Guide
Home charging vs public charging: which one should you rely on?
Wall chargers, electrical panels and off-peak tariffs compared with public networks, with yearly cost examples.
The real question before buying an EV is not how far it goes but where it sleeps. Drivers who can charge at home or at work use public chargers only on trips and spend very little; drivers who depend on the public network need to organise themselves. Here is what each choice involves.
Charging at home
From a wall outlet (Level 1). The portable cable supplied with the car plugs into an ordinary socket and delivers 1.4 to 2.4 kW: 3 to 5 miles of range per hour. Enough for anyone driving under 30 to 40 miles a day who can leave the car plugged in overnight. The socket must be in good condition and on its own circuit; old outlets and extension leads overheat.
With a wall charger (Level 2). A 7 kW unit adds 25 to 30 miles per hour and refills an average car in 6 to 8 hours; in North America 9 to 11 kW units on a 240 V, 48 to 60 A circuit are common. Hardware costs $400 to $800 (£450 to £1,000 in the UK), installation $500 to $1,500 depending on the distance to the panel. Smart chargers throttle around the rest of the house, so a panel upgrade is rarely needed.
Electricity cost. At $0.14 to $0.20 per kWh in the US, 22 to 27p in the UK or A$0.25 to 0.35 in Australia, 100 miles costs $4 to $6, £6 to £8 or A$8 to A$11. Off-peak EV tariffs, now offered by most utilities, cut that roughly in half for overnight charging. With rooftop solar, weekend daytime charging is close to free.
Apartments and condos
The most common obstacle, and shrinking fast. Many jurisdictions now give residents a “right to charge”: the building must allow a charger on your parking space at your cost, subject to reasonable conditions. Typical solutions are a dedicated meter in the garage or a metered line from your own apartment supply. Several suppliers offer building-wide packages with shared chargers and automatic cost splitting.
Public charging as your only source
It works, and plenty of city dwellers do it. It requires three things:
- A Level 2 charger near home or work to act as your “home”: at $0.25 to $0.45 or 45 to 65p per kWh, 100 miles costs $8 to $15 or £14 to £20, still less than petrol. The city pages on this site show how many there are and who runs them.
- A membership with whichever network runs those chargers, cutting the rate by 20 to 30 percent.
- Tolerance for the odd surprise: a busy charger, a blocked bay, a fault. Always have a plan B.
Relying on DC fast charging as the only source is not advisable: at $0.50 or 80p per kWh the cost per mile climbs above an efficient petrol car.
A year compared
Assumptions: 12,000 miles a year at 30 kWh per 100 miles, so 3,600 kWh.
| Where you charge | Average rate | Yearly cost (US) | Yearly cost (UK) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home, off-peak EV tariff | $0.10 / 8p | $360 | £290 |
| Home, standard tariff | $0.17 / 25p | $610 | £900 |
| Public Level 2 with membership | $0.30 / 50p | $1,080 | £1,800 |
| Public Level 2 pay-as-you-go | $0.40 / 60p | $1,440 | £2,160 |
| Mix: 80% home, 20% DC on trips | $0.24 / 36p | $860 | £1,300 |
| Petrol, 35 mpg at $3.50 / 40 mpg at £1.45 per litre | $1,200 | £1,980 |
In short
If you have a parking space where an electrical line can reach, a wall charger pays for itself against public charging within a year or two. If you do not, check the map for the density of Level 2 chargers within a ten-minute walk of home and work before choosing the car: that number, more than the range, decides how easy electric life will be.