Showing Australia · real 2026 prices
Enter your battery, charge level and tariff. We'll show the cost, the charging time and what it works out to per 100km.
Adjust to match your EV and electricity plan.
Estimate only. Assumes ~10% charging losses. Real charging slows near 100%, so time is approximate. Range and per-100 figures assume a typical EV efficiency.
Clear maths and current Australian figures, all editable to your own situation.
Charging from rooftop solar can drop the cost to near zero; public DC fast-charging costs more (often 40–70c/kWh). This tool gives estimates for home charging, not financial advice.
Charging at home is by far the cheapest way to run an electric car — usually just a few dollars for a typical top-up.
A home charge costs the energy you add multiplied by your electricity rate, plus about 10% for charging losses. Adding 36 kWh (a 20–80% charge on a 60 kWh battery) costs around $5.40 on a 15c off-peak tariff, or about $9 at a 25c flat rate — enough to drive roughly 200 km.
Charging speed depends on your hardware. A standard powerpoint trickles in at about 2.4 kW (slow, but fine overnight), a dedicated home wallbox runs at 7.4 kW, and three-phase setups reach 11 kW or more. Most people simply plug in overnight and wake up full, so the speed matters less than the tariff you’re on.
The cheapest power of all is your own rooftop solar, which can drop the cost close to zero. The figures here are estimates for home AC charging — public DC fast-charging costs considerably more.
Quick answers about home EV charging costs.
Divide the battery size by 0.9 (to cover charging losses) and multiply by your per-kWh rate. A 60 kWh battery at a 25c/kWh mixed tariff costs about $16–17 from empty to full; on an off-peak overnight rate it can be under $10. The calculator above does this for any battery and rate.
Around 10% of the electricity is lost as heat in the on-board charger and cabling during AC charging. That’s why the calculator divides the energy added by 0.9 — you pay for what comes out of the wall, not what ends up in the battery.
Energy added divided by charger power. Adding 36 kWh (a 20–80% top-up on a 60 kWh battery) takes about 5 hours on a 7 kW wall box, or roughly 18 hours on a portable 2 kW charger from a normal socket. Most owners simply plug in overnight.
Off-peak overnight tariffs and rooftop solar are by far the cheapest — often a third of the standard rate or less. Public DC fast charging is the most expensive option, typically several times the home rate, so it’s best kept for road trips.
Many manufacturers recommend a day-to-day limit of about 80% for battery longevity on standard lithium-ion packs, saving 100% charges for longer trips — while many LFP-battery models are happy being charged to full. Check your car’s manual; the cost maths here works the same either way.
