For most UK drivers, charging an electric car at home is still substantially cheaper than relying on public rapid chargers, but the real cost depends on three things: how much electricity the car uses, what you pay per kilowatt hour and when you charge it.
As a simple example, an EV that manages around 3.5 miles per kWh uses roughly 2,857 kWh to travel 10,000 miles before allowing for charging losses. At 26.11p per kWh, the average electricity unit rate under the Ofgem price cap for 1 July to 30 September 2026, that electricity costs about £746. At 8p per kWh, the current headline smart charging rate on Intelligent Octopus Go, the same amount of energy is about £229.
Price cap note: Ofgem has announced an average electricity unit rate of 26.32p/kWh for 1 October to 31 December 2026. The worked examples on this page use the 26.11p/kWh average that applies on the publication date, 10 September 2026. Actual regional and tariff rates vary.
That works out at roughly 7.5p per mile on the 26.11p rate or 2.3p per mile at 8p, before allowing for charging losses. Real cars will differ. A large electric SUV driven hard in winter will use more electricity than an efficient hatchback in mild weather.
There is another part of the calculation that EV owners should now know about. From 1 April 2028, the UK government says a new Electric Vehicle Excise Duty mileage charge will apply to battery electric cars, plug in hybrid cars and hydrogen fuel cell cars. The initial rate is 3p per mile for battery electric and hydrogen cars and 1.5p per mile for plug in hybrids. So when you compare the long term running cost of an EV, electricity will no longer be the whole cost per mile story.
Source: Ofgem energy price cap unit rates
Source: HMRC/GOV.UK: Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED)
Quick answer: if you can charge at home on a well chosen EV tariff, electricity can still be remarkably cheap per mile. The bigger opportunity is that some EV tariffs also give the rest of the house cheap electricity during fixed off peak periods. If you have a home battery, that can change the economics again because you may be able to buy electricity cheaply overnight, store it and use it in the house when daytime electricity is expensive.
How Do You Calculate the Cost of Charging an Electric Car?
The basic calculation is simple. Multiply the electricity added to the car by your electricity unit rate. If you put 50 kWh into a battery and electricity costs 8p per kWh, the electricity costs £4.00. At 26.11p per kWh, the same 50 kWh costs £13.06.
The battery size printed in a brochure is not always the amount you will buy from the grid. You rarely arrive home at zero and charge to 100%, and there are electrical losses between the meter, charger and battery. That is why annual mileage and real world efficiency usually give a more useful running cost estimate than asking what one full charge costs.
| Energy added | At 8p/kWh | At 26.11p/kWh |
|---|---|---|
| 20 kWh | £1.60 | £5.26 |
| 40 kWh | £3.20 | £10.53 |
| 50 kWh | £4.00 | £13.06 |
| 60 kWh | £4.80 | £15.67 |
| 80 kWh | £6.40 | £21.06 |
These figures are electricity only examples and do not include standing charges, charger purchase and installation, charging losses or the future eVED mileage charge.
How Much Does an Electric Car Cost Per Mile to Charge at Home?
For a driver, cost per mile is often the clearest number. Divide the electricity price per kWh by the number of miles the car travels per kWh. At 3.5 miles per kWh, an 8p electricity rate is about 2.3p per mile before charging losses. At 26.11p it is about 7.5p per mile.
Efficiency moves around considerably. Cold weather, cabin heating, motorway speeds, hills, towing, tyre pressures and vehicle size all matter. In Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, winter consumption can be noticeably higher than a summer figure shown on a mild weather journey.
| Vehicle efficiency | 8p/kWh | 26.11p/kWh |
|---|---|---|
| 2.5 miles/kWh | 3.2p/mile | 10.5p/mile |
| 3.0 miles/kWh | 2.7p/mile | 8.8p/mile |
| 3.5 miles/kWh | 2.3p/mile | 7.5p/mile |
| 4.0 miles/kWh | 2.0p/mile | 6.6p/mile |
| 4.5 miles/kWh | 1.8p/mile | 5.8p/mile |
What Does 5,000, 10,000 or 15,000 Miles a Year Cost?
Using 3.5 miles per kWh gives a useful illustration. It is not a promise of what a particular vehicle will achieve, but it shows why tariff choice can matter as much as the car itself.
| Annual mileage | Approx. energy at 3.5 mi/kWh | At 8p/kWh | At 26.11p/kWh |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 | 1,429 kWh | £114 | £376 |
| 10,000 | 2,857 kWh | £229 | £746 |
| 15,000 | 4,286 kWh | £343 | £1,128 |
| 20,000 | 5,714 kWh | £457 | £1,504 |
Allow a little more for charging losses when budgeting. The important point is the scale of the tariff difference. For a higher mileage driver, getting most home charging into a cheap period can save hundreds of pounds a year compared with buying the same electricity at a normal daytime rate.
Are EV Electricity Tariffs Worth It?
They can be, but do not compare only the cheap headline rate. Look at the whole tariff: the off peak rate, daytime rate, standing charge, fixed or variable terms, smart meter requirements, compatible car or charger requirements and exactly which electricity receives the discounted rate.
Intelligent Octopus Go currently advertises smart EV charging from 8p per kWh and six hours of cheap home electricity every night from 23:30 to 05:30. Octopus states that the whole home receives the off peak rate during that fixed window. Its terms also say electricity used by the vehicle according to the Intelligent schedule, plus other household electricity used during the off peak hours, is charged at the night rate, subject to the tariff terms and fair use rules.
Source: Octopus Energy: Intelligent Octopus Go
Source: Octopus Energy smart tariff terms
Not every EV tariff works that way. Some products discount managed EV charging rather than simply giving the entire property a cheap fixed window. OVO Charge Anytime, for example, has its own smart charging structure and allowances. Always check the current supplier terms for your exact car, charger and household before calculating savings.
Source: OVO Charge Anytime rates and product information
Does an EV Tariff Make Electricity Cheaper for the Whole House?
Sometimes, yes, and this is one of the most useful parts of an EV tariff that people miss.
On a tariff with a fixed whole home off peak window, the washing machine, dishwasher, immersion heater, tumble dryer and home battery can all be using electricity at the cheap rate during that period, provided their use is safe and consistent with the tariff terms. The discount is not necessarily restricted to the cable feeding the car.
Intelligent Octopus Go is a current example. Octopus says the house always receives its off peak rate between 23:30 and 05:30. It can also schedule eligible EV charging outside that period, with specific rules around how the home and vehicle are billed. Those details can change, which is why a good energy cost calculation should use the current tariff rather than an old screenshot or a figure from a forum.
This means the question changes from “How cheaply can I charge my car?” to “How much of my household electricity can I sensibly move into the cheapest hours?” That can be a much bigger saving.
Can You Charge a Home Battery on an EV Tariff?
With a suitable battery system and tariff, it can be possible to charge the home battery from the grid during cheap off peak hours and then use that stored electricity in the house later. The battery does not make the electricity free. It changes when you buy it.
Imagine a household that can buy overnight electricity at 8p per kWh but would otherwise pay a much higher daytime rate. If the battery charges overnight and supplies daytime loads, part of the household consumption has effectively been shifted from the expensive period to the cheap period. Battery conversion losses, usable capacity, battery settings and tariff rules need to be allowed for, but the principle is straightforward.
This is especially interesting in an all electric or high consumption home. Cooking, home working, electric heating auxiliaries, hot water, appliances and general daytime demand can add up. A battery large enough to cover a meaningful portion of that demand may allow the household to avoid buying as much electricity at the peak rate.
Is a Home Battery Worth Buying Just for Cheap Overnight Electricity?
Not automatically. Batteries are expensive, and it would be poor advice to look only at the difference between an 8p night rate and a daytime rate and declare that every home should buy one.
The calculation should include the installed battery cost, usable capacity, round trip losses, warranty or expected cycle life, how much electricity the household can actually shift each day, the tariff spread and whether solar is likely to be added later. A home using very little daytime electricity may struggle to justify a large battery purely through tariff arbitrage.
The picture can be different for a high use household. If a family imports a large amount of electricity every day and can regularly fill a battery cheaply overnight, the annual avoided daytime import can become meaningful. The same battery can also work with solar, storing generation that would otherwise be exported or helping the home use more of its own generation, depending on the export tariff and control strategy.
This is why Faithful Spark would treat battery sizing as an energy use question, not simply sell the biggest battery that fits on the wall. Look at half hourly consumption where available, identify the expensive periods, consider future EV mileage and solar generation, then decide whether the numbers make sense.
Worked Example: EV Tariff Plus a Home Battery
Consider a household using 12 kWh of electricity during the more expensive part of a typical day, with a battery capable of covering most of that demand. For illustration only, compare buying 10 kWh at 26.11p with buying 10 kWh at 8p overnight.
Ten kWh at 26.11p costs £2.61. Ten kWh at 8p costs 80p. The gross difference is about £1.81 for that day before battery losses and other tariff effects. If that level of shifting were possible on 300 days of the year, the gross difference would be around £543. That does not mean the battery “saves £543” in every such home. Real savings depend on efficiency, actual consumption, tariff rates, export value, battery cost and how consistently the capacity is used.
The worked example is useful because it shows why high electricity consumption matters. A £5,000 or £10,000 battery proposition cannot be judged from the cheap rate alone. It needs an annual energy model.
What If You Have Solar Panels as Well?
Solar adds another source of low cost electricity but also another decision. Should surplus solar charge the battery, charge the car or be exported? The best answer depends on what your export electricity is worth compared with what it would cost to import electricity later.
In winter in North East Scotland, solar generation is lower and the battery may rely more heavily on cheap overnight grid charging. In summer, there may be enough daytime solar to cover household demand, charge a battery and contribute to the car. A smart control strategy can change through the year rather than using one setting forever.
It is also possible for an attractive export tariff to make exporting surplus solar and charging the battery cheaply later financially preferable to automatically diverting every spare solar unit into the battery or EV. Tariff terms matter, and they change. The system should be configured around the household rather than a rule copied from somebody else.
For FSE, this is where EV charging, solar PV and battery storage should be looked at as one electrical energy system. The EV can be one of the largest electrical loads in the home, so planning all three together can produce a better result than treating each as a separate purchase.
Is It Cheaper to Charge an EV at Home or at a Public Charger?
Home charging is normally the place to start if you have suitable parking and can install a charger. Public charging is invaluable for long journeys and drivers without home charging, but rapid and ultra rapid infrastructure has different capital, connection and operating costs from a domestic supply.
For a fair comparison, use the actual public price you would pay and your real home tariff. Do not compare a promotional 8p home rate with an imaginary national public rate and assume every journey works that way. Memberships, roaming arrangements, charger speeds and locations all affect public charging prices.
For many Aberdeen drivers, the practical pattern is inexpensive home charging for normal weekly mileage and public rapid charging when a journey exceeds the range available from home. That keeps most energy at the lower home price without making long distance travel dependent on arriving home.
Is a Home EV Charger Cheaper Than a Three Pin Plug?
A dedicated home charger does not magically make each kWh cheaper. Your electricity tariff sets the energy price. The advantages are charging speed, dedicated electrical design, smart control and the ability of compatible equipment to work with smart EV tariffs and charging schedules.
A typical single phase home charger is around 7 kW, so it can add energy far faster than a normal domestic socket. The installation also needs to be designed for the property, supply capacity, earthing arrangement, cable route and charger requirements. A standard socket should not be treated as a substitute for a properly designed long term EV charging installation.
Faithful Spark Electricians installs home EV charging equipment across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire and is an approved installer for Tesla and Easee. We also install leading charging equipment including Ohme, myenergi Zappi and Hypervolt. Charger choice should follow the car, tariff, parking arrangement and electrical installation rather than brand name alone.
The New EV Cost Per Mile Charge From April 2028
This is the change every driver comparing future EV running costs should know about.
The government has confirmed Electric Vehicle Excise Duty, or eVED, as a mileage based extension of the Vehicle Excise Duty system. From 1 April 2028, the measure is due to apply to registered keepers of battery electric, plug in hybrid and hydrogen powered cars. The published initial rate is 3p per mile for battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell cars, and 1.5p per mile for plug in hybrid cars. The government says the rate will then be uprated in line with CPI from 2029 to 2030 and in future years.
For a battery electric car travelling 10,000 miles a year, 3p per mile is £300. At 15,000 miles it is £450. At 20,000 miles it is £600. That is separate from the electricity used to charge the vehicle.
| Annual BEV mileage | eVED at 3p/mile from April 2028 |
|---|---|
| 5,000 | £150 |
| 10,000 | £300 |
| 15,000 | £450 |
| 20,000 | £600 |
| 25,000 | £750 |
That does not mean home EV charging stops being economical. It means future comparisons need to be honest. A driver charging very cheaply at home may spend only a few pence per mile on electricity and then pay the mileage based eVED on top. Public charging, insurance, tyres, servicing, finance and depreciation are separate again.
It is also worth being precise about who the published measure covers. The current government measure applies to registered keepers of battery electric, plug in hybrid and hydrogen powered cars. Saying simply that “every electric vehicle will pay 3p a mile” would be inaccurate. Plug in hybrids have a lower published rate, and the measure is framed around cars.
Source: GOV.UK: Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED)
What Does the 2028 Mileage Charge Do to the Real EV Cost Per Mile?
Take the earlier 3.5 miles per kWh example. At 8p per kWh, electricity is about 2.3p per mile before charging losses. Add the announced 3p eVED rate from April 2028 and those two items together are about 5.3p per mile. At 26.11p electricity, the electricity portion is about 7.5p per mile, giving roughly 10.5p per mile when the 3p mileage charge is added.
These are not total ownership costs. They simply show why the tariff will remain important after eVED arrives. A 3p mileage tax is the same for a BEV driver whether the electricity used for the journey cost 8p or 26p per kWh. Cheap home charging therefore still matters.
Most Asked Questions About Home EV Charging Costs
How much does it cost to fully charge an electric car at home?
Multiply the kWh you add by your electricity rate. A 60 kWh charge costs £4.80 at 8p/kWh or £15.67 at 26.11p/kWh. A real charging session may be smaller than the battery capacity because most drivers top up rather than arrive at zero.
How much does it cost to charge an electric car for 100 miles?
At 3.5 miles per kWh, 100 miles needs about 28.6 kWh before charging losses. That is roughly £2.29 at 8p/kWh or £7.46 at 26.11p/kWh.
How much electricity does an EV use per mile?
A useful way to express efficiency is miles per kWh. A car achieving 3.5 miles/kWh uses about 0.286 kWh per mile. Larger vehicles, cold weather and faster driving can increase consumption.
What is the cheapest way to charge an electric car at home?
For many drivers it is smart charging during a low rate EV tariff period. The cheapest arrangement depends on your supplier, compatible car or charger, daytime electricity rate and whether the tariff also benefits household consumption.
Can I charge my electric car overnight?
Yes. Overnight smart charging is one of the main advantages of home charging. A compatible smart charger and tariff can schedule charging for lower cost periods while still having the car ready for departure.
Does an EV tariff apply to the whole house?
Some do during specified periods. Intelligent Octopus Go currently gives the whole home its off peak rate between 23:30 and 05:30. Other EV products use different structures, so check the exact current terms.
Can I run my house on cheap EV electricity?
You can use household appliances during a whole home cheap period, and a suitable home battery can potentially store low rate electricity for later use. Whether that is financially worthwhile depends on your consumption, battery costs, losses and tariff spread.
Can I charge a home battery at night without solar panels?
Technically, many suitable battery systems can be configured for grid charging, subject to the installation and tariff. Financially, it depends on how much expensive daytime electricity the battery can displace. Solar is not always required for tariff based load shifting, but it changes the annual economics.
Is a battery worth it if I already have an EV tariff?
Possibly, particularly in a high use home with a large difference between off peak and daytime rates. It should be modelled using real consumption rather than assumed. Battery price, capacity, efficiency and warranty all matter.
Will a 7kW charger charge my car fully overnight?
Often, but it depends on how much energy the car needs. A 7 kW charger can theoretically deliver about 42 kWh over six hours before losses and any vehicle or supply limitations. Most owners top up rather than recharge an empty battery every night.
Do electric cars cost more to charge in winter?
They can. EV efficiency usually falls in colder weather because of battery temperature, cabin heating and driving conditions. That means more kWh may be needed for the same mileage.
Will EV owners pay per mile?
For cars covered by the new eVED measure, yes from 1 April 2028. The published initial rate is 3p per mile for battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell cars and 1.5p per mile for plug in hybrid cars.
Is the EV mileage charge already in force?
No. As of September 2026, the new mileage based eVED is due to start on 1 April 2028. EV owners should include it when thinking about future running costs, but it is not a current charging cost.
How much will the EV mileage tax cost me?
At the announced 3p per mile BEV rate, 10,000 miles is £300, 15,000 miles is £450 and 20,000 miles is £600 per year, before future CPI uprating.
Can I get a grant for a home EV charger in 2026?
Some households can. GOV.UK says eligible renters and flat owners can receive 75% off the cost of buying and installing a chargepoint, up to £500. Eligible households relying on on street parking can also receive up to £500 towards a chargepoint and qualifying cross pavement solution, subject to the scheme rules. Owner occupiers of ordinary houses with private driveways are not generally eligible for the renters and flat owners grant. Check the live OZEV rules before ordering.
Source: GOV.UK: Electric vehicle chargepoint grants
How Much Does Home EV Charging Cost in Aberdeen?
The electricity calculation is the same in Aberdeen as elsewhere in Great Britain, but the installation and real world driving conditions are local. Electricity rates can vary by region and tariff, while charger installation cost depends on the property.
Aberdeen has a mixture of modern estates, older granite homes, flats, detached garages and properties where the consumer unit is nowhere near the parking space. A straightforward back to back charger installation is a different job from routing a new supply through a granite wall, across a garage or around a property to reach private parking.
The electrical survey should consider the existing consumer unit, supply capacity, earthing, cable route, charger location, parking arrangement and any need for load management. The aim is not to sell an unnecessary consumer unit replacement. It is to establish what the installation actually needs.
For homes with solar or battery storage, it is worth discussing those systems at the same time. If you are planning an EV, battery and solar within the next few years, designing the electrical arrangement with the future in mind can avoid doing the same work twice.
Internal link: EV Charger Installation Aberdeen
Internal link: Solar Panels and EV Chargers Together
Internal link: Solar Battery Storage Scotland
EV Charger Grants Available in 2026
Grant rules have changed, so old EV articles can be misleading. From 1 April 2026, OZEV increased several home and workplace chargepoint grants to a maximum of £500 per socket and extended five schemes until 31 March 2027. For eligible renters and flat owners, the grant is 75% of the cost of buying and installing the chargepoint, capped at £500. The home schemes also include eligible households with on street parking using a qualifying cross pavement solution.
Eligibility matters. For example, the renters and flat owners grant does not generally cover someone who owns and lives in a normal house. Do not choose an installer or charger on the assumption that an old £350 grant article still describes the current scheme.
Source: GOV.UK: Changes to EV chargepoint grants from 1 April 2026
So, Is Home EV Charging Still Cheap?
For a driver who can charge most of the time at home, particularly on a competitive off peak EV tariff, the electricity cost per mile can still be very low. At the current 8p headline smart rate used in our examples, an efficient EV can be around 2p to 3p per mile for electricity before losses.
The smarter question is no longer only what the car costs to charge. Some tariffs create a cheap electricity window for the whole property. If you can move washing, hot water and other suitable loads into that period, the EV tariff may reduce more than the motoring bill. Add a correctly sized home battery and a high use household may be able to buy a significant part of its daily electricity cheaply overnight and use it later.
But batteries are not automatically a bargain. The installed cost is substantial and the saving needs to be calculated from real household consumption. Solar can improve the wider energy picture, but export rates and seasonal generation also need to be considered.
And from April 2028, battery electric car owners need to remember the announced 3p per mile eVED charge. At 10,000 miles that is £300 a year on top of electricity. It changes the comparison, but it does not remove the advantage of buying the electricity itself at the lowest sensible rate.
If you are in Aberdeen or Aberdeenshire and are considering a home EV charger, Faithful Spark Electricians can assess the electrical installation, charger position and cable route and help you choose equipment that suits the car and the way you intend to charge. If solar or battery storage is also part of the plan, tell us at survey stage so the system can be considered as a whole.
