Cost and Time to charge an Electric Vehicle

Cost and Time to charge an Electric Vehicle

Many people move from a conventional car to an EV due to the significant cost savings involved from driving electric, especially when comparing fuel versus electricity costs, but what does this look like in real world terms.

To understand the cost and time to charge an EV is determined by the size of the car’s battery – this is referred to as kilowatt hours.

Battery sizes vary dependant on the brand an model of the EV you choose but the bigger the battery, typically the longer it will take to charge the car and therefore more expensive per charge. This does mean however that you typically get more range from the battery.

The fully electric KIA e-Niro is a popular EV in the UK and is fitted with a 64 kilowatt hour battery. And whilst most EV drivers will never charge from empty to full, understanding the cost to charge their car can be worked out by multiplying the price you pay for electricity by the size of the battery. The average UK household pays roughly 16 pence per kilowatt hour:

To understand charging times works in a similar way in that you take the size of the vehicle battery (in kWh) but this time you divide it by the speed of the charge point (in kW). The average UK household can charge an EV at 7.2kW with a dedicated electric vehicle charge point. So, using the KIA e-Niro again as an example: