With roughly one in four new cars sold in Australia now electric, a lot of first-time buyers are asking the same thing: what will it cost me to charge? The honest answer depends on two numbers, the efficiency of the car and the price per kilowatt hour you pay. This guide gives you both, from official sources where they exist, and shows you how to run the sums for your own situation.
One note on method. Public charging networks do not publish a fixed price list on their websites. Prices are shown per site in each network's app and can change. So for public charging we show worked examples at stated price points, and we tell you plainly where a figure is an assumption rather than a quoted rate. We checked home electricity rates and car battery data between 15 and 19 October 2026.
The short answer
Charging at home on a standard default electricity rate costs roughly $4 to $9 per 100km for the cars we worked through, depending on the car and your state. Fast charging in public typically costs more than that, and at 60c per kWh the same cars cost roughly $8 to $12 per 100km. A petrol car using 8L per 100km at an assumed $2.00 a litre costs $16 per 100km. If you can charge at home, and especially in the free solar window some plans offer, an EV is far cheaper to run. If you rely only on public fast chargers, the gap narrows a lot.
Step one: what you pay at home
The Australian Energy Regulator sets the Default Market Offer, the price cap on default electricity plans. For 2026-27 (from 1 July 2026) the flat rate usage charges, including GST, are: Ausgrid (Sydney) 33.14c per kWh, Endeavour Energy (western Sydney) 33.73c, Essential Energy (regional NSW) 35.01c, Energex (south-east Queensland) 27.97c and SA Power Networks (South Australia) 41.91c. That is from the AER's final determination and information kit for the 2026-27 DMO.
Two caveats. The DMO is a cap on default offers, so many customers on market offers pay less, and some pay more on older plans. And Victoria is not covered by the DMO, so check your own plan's rate. The cheapest approach is simply to read the c/kWh usage rate on your latest bill. It is the number that matters here, because the daily supply charge is fixed whether you own an EV or not.
Step two: how much energy the car uses
The label that matters is energy per 100km, but not every brand prints it in a way you can read online. So we used a simple method any buyer can repeat: take the battery size and divide it by the WLTP range, then add 10 per cent for charging losses between the wall and the battery. That 10 per cent is our assumption. Real use varies with speed, load and weather, and the independent testing we covered in our real-world fuel use guide shows EVs often miss their label range, so treat the figures below as a fair guide, not a promise.
Three examples, using manufacturer figures: the Kia EV4 Air, with a 58.3kWh battery and 456km WLTP range, works out at about 12.8kWh per 100km, or about 14.1kWh from the wall. The BYD Sealion 7 Premium, with an 82.56kWh battery and 482km WLTP (BYD's brochure), works out at about 17.1kWh per 100km, or about 18.8kWh from the wall. The Hyundai IONIQ 9, with a 110.3kWh battery and 600km WLTP (Hyundai's Australian specification sheet), works out at about 18.4kWh per 100km, or about 20.2kWh from the wall.
What that costs at home, per 100km
Multiply the wall figure by your electricity rate. On the Energex rate (27.97c) the EV4 costs about $3.93 per 100km, the Sealion 7 about $5.27 and the IONIQ 9 about $5.66. On the Ausgrid rate (33.14c) it is about $4.66, $6.24 and $6.70. On the SA Power Networks rate (41.91c), the dearest of the five regions, it is about $5.89, $7.90 and $8.47.
Over 15,000km a year, that is about $590 to $884 for the EV4, $791 to $1,184 for the Sealion 7 and $849 to $1,271 for the IONIQ 9, depending on which of those five rates you pay. Compare that with about $2,400 a year for a petrol car at 8L per 100km and an assumed $2.00 a litre. Swap in your own car and your own pump price; the formula is the same.
What a full charge costs
Filling an empty battery is a different sum, and one most owners never need because they top up. For reference, a full charge including our 10 per cent loss allowance is about 64kWh for the EV4, 91kWh for the Sealion 7 and 121kWh for the IONIQ 9. On the Ausgrid rate that is about $21, $30 and $40.
The free solar window
The AER's 2026-27 DMO also includes a Solar Sharer Offer, a time-of-use option with three hours of free electricity in the middle of the day: 11am to 2pm in NSW and south-east Queensland, and 12pm to 3pm in South Australia. Usage above 24kWh in the free window is charged at the regulator's reasonable-use rate. You need a smart meter, and it is only worth it if you can plug in during those hours.
Twenty-four kWh is not a full charge, but it is real distance. On our figures it is roughly 170km for the EV4 and roughly 125km for the Sealion 7 for no usage charge, every day you are home in the middle of the day. If you work from home or your car sits at home on weekends, that is the cheapest motoring available. If your car is always at work at lunchtime, a standard or off-peak plan may suit you better, so compare the plans' rates before you switch.
Public fast charging: what to expect
Public prices are set by each network and shown in its app at the site. Tesla's Australian Supercharger page says prices vary by site and can change in real time based on demand, with some sites dearer at peak times and a price locked in when you plug in. Chargefox's published fee schedule says the price is whatever is shown on the app or at the site, and charges drivers a 6 per cent administration fee per session. Evie Networks advertises a 4c per kWh saving on its public fast chargers for RACQ members in Queensland and selected northern NSW sites.
For a sense of the range, one report by The Driven in April 2026 listed Tesla's new Braybrook Supercharger in Melbourne at 27c per kWh for Tesla owners and 37c for other brands before 8am, and Osborne Park in Perth from 32c for Teslas and 45c for other brands. Those were reported prices at two sites on one day, and we have not re-checked them with Tesla. They show that fast charging can be cheap at the right site and time, but also that you will often pay more than at home. Always read the price in the app before you plug in.
To help you plan, here are our three cars at three illustrative public prices, with the same 10 per cent loss allowance. These are not quoted rates. At 40c per kWh the EV4, Sealion 7 and IONIQ 9 cost about $5.63, $7.54 and $8.09 per 100km. At 60c they cost about $8.44, $11.30 and $12.13. At 80c they cost about $11.25, $15.07 and $16.18. Against a petrol car at $16 per 100km, you can see where fast charging stops saving much money: the bigger the car and the higher the price, the thinner the margin.
How to keep your charging bill low
Charge at home whenever you can, because home electricity is almost always cheaper than a public fast charger. Check your plan's off-peak or free window and set your car or charger to start then. Use public fast charging for trips and top-ups rather than as your main fuel. Look for networks that offer a membership discount if you charge a lot. And remember towing, speed and cold weather all raise consumption; our guide to electric cars for towing explains how much.
If you are still choosing the car, our guide to the longest range electric cars and our cheapest EVs guide cover range and price, and our EV vs petrol guide puts the two side by side. If you are weighing a plug-in hybrid, see our cheapest plug-in hybrids guide and the hybrid vs electric explainer. For where to find a charger, read our report on the national public charging network, and for the policy side, our story on the EV road user charge and FBT changes.
Cartell verdict
If you have off-street parking, an EV is cheap to run: for most buyers home charging works out at roughly a quarter to a half of the cost of petrol per kilometre on the rates we checked. If you rent an apartment with no charger and rely on public fast charging, it is still usually cheaper than petrol, but not by as much, and the price at the site matters more than the badge on the car. Before you buy, do the sum with your own electricity rate and the car's battery and range. It takes two minutes and tells you more than any brochure.
Prices and rates in this guide were checked between 15 and 19 October 2026 and can change. Electricity rates are the AER's 2026-27 Default Market Offer caps; your own plan may differ.
