Electric cars can be incredibly cheap to run but the cost to charge an electric car often depends on where and when you're charging it.
We created this handy EV cost comparison tool so you can compare energy suppliers and find the best energy deals for charging an EV at home, as well as comparing public charging prices.
Simply select your electric vehicle and choose whether you want to compare home EV energy tariffs or public chargers.
Save hundreds with the best home EV tariffs
Home charging is by far the cheapest way to keep your electric vehicle topped up and your energy prices down. In fact, you can save hundreds of pounds per year on your electric car charging costs
How can you save money with an EV tariff?
Your electric car will be the most expensive "appliance" using electricity at your home. Luckily, there are ways to vastly reduce the cost of charging an electric car.
The key is charging your vehicle on an off-peak rate. Many energy suppliers offer electric vehicle energy tariffs which have cheaper electricity prices at certain times of the day (typically overnight). Octopus energy tariffs are perhaps some of the best-known for being EV friendly - their most popular tariffs are Octopus Go and Intelligent Octopus.
Whichever energy supplier and tariff you go for, making sure you switch energy supplier to one that offers an EV friendly energy tariff in the first place is a big step towards saving money on your electric car charging at home.
The other crucial step is to ensure your electric car charges at the right time - in other words, when cheaper price on your energy tariff kicks in during the off peak hours. And that's why a smart EV charger is so important.
Smart EV chargers allow you to schedule when the car will charge, such as when the price is low overnight for example. By doing this, you'll help to keep your electric car charging costs and your energy bills down.
How to use the EV energy tariff comparison tool
Our tool helps you find the best and cheapest energy supplier for charging your electric car. Make sure you beat the energy price cap and high energy prices by switching to an EV friendly tariff.
Simply follow these steps:
Select your EV
or the electric car you're thinking of buying
Compare energy prices
and find the right electricity supplier for you and your EV
Get a smart EV charger
from Smart Home Charge if you don't already have one
Switch energy suppliers
and energy tariff through our tool
Once you've selected your vehicle and annual mileage, the tool will calculate your estimated annual charging costs for a range of energy suppliers as well as showing the potential savings you could make.
By default, the tool shows the average UK electricity price, but you can set your own price by toggling "Compare with my current tariff" button.
Pay attention as an EV electricity tariff may require a specific vehicle or smart charger for you to be eligible to switch to the best energy deal. For example, in order to switch energy suppliers and tariff to Intelligent Octopus by Octopus Energy requires you to either have a compatible vehicle or a specific charger.
Don't worry, our tool will make it clear if your vehicle is compatible with each tariff (meaning you can get any charger) or if you'll need a certain product to access that certain tariffs from energy providers.
Note: you will also likely need a smart meter installed at your property. Many people have a smart meter at home now, but if you don't then your energy supplier should install one for you.
Compare the price of public EV charging stations
Find the best prices for public EV charging stations using our Cost to Charge an Electric Car tool. Simply select the Rapid or Destination charging tabs on this page to see which public chargers are best for your journey.
Compare the best electric car charging stations, such as Tesla Superchargers, Gridserve charging, Osprey, Pod Point and many more.
Enter your trip mileage to find out the cost to charge an EV on a long trip using public charge points. You'll see the cost of a single charge on that EV charging station, the cost for the trip, as well as the price per kWh.
You can also see which public charging networks accept EV charge cards, their Zap Map survey customer rating, and max charging speed.
Expert installation of electric car chargers covering all regions of England, Scotland and Wales.
(Response) EPR Limited t/a Smart Home Charge is registered in England and Wales No. 07081588.
We are a credit broker and not a lender. We offer credit products from Novuna Personal Finance.
(Response) EPR Limited t/a Smart Home Charge is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority FRN 925637.
Credit subject to age and status.
How do I claim my £30 free public charging?
Our £30 free public charging offer will be sent to you in the form of an Electroverse credit code for use with the Electroverse public charging app.
Electroverse is an EV charging card and app from Octopus Energy that makes accessing and paying for public chargers even easier with just one card and one app.
Once your installation is complete, we'll send you an email with your £30 credit code along with instructions on how to redeem it.
The £30 free public charging credit is only available as Electroverse account credit.
The offer is only available to customers who enquire direct through the Smart Home Charge website. It is not available to customers via third parties, such as the charger manufacturer or another website.
£30 free public charging credit offer cannot be used in conjunction with other discounts, offers or promotions.
The offer is only applicable if it is still active when payment for installation is made.
You must sign up (for free) to Electroverse to make use of the credit.
