What does it cost to charge an EV at home?
Pick an electric car or plug-in hybrid, or enter your own figures, and compare a month of charging on your municipal tariff, Eskom direct, solar and public fast chargers, against petrol.
How this works. Home charging adds 10% for charging losses; public chargers bill what goes into the car. Municipal tariffs are inclining blocks, so we add the car's kWh on top of your normal household use and charge them at the block rates they fall into. Fixed monthly charges are left out because charging a car doesn't change them. All rates include 15% VAT.
Tariffs (2026/27): City of Johannesburg approved 2026/27 electricity tariffs (NERSA-approved, 290.46/333.18/379.64 c/kWh excl. VAT), from 2026-07-01; City of Cape Town 2026/27 Domestic tariff, from 2026-07-01; City of Tshwane 2026/27 tariffs (324.12/379.32/413.27/445.51 c/kWh excl. VAT; VAT added by us), from 2026-07-01; NERSA decision on eThekwini 2026/27 tariffs (357.47 c/kWh excl. VAT), from 2026-07-01; Eskom Schedule of Standard Prices from 1 April 2026 (298.79 c/kWh excl. VAT). Homepower customers pay a different mix of energy and fixed charges..
Solar: "free daytime solar" assumes the car charges from panels you've already paid for, during the day, so it ignores the system cost. Enter the system cost and yearly output to spread the cost over 10 years instead (no finance costs or panel wear included).
Petrol: official 95 inland price, 2026-10-07.
Load shedding and backup: a typical home charger draws 7 kW, more than most home inverters and batteries can supply, so plan to charge outside load-shedding slots or from solar during the day rather than from a backup battery. Ask an electrician whether your inverter and wiring can take a charger. A 3.6 kW wall socket charge is slower but easier on a backup system.
Tariffs (2026/27): City of Johannesburg approved 2026/27 electricity tariffs (NERSA-approved, 290.46/333.18/379.64 c/kWh excl. VAT), from 2026-07-01; City of Cape Town 2026/27 Domestic tariff, from 2026-07-01; City of Tshwane 2026/27 tariffs (324.12/379.32/413.27/445.51 c/kWh excl. VAT; VAT added by us), from 2026-07-01; NERSA decision on eThekwini 2026/27 tariffs (357.47 c/kWh excl. VAT), from 2026-07-01; Eskom Schedule of Standard Prices from 1 April 2026 (298.79 c/kWh excl. VAT). Homepower customers pay a different mix of energy and fixed charges..
Solar: "free daytime solar" assumes the car charges from panels you've already paid for, during the day, so it ignores the system cost. Enter the system cost and yearly output to spread the cost over 10 years instead (no finance costs or panel wear included).
Petrol: official 95 inland price, 2026-10-07.
Load shedding and backup: a typical home charger draws 7 kW, more than most home inverters and batteries can supply, so plan to charge outside load-shedding slots or from solar during the day rather than from a backup battery. Ask an electrician whether your inverter and wiring can take a charger. A 3.6 kW wall socket charge is slower but easier on a backup system.
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