How much does it cost to charge an electric car in 2024?

Electric vehicles are seen as the antidote to the rising petrol costs, but just how affordable is publicly charging an EV? We find out.

It's no secret charging an electric vehicle at home – ideally during off-peak periods or using solar power – is the most convenient and cost-effective way of keeping it running.

Unfortunately, the reality for electric car owners on the go is they will have to occasionally charge their vehicles using public charging networks.

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Prices for public EV charging can vary depending on location, charging speed, time of day and more.

To help give you an idea of which charging networks are most cost-effective, Drive spoke to public charging providers and analysed data from EV charging app Plugshare to compare the estimated costs of various charging options in Australia.

Public electric vehicle chargers in Australia can range from slower AC chargers with roughly 6kW–22kW of power, up to fast 50–250kW DC chargers and even up to ultra-rapid 350kW chargers.

At its simplest level, the higher the charging rate, the faster it can charge your electric vehicle – and the more expensive the charger is likely to be.

Meanwhile, charging at home – whether via a wall socket or a wall box – typically ranges in speed from 2.4kW to 22kW. To give you an idea of pricing for at-home charging, Drive spoke to Origin Energy that supplied the following figures:

As for fast charging, unfortunately, there's no standard price across Australia. In fact, prices can vary depending on location, the time used when recharging (some chargers offer a higher fee for busier time periods) and charger speed rate.

Here are the estimated prices for publicly available chargers you might find across Australia – ranked from cheapest to most expensive according to user reports on Plugshare.

NOTE: Prices are based on user reports on Plugshare as well as information obtained by Drive from various brands as of February 2024 and can be subject to change.

According to the NRMA, a 22kW AC charger can add roughly 32.5km of range in 15 minutes. Here are the various prices for AC charging in Australia.

NRMA claims a 50kW charger could add 75km of range to an EV in roughly 15 minutes – and an estimated 300km of range after an hour of charging.

While each brand offers its own estimated charging speeds to provide an approximate range gain – a 75kW BP charger can add roughly 75km of range after 10 minutes.

A 100kW charger can add roughly 120km of range to an electric car in around 15 minutes.

Per the NRMA – those with limited time on their hands could consider a 150kW public charger, which could add 255km of range in 15 minutes or those who can spare an hour could add a further 900km of range to their EVs when using this type of charger.

A 350kW public charger can reportedly generate an estimated range of 2000km after an hour's charge – or 500km after 15 minutes for those on a time constraint – according to the NRMA.

A Chargefox spokesperson told Drive several factors could cause a price rise in publicly available charging sites. These include: 

Additionally, busy periods can affect charging prices – with a BP spokesperson telling Drive: "BP pulse charging prices differ by location, charger output and time of use".