By EV Charge Cost Editorial Team. Published September 28, 2026, updated October 26, 2026.
The quick way to estimate it
Your electric bill goes up by the kWh the car pulls from the wall, times the price you pay for each extra kWh. Two numbers do the work:
- kWh added per month = miles driven per month × kWh per 100 miles ÷ 100
- Dollars added per month = kWh added × your price per kWh
The EPA kWh/100 mi rating is measured at the wall, so charging losses are already in it. A typical EV in our data uses 33.5 kWh per 100 miles. At 13,500 miles a year, that is 1,125 miles and about 377 kWh a month.
A handy shortcut: every 100 miles you drive adds about 33.5 kWh and $6.08 to the bill at the U.S. average price. If you know roughly how many hundreds of miles you drive in a billing cycle, you can do the math in your head. Two EVs in one household simply add their own kWh on top; see two EVs, one home.
Added kWh and dollars by monthly mileage
The table uses the U.S. average residential price of 18.16¢/kWh (EIA, August 2026) and the cheapest and most expensive states in the same data: Nevada at 12.72¢/kWh and Hawaii at 47.18¢/kWh.
| Miles per month | kWh added | Nevada | U.S. average | Hawaii |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 mi | 168 | $21.31 | $30.42 | $79.03 |
| 750 mi | 251 | $31.96 | $45.63 | $118.54 |
| 1,000 mi | 335 | $42.61 | $60.84 | $158.05 |
| 1,125 mi (typical) | 377 | $47.94 | $68.44 | $177.81 |
| 1,500 mi | 503 | $63.92 | $91.25 | $237.08 |
| 2,000 mi | 670 | $85.22 | $121.67 | $316.11 |
In kWh terms the EV can be one of the bigger loads in a home, so the jump on the bill is easy to see. How large it looks in dollars depends mostly on your state and your rate plan: the same 1,125 miles cost 3.7 times as much in Hawaii as in Nevada.
Your car changes the number too
Efficiency varies more than people expect. Among the popular models we track, the representative Tesla Model 3 trim uses 26.4 kWh/100 mi and the Chevrolet Silverado EV uses 49.6. At 13,500 miles a year and 18.16¢/kWh:
- Tesla Model 3: about 297 kWh and $53.89 a month
- Chevrolet Silverado EV: about 557 kWh and $101.23 a month
Look up your own model on the vehicle pages, or put your car, state and mileage into the charging cost calculator.
How to spot the EV on your bill
- Compare the same month, year over year. Your bill shows total kWh used. Compare this month with the same month last year, before the EV, so heating and cooling are roughly matched.
- Check interval data. Many utilities with smart meters show usage by hour or day online. Overnight charging shows up as a block of high use that starts when the car plugs in.
- Read the charger or the car app. Most Level 2 chargers and many cars log energy per session. The car's own figure often excludes charging losses, so it may read a little lower than the meter.
- Multiply by your marginal rate, not the bill average. Fixed monthly charges do not rise with an EV. See how to find your electricity rate per kWh.
Why your increase may differ from the math
- Tiered rates. If your utility charges more once you pass a monthly allowance, the EV's kWh may land in the higher tier. See tiered electricity rates and EV charging.
- Time-of-use plans. Charging off-peak can make the EV's kWh cheaper than your average. See time-of-use rates.
- Charging away from home. Workplace, free or public charging never reaches your home bill, so it lowers the increase even if it does not lower your total cost.
- Weather and speed. Winter and fast highway driving raise consumption above the EPA rating, so the winter increase is often larger than the summer one.