EV charging cost vs petrol, state by state

At the wall or at the battery?

Your EV’s energy use can be measured in two places, and the difference matters.

• At the wall. Official figures, like the Green Vehicle Guide and WLTP, measure the energy taken from the power point. That already includes the energy lost as heat while charging. Use them as they are.
• At the battery. A trip computer shows the energy that reached the battery. You paid for more than that. Studies measure AC charging losses of about 11 to 20%, higher at low current, like a 10 A power point.

So add a loss only to a trip computer figure. Adding 10 to 15% on top of an official figure counts the loss twice. Some calculators do this.

EV night plans

Several retailers sell plans with a cheap overnight window for EV charging, usually 12am to 6am. We checked OVO’s The EV Plan at 4.5c/kWh and EnergyAustralia’s EV Night Boost at 7c/kWh (Ausgrid network only). That is a fraction of a normal rate of about 27c to 42c.

Read the whole plan before you switch. A cheap EV window can come with higher rates at other times or a higher supply charge. This calculator shows charging cost only, not your whole bill.

Solar is not free

If you charge from your own solar panels, each kWh goes into the car instead of the grid. So it costs the feed-in tariff you would have been paid, about 3c to 9c/kWh. It is still the cheapest power you can buy. If your house would otherwise import power in that hour, the real cost is higher.

Free midday hours

Two new offers give power away in the middle of the day.

• Solar Sharer Offer, from 1 July 2026: 3 free hours a day in NSW and south-east Queensland (11am to 2pm) and SA (12pm to 3pm), up to 24 kWh a day. You need a smart meter.
• Victoria’s Midday Power Saver, from 1 October 2026: 11am to 2pm free, opt-in, smart meter needed.

This only helps if the car is at home at midday. A 7 kW wall charger adds about 21 kWh in 3 hours, a 10 A power point about 7 kWh. Rates at other hours on these plans may be higher. To model free hours without solar, set the feed-in rate to 0 under Electricity rates.

Fast chargers cost more

Public DC fast chargers charge about 58c to 99c/kWh in 2026, and prices vary by site and time. At 70c/kWh an EV is still cheaper than an average petrol car, but the gap is much smaller. Check your charging app for the real price.

The petrol side

Petrol went up sharply in 2026, and many calculators still use prices from before the rise. Our default is the latest AIP national average for regular unleaded. The date it applies to is shown under the petrol price field, so you can see how fresh it is. Type the price you paid if it is different. We use 11.1 L/100 km, the ABS fleet average. That includes older cars, so a new small car will use less. Type your own figure.

NSW road user charge

NSW will charge EVs by the kilometre from 1 July 2027, or sooner if EVs reach 30% of new vehicle sales. The 2026-27 rate is 3.095c per km for battery EVs. Pick New South Wales to see it at your km. There is no federal charge.