average residential rate of 18.44¢ per kWh (August 2026, EIA-derived state residential averages). Your own rate is printed on your electricity bill and is the number that actually matters. Every figure here is recalculated from one central rate setting, so these tables move when the national average moves.