🚗How much does it cost to charge a Tesla?
Charging a Tesla at home costs about $10–$17 for a full charge at the US-average 17¢/kWh — roughly 4¢–5¢ a mile, about a third the fuel cost of a gas car. Public DC-fast charging runs 2–3× more. Over a year that’s around $490–$612 at home vs $1,500 in gas — a saving near $949 a year.
These are estimates. Battery sizes and efficiency are typical ranges, the home rate is the US average (17¢/kWh) and the public rate a typical DC-fast blend (35¢/kWh) — plug in your own battery, efficiency and rate for an exact figure.
Charging cost: home vs public
| What | Home (17¢/kWh) | Public DC-fast (35¢) |
|---|---|---|
| A full charge (empty → 100%) | $10–$17 | $21–$35 |
| Per mile | 4¢–5¢ | 8¢–11¢ |
| Per 100 miles | $4.08–$5.10 | $8.40–$11 |
| Per year (12,000 mi) | $490–$612 | $1,008–$1,260 |
Home at the US-average 17¢/kWh (cheap states ~11¢, California/New England/Hawaii ~33¢+). Ranges span smaller to larger batteries. Year assumes 12,000 miles.
Cost per full charge by Tesla model
| Model | Battery | Full charge | Per mile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Model 3 RWD | 57.5 kWh | $9.78 | 3.6¢ |
| Model 3 Long Range AWD | 75 kWh | $13 | 3.7¢ |
| Model Y Long Range AWD | 75 kWh | $13 | 4.0¢ |
| Model S | 100 kWh | $17 | 4.2¢ |
| Model X | 100 kWh | $17 | 5.1¢ |
| Cybertruck AWD | 123 kWh | $21 | 6.4¢ |
Usable battery × 17¢/kWh for a full charge from empty; per mile divides that by EPA combined range. Expect a little more in cold weather and at sustained highway speed.
Versus filling a gas tank
At home the Tesla costs about 4¢–5¢ a mile. A 28-mpg gas car at $3.50 a gallon costs 13¢ a mile — so over 12,000 miles you’d spend around $490–$612 on home charging versus $1,500 on gas. Charge mostly on public DC-fast and the gap narrows, but home charging stays well ahead.
Why it costs what it does
Charging a Tesla comes down to two numbers: the battery size and where you plug in. A Model 3 or Y carries about 60–79 kWh of usable battery; a Model S or X, around 100 kWh. At the US-average home rate of 17¢/kWh, filling an empty battery costs roughly $10–$13 for a Model 3/Y and up to about $17 for a big-battery S/X. Tesla is efficient — about 0.24–0.30 kWh per mile real-world — so a mile costs only 4–5 cents at home. The catch is where you charge: Superchargers and other DC-fast networks bill about 2–3× the home rate, so leaning on them erases much of the saving over gas.
How to charge for less
- Charge at home overnight — it is 2–3× cheaper than a Supercharger and the single biggest lever on your charging cost.
- Get on your utility's EV or time-of-use rate and charge in the off-peak overnight window, which can be well under the average 17¢/kWh.
- Charge to 80% for daily driving (Tesla's own recommendation) — it's easier on the battery and only top-up to 100% before a long trip.
- Use Superchargers for road trips, not routine charging; save the DC-fast premium for when you actually need the speed.
Keep going
Frequently asked
How much does it cost to charge a Tesla at a Supercharger?▾
Superchargers typically bill about 25 to 48 cents per kWh depending on location and time of day, so a full charge runs roughly $18 to $35 — about 2 to 3 times the cost of charging the same battery at home. That still beats gas per mile, but by a much smaller margin. Superchargers are built for road trips; routine daily charging is far cheaper at home.
Is charging a Tesla cheaper than buying gas?▾
At home, clearly yes. A Tesla costs about 4 to 5 cents a mile to charge at the average home rate, versus roughly 12 to 14 cents a mile for a 28-mpg gas car at $3.50 a gallon — about a third the fuel cost. Over 12,000 miles a year that's a saving of $800 to $1,000. Charging mostly on Superchargers narrows the gap but usually still comes out ahead of gas.
How much does it cost to charge a Tesla per month?▾
For a typical 1,000 miles a month, home charging costs roughly $40 to $55 at the average 17¢/kWh — the electricity a Tesla adds to your home bill. Your exact figure depends on your rate and how much you drive; drivers on a cheap overnight EV rate pay less, and heavy Supercharger users pay more.
How do I work out my own Tesla charging cost?▾
Multiply the battery size (kWh) by your electricity rate for a full charge, or the car's kWh-per-mile by your rate for the cost per mile. Find your rate on your bill — the US average is about 17¢/kWh, ranging from ~11¢ in the cheapest states to 30–42¢ in California, New England and Hawaii. Public DC-fast charging bills roughly 30–48¢/kWh regardless of your home rate.