What it actually costs to charge

Cost per mile = (your electricity rate in dollars per kWh) ÷ (your car's miles per kWh). That is the whole thing. Everything else on this page is where to get those two numbers and what to do once you have them.

We are not going to print a national average and call it your cost. Residential electricity prices vary by more than a factor of three across US states, and car efficiency varies by nearly a factor of two, so an average is off by enough to change decisions. The formula is printed instead.

Your electricity rate

It is on your utility bill, usually as a per-kWh figure. Add the delivery or distribution charge to the supply charge — the all-in number is what you actually pay, and using the supply rate alone understates it, sometimes by a lot. If your rate varies by time of day, note the overnight rate, since that is when charging happens. The Energy Information Administration publishes state averages if you need a placeholder while you find your bill.

Your car's efficiency

Most EVs display it, either as miles per kWh or as kWh per 100 miles. If yours shows the second, divide 100 by it to get the first. Use your own observed figure rather than the EPA rating — real efficiency moves with temperature, speed and how you drive, and winter figures can be 20-30% worse than summer ones.

Not all the electricity you pay for ends up in the battery. Conversion losses in the onboard charger and the energy the car uses running its own systems while charging both count against you, and they are proportionally worse at Level 1 because the session lasts much longer. A rough allowance of 10-15% is reasonable; if you want your own figure, compare the meter reading across a charging session against the car's reported energy added.

Quick picks

Ranked, with the reasoning underneath. Tap any row to jump to that write-up; tap the price to check it on Amazon. Prices come from the live layer, never from this page.

#	Product	Best for	Type	Price
1	Lectron Portable Level 1 J1772 Charger (15A, NEMA 5-15)The unglamorous answer that covers most commutes: an ordinary 120V socket, overnight, and no conversation with anybody about electrical work.	An ordinary wall socket	Level 1 EVSE	Check price#ad
2	Emporia Classic Level 2 EV Charger (NEMA 14-50 plug)A plug-in smart charger whose scheduling genuinely pays for itself if your utility bills you differently overnight.	Charging on a schedule	Plug-in smart EVSE	Check price#ad

#1 · An ordinary wall socket

Lectron Portable Level 1 J1772 Charger (15A, NEMA 5-15)

The unglamorous answer that covers most commutes: an ordinary 120V socket, overnight, and no conversation with anybody about electrical work.

Published specifications for the Lectron Portable Level 1 J1772 Charger (15A, NEMA 5-15), each linked to its source

Input	120V, 15A maximumsource
Output power	1.8 kWsource
Cable length	16 ftsource
Plug / connector	NEMA 5-15 plug, J1772 connectorsource
Certification	UL 2594 / UL 2231 certifiedsource
Manufacturer charge-rate claim	45+ miles of range overnightsource

What those numbers mean

1.8 kW sounds trivial next to 9.6 kW, and for a road trip it is. For a commute it usually is not: the average US driver covers well under 45 miles a day, and this replaces that overnight while the car sits anyway.

The honest ceiling is the socket, not the cable. A 15 amp household circuit shared with a refrigerator and a space heater will trip, and the fix is a different socket rather than a different charger.

This is the only category of EV charging that is genuinely invisible to a landlord. It draws less than a hair dryer and plugs into a receptacle that already exists.

What it does well

• Works with a socket that already exists, everywhere, with no permission needed
• UL 2594 and UL 2231 certified rather than a generic cordset
• Cheapest possible entry into home charging, by a wide margin

What it does not

• 1.8 kW will not recover a long driving day overnight
• 16 ft cable, and the nearest 120V socket is often not the nearest thing to the car

Skip this one if: You regularly drive more than about 45 miles a day. Level 1 will fall a little further behind every night and you will spend the difference at public chargers.

Check price on Amazon

#ad · how this is funded

#2 · Charging on a schedule

Emporia Classic Level 2 EV Charger (NEMA 14-50 plug)

A plug-in smart charger whose scheduling genuinely pays for itself if your utility bills you differently overnight.

Published specifications for the Emporia Classic Level 2 EV Charger (NEMA 14-50 plug), each linked to its source

Maximum output	9.6 kW (40A) with a NEMA 14-50 outlet; 11.5 kW (48A) hardwiredsource
Connector	J1772 or NACS (Tesla) modelssource
Enclosure	Type 4 enclosure, watertight, indoor or outdoorsource
Certification	UL certified and GFCI protectedsource
Scheduling	Off-peak scheduling and real-time charge-rate monitoring in the Emporia appsource

What those numbers mean

Note the honest asymmetry in the first row: the 48 amp headline number is the hardwired figure. On a NEMA 14-50 plug — the only version a renter should be looking at — it is a 40 amp charger. That is not a downgrade, it is what the plug is rated for.

The scheduling is the actual reason to pay more here. If you are on a time-of-use rate, charging on a timer is worth real money over the length of a lease.

It is a wall-mount form factor with a plug on it. You can hang it on a hook or leave it in the trunk; nothing about it requires a bracket screwed into the landlord's drywall.

What it does well

• Scheduling and energy monitoring that are useful rather than decorative
• Type 4 watertight enclosure rated for outdoor use
• Sold with either a J1772 or a NACS connector
• The plug-in version needs no electrician and comes off the wall when you move

What it does not

• The advertised 48 amps is hardwired-only; the plug-in version is 40 amps
• Scheduling needs Wi-Fi, which is not a given in a detached carport or a parking structure

Skip this one if: Your electricity costs the same at every hour and there is no Wi-Fi where you park. You would be paying for a feature set you cannot reach or use.

Check price on Amazon

#ad · how this is funded

In the worked examples above, home charging is roughly a third to a half the per-mile cost of gasoline. That gap is real and it is the main running-cost argument for an EV. It also narrows or disappears if your electricity is expensive or if most of your charging is at public DC fast chargers — which is exactly the situation of a renter with no home access, and it is why home versus public exists as its own page.

1. 1Charge overnight if your rate varies. Time-of-use tariffs frequently halve the overnight rate, and a charger with scheduling captures that without you thinking about it.
2. 2Do not pay for speed you cannot use. A 40 amp charger and a 24 amp charger cost the same per kWh; the faster one just finishes earlier in a night you were asleep for anyway.
3. 3Avoid DC fast charging when you have any alternative. It is frequently several times the per-kWh price of residential electricity.
4. 4Set a charge limit. Charging to 100% every night is slower per kWh at the top of the range and is not what most manufacturers recommend for daily use.
5. 5Check whether your utility has an EV rate. Many do, and many customers on them never signed up because nobody told them.