What it really costs to charge an electric car at home this winter
Flat rate, night rate or a public rapid charger: the pence per mile for a typical family EV, worked through with this quarter’s prices.
Most of the cost of running an electric car comes down to one question: what you pay for a kWh at the moment the car is plugged in. This winter, the answer ranges from about 7p to almost 80p, so it’s worth getting right.
Start with your mileage
A typical family EV covers 3.2 to 3.8 miles per kWh in winter (a little more in summer). Charging at home loses roughly 10% between the socket and the battery. So a car doing 8,000 miles a year needs about 2,300 kWh at the battery, or around 2,500 kWh from your meter.
Three ways to pay for those 2,500 kWh
| Where you charge | Price per kWh | 8,000 miles a year | Pence per mile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home, flat-rate tariff at the Ofgem cap (GB average from 1 October 2026) | 26.32p | £658 | 8.2p |
| Home, Brightwell EV Nights (23:30–05:30) | 7.35p | £184 | 2.3p |
| Public rapid charger (typical network price) | 79p | £1,975 | 24.7p |
The night rate saves around £470 a year over a flat rate for the same driving. The catch is that the rest of your electricity costs a little more on a time-of-use tariff (on EV Nights, 2.45p a kWh above the cap rate for your region), so the tariff pays off once roughly one unit in eight can move into the night window. For nearly every EV household it clears that bar easily.
Getting more of your use into the window
- Set the charger, not the car, as the scheduler where you can. Chargers that support schedules (Ohme, Zappi, Hypervolt, Easee and most others) will start at 23:30 and stop at 05:30.
- Six hours on a 7 kW charger adds about 40 kWh, roughly 130 to 150 winter miles. Most drivers need a full night once or twice a week.
- If you have a hot water cylinder or a home battery, schedule them for the same window.
What about cars that do their own smart charging?
EV Nights charges by the clock, not by instructions from us, so it works with any car and any charger. If your car charges outside the window you simply pay the day rate for those units. Your bill shows night and day units separately every month, so you can see exactly how well your schedule is working.