An EV charger adds to your monthly electric bill based on how much you drive, your vehicle’s efficiency, and your electricity rate, since the charger’s cost is simply the electricity your charging uses. For most households it is a noticeable but manageable increase, and it is generally much less than what you would have spent on gasoline. You can estimate the addition by calculating the energy your driving uses and multiplying by your rate. Understanding the added cost helps you budget for home charging.
Here is how much an EV charger adds to a monthly electric bill.
It is the electricity your charging uses
An EV charger itself does not have a cost beyond the electricity it delivers to your car, so the addition to your bill is simply the energy your charging consumes. The charger is just the equipment; what shows up on the bill is the kilowatt-hours used to charge, times your rate. So the question is really how much electricity your EV charging uses in a month and what you pay per kilowatt-hour.
It depends on three things
The amount added depends on:
- How much you drive, since more miles means more charging energy
- Your vehicle’s efficiency, how many miles it travels per kilowatt-hour
- Your electricity rate, the price per kilowatt-hour
Because these vary by household, the added amount varies, but you can estimate your own by combining them. This is the same calculation as estimating your monthly charging cost, covered in our article on the cost to charge an EV per month.
How to estimate the addition
To estimate what the charger adds to your bill:
- Estimate your monthly miles driven on electricity
- Divide by your car’s efficiency (miles per kilowatt-hour) to get the kilowatt-hours used
- Multiply by your electricity rate (dollars per kilowatt-hour) for the added cost
The result is roughly what EV charging adds to your monthly bill. Plugging in your own numbers gives a realistic figure for your driving, vehicle, and rate.
Usually noticeable but manageable, and cheaper than gas
For most households, EV charging is a noticeable addition to the electric bill but a manageable one, and importantly, it is generally much less than what you would have spent fueling a comparable gas car. So while your electric bill goes up, your overall transportation energy cost typically goes down, since you are no longer buying gasoline. Looking at the net change, electric bill increase minus gas savings, usually shows a benefit.
Reducing the added cost
You can reduce what EV charging adds to your bill by charging during off-peak hours on a time-of-use rate, where available, so you pay less per kilowatt-hour for the charging energy. In Maryland, utilities like BGE and Pepco offer time-of-use rate options, and charging overnight off-peak can meaningfully lower the added cost, as covered in our articles on off-peak EV charging rates. A licensed electrician can install a charger set up to charge off-peak.
An EV charger adds to your monthly electric bill the cost of the electricity your charging uses, which depends on how much you drive, your vehicle’s efficiency, and your electricity rate. For most households it is a noticeable but manageable increase, and generally much less than the gasoline it replaces. Estimate it by calculating your monthly kilowatt-hours used and multiplying by your rate, and charging off-peak can lower it further.
Stella Electric installs efficient home EV charging for homeowners across the Baltimore area and throughout Maryland, with flat-rate pricing and no overtime charges. If you want affordable home charging, we can set it up. Financing is available on qualifying projects.
