MYTHBUSTING

Charging An EV Can Cost Less Than A Latte!

February 16, 2025

A full home charge for an EV can cost as little as $4-$5, which is less than the price of a $6 Starbucks latte.
The average EV owner spends $65 per month on charging—less than many people spend on coffee in a week.
Charging an EV at home overnight can be as low as $1 per day with off-peak rates.

Think driving an electric car is expensive? Think again. Charging an EV at home can cost less than what you spend on a single latte. That is not an exaggeration—it is a fact backed by real numbers.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the national average electricity rate is around $0.16 per kilowatt-hour (kWh). Most EVs on the road today have battery capacities ranging from 40 kWh to 100 kWh.

If you drive something like a Tesla Model 3 Standard Range (58 kWh), a full home charge costs about $9.28. That is for 267 miles of range. For comparison, a 16-ounce Starbucks latte is about $6.00—and that is gone in 15 minutes.

Some EVs are even cheaper to charge. The Nissan Leaf (40 kWh) would cost around $6.40 to go 149 miles. That means you could charge your car for what you spend on a coffee, and it would last you all week, depending on your commute.

Electrify Expo San Francisco test ride demo NIssan LEAF — _{Red Nissan Leaf driving on a demo course at Electrify Expo in San Francisco, California.}

Public Charging Is Cheaper Than You Think

Public charging costs vary, but even then, you are not spending what you would on gas. Tesla Superchargers, for example, typically cost around $0.25 per kWh. If you drive a Hyundai Ioniq 5 (77.4 kWh) and charge it from 10% to 80%, you are looking at around $13-$15—still cheaper than filling up a gas tank.

Electrify America offers membership plans that can lower the cost to $0.31 per kWh, meaning a charge for a Volkswagen ID.4 (77 kWh) would cost about $17 for 250 miles of range. Meanwhile, an average gas-powered SUV needs $50+ to cover that same distance.

2024 Volkswagen VW ID.4 electric car Grizzlie EV home charger charging — _{Volkswagen ID.4 plugged into a Level 2 home EV charger in a parking garage.}

Home Charging Is Where the Real Savings Are

According to the International Energy Agency, most EV owners charge at home 80% of the time. With off-peak electricity rates (as low as $0.10 per kWh in some areas), a full charge can drop to $4-$5. That is less than a sandwich.

Let’s say you drive a Honda Civic that gets 32 miles per gallon and gas costs $3.21 per gallon. To cover the same 250 miles an EV can get on a full charge, you would need 7.8 gallons of gas—that is $25.04.

EVs are three to five times cheaper to ‘fuel’ than gas cars. That is not marketing hype; it is just math.

Myth: “But My Electricity Bill Will Skyrocket”

Not really. According to Kelley Blue Book, the average EV owner spends $65.37 per month on charging. That is less than what many people spend on coffee runs in a week.

If you switch to an EV off-peak charging plan, your total monthly charging cost could be as low as $30—that is $1 per day. So next time someone says EVs are “too expensive,” just ask them how much they spend on caffeine.

Owning an EV is not some high-cost luxury—it is an affordable alternative to gas. With gas prices forcing drivers to shell out $50-$100 per tank, switching to electric can put hundreds of dollars back in your pocket every year. If a daily latte fits your budget, so does an EV.