Everyone quotes "a fraction of gas," which is true about 80% of the time and badly false the other 20%. The actual answer is two multiplications: your miles divided by your car's efficiency, times your price per kWh. Here's what that works out to at real 2025 rates, and when charging an EV actually costs more than the gas car it replaced.
A typical EV runs 3.5 miles per kWh. Drive 1,000 miles a month and you'll buy about 286 kWh of electricity. Where you buy those kWh decides everything:
| Charging source | Typical price | Monthly cost (1,000 mi) | Cost per mile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home, U.S. average | ~$0.17/kWh | $48.57 | 4.9¢ |
| Home, cheap-rate state (ID, WA, LA) | $0.09–$0.14/kWh | $26–$40 | 2.6–4.0¢ |
| Home, California | ~$0.31/kWh | $88.57 | 8.9¢ |
| Home, off-peak EV plan | $0.05–$0.12/kWh | $14–$34 | 1.4–3.4¢ |
| Level 2 public (L2) | $0.20–$0.35/kWh | $57–$100 | 5.7–10.0¢ |
| DC fast charging | $0.35–$0.56/kWh | $100–$160 | 10.0–16.0¢ |
| Gas car, 30 mpg @ $3.20/gal | — | $106.67 | 10.7¢ |
Read the last two rows together: exclusive DC fast charging at the top of the price range ($0.56/kWh) costs about 16¢ a mile, half again more than a 30-mpg gas car. The EV-is-cheaper story is a home-charging story.
Enter your miles, mi/kWh, and utility rate. Get monthly and annual costs plus a gas comparison in one shot.
EV Charging Cost Calculator →The formula is short. kWh used = miles ÷ efficiency (mi/kWh). Cost = kWh × price per kWh. That's the whole engine.
Example: a Tesla Model 3 at 3.9 mi/kWh driven 1,000 miles uses 1000 ÷ 3.9 = 256 kWh. At $0.17/kWh that's $43.59 a month. An F-150 Lightning at 2.2 mi/kWh needs 455 kWh for the same miles, which costs $77.27 — the efficiency spread between EV models is bigger than most people expect, nearly 2x between a sedan and a truck.
Gas comparison works the same way: cost per mile = gas price ÷ MPG. At $3.20 and 30 mpg, that's 10.7¢. Divide the EV's per-mile cost by that number and you know your ratio. Use the EV charging cost calculator to run your exact numbers, or the MPG calculator to pin down what your current gas car really delivers.
It's on your utility bill, usually in cents per kWh, but the averages give you the landscape. Recent EIA figures put the U.S. residential average around 16 to 18¢. Hawaii runs past 40¢; California, Massachusetts, and Connecticut sit around 29 to 33¢; Idaho, Utah, North Dakota, and Washington are under 12¢. Where you live moves your fuel bill by a factor of three or more, more than the choice between two EV models does.
Also check for a time-of-use or EV-specific plan. Many utilities sell overnight power at 5 to 12¢, sometimes with a separate submeter for the car. Enrolling is usually free and it's the single cheapest upgrade in EV ownership. A 286-kWh month at $0.07 is $20.02; the same month at the flat $0.17 average is $48.57.
DC fast chargers are expensive machines drawing expensive power at expensive real estate. Demand charges on their utility bills alone can run thousands a month per site. The rates reflect it: $0.35 to $0.56/kWh is common across the big networks in 2025, with some passing-network pricing lower for members.
Blended households feel this less. If you charge 90% at home and 10% on road trips, your effective rate is 0.9 × $0.17 + 0.1 × $0.48 = $0.191/kWh, only about 12% above pure home charging. The calculator above has a percent-at-home input precisely for this: at 90% home, that 1,000-mile month costs $54.57 instead of $48.57. The road trips are worth it; the commute isn't.
Two honest add-ons. First, hardware: a Level 2 home charger runs $300 to $700 plus $200 to $1,200+ for installation, and if your panel needs an upgrade, add $1,500 to $4,000. Second, charging losses: about 10% of the electricity is lost converting AC to battery DC, so your car's 286 kWh costs you roughly 315 kWh at the meter. Neither shows up in the per-mile math, but both belong in a first-year budget. Budget for the road: real trip costs are closer to the fuel cost calculator's territory than to home numbers.
For 1,000 miles a month at 3.5 mi/kWh, an EV uses about 286 kWh. At the U.S. average residential rate of roughly $0.17/kWh, that's about $49 a month or $583 a year. Cheap-rate states like Idaho or Washington cut that under $35; California pushes it toward $90.
Usually, if your utility offers a time-of-use plan. Off-peak EV rates commonly run $0.05 to $0.12/kWh versus $0.17 average retail, which cuts a 286 kWh month from about $49 to $14 to $34. You typically need to enroll in the plan and charge after 9pm or midnight, depending on the utility.
DC fast charging carries demand charges, hardware costs and real estate that home charging doesn't. Rates of $0.35 to $0.56/kWh are common, roughly 2 to 3 times the average home rate. At $0.48/kWh a 3.5 mi/kWh EV costs 13.7 cents a mile, more than a 30-mpg gas car at $3.20 a gallon.