It is one of the first things a new electric-car driver wants to know, and the answer is emphatic: charging at home is far cheaper than charging in public, usually by a factor of several. The same car can cost about 2p a mile charged overnight at home or more than 20p a mile on a public rapid charger, which is dearer than running a petrol car. This guide puts the real figures side by side so you can see exactly how big the gap is and when public charging is still worth paying for.
The short answer. Home charging wins by a wide margin. On a dedicated overnight EV tariff, home charging costs around 2p a mile; on a standard home rate about 7p; on the public network a standard charger is around 15p a mile and a rapid charger about 23p, which is more than petrol. The cheap overnight home tariff is what makes the difference, and it dwarfs anything to do with the car itself.
The numbers, side by side
Every charge is just buying electricity, so the cost comes straight from the rate you pay per unit. The table uses rates current in mid 2026: a home off-peak EV rate of around 7p, the standard home price-cap rate of 26p, and the two public bands from the Zapmap price index, 54p for standard chargers up to 49kW and 79p for rapid and ultra-rapid chargers of 50kW and above. The car is assumed to do about 3.5 miles per kWh, so the cost per mile is simply the rate divided by 3.5.
| Where you charge | Rate (p/kWh) | Cost per mile | Cost of 100 miles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home, off-peak EV tariff | ~7p | ~2.0p | ~£2.00 |
| Home, standard rate | 26p | ~7.4p | ~£7.43 |
| Public, standard charger (3 to 49kW) | 54p | ~15.4p | ~£15.43 |
| Public, rapid or ultra-rapid (50kW+) | 79p | ~22.6p | ~£22.57 |
| Petrol car at 50 mpg (£1.59/litre) | - | ~14.4p | ~£14.43 |
Public figures from the Zapmap price index, May 2026 PAYG averages (54p standard, 79p rapid). Home off-peak typical of dedicated EV tariffs, with the very cheapest now around 5.5p; standard rate from the Ofgem cap (26.11p). The full home charging cost guide has the per-charge detail.
Why home is so much cheaper
Two things make the home figure so low. The first is the tariff: charging overnight on a dedicated EV tariff means buying electricity in the small hours at a fraction of the daytime rate, as the EV tariffs guide explains, and that cheap window is simply not available at a public charger. The second is that a public charger has to recover the cost of the hardware, the grid connection, the site and the convenience of charging quickly, all of which is built into the price per unit. You are paying for speed and for someone else's infrastructure. At home you pay only for the electricity, on the cheapest rate you can get, so the gap is enormous.
Public charging is priced for speed and convenience
The rapid-charger figure looks shocking next to home charging, and it should, but it is not a rip-off so much as a different product. A rapid charger delivers in twenty minutes what a home charger takes hours to do, from expensive high-power equipment that costs a great deal to install and run. That speed is genuinely valuable on a long journey, where waiting hours is not an option. The mistake is treating rapid charging as your everyday way to fuel the car, because at over 20p a mile it throws away the entire running-cost advantage an electric car should give and can cost more than petrol.
When public charging still makes sense
Public charging earns its higher price in specific situations. On a long trip beyond your car's range, a rapid top-up is the only practical option and well worth it. If you are out and a standard charger at a car park or supermarket happens to suit your stop, topping up there is convenient and cheaper than rapid. And for the minority who genuinely cannot charge at home, public charging is the main option rather than the exception, which changes the sums and is covered in the charging without a driveway guide. For everyone else, public charging is best kept as an occasional supplement, not the staple.
The model that saves the most
The cheapest way to run an electric car is simple and the figures above make it obvious: do the bulk of your charging slowly and cheaply at home overnight, and use public chargers only to extend your range on longer journeys. Charge this way and your everyday motoring costs about 2p a mile, a level nothing burning petrol can approach. Lean on public rapid chargers for daily miles and you hand most of that advantage back. The car barely matters to this; the tariff and where you plug in are what decide your cost.
The bottom line
Charging an electric car at home is far cheaper than charging in public, around 2p a mile overnight against 15p to 23p on the public network, with rapid charging actually dearer than petrol. The reason is the cheap overnight home tariff and the fact that public chargers must price in speed and infrastructure. Charge at home for everyday miles, use public chargers to extend range on long trips, and you keep the running-cost advantage that makes an electric car so cheap to fuel.