Owning an electric vehicle

Your at-home EV charging costs will depend on what type of energy plan you have, electricity rates, how much and how frequently you charge, and if you have rooftop solar.

If you have an energy plan, you can check your bill to confirm if you’re on an off-peak or time-of-use energy plan. Charging during off-peak times or when tariffs are low will reduce your charging costs.

If you have rooftop solar, it’s best to charge during the day (when energy is being generated) and consider installing a home EV charger with solar optimisation features to reduce your costs even further.

To maximise your EV’s battery life, keep it charged above 20% and below 80% (if you can help it) – this is when your battery will perform best.

Just like with other batteries, EV batteries degrade faster when they are frequently fully charged or completely drained.

There are two different ways to charge your EV at home:

1. Charging from a regular wall socket.
2. Charging from a dedicated home EV charger.

Using a regular powerpoint to charge can take up to 18 hours if charging from empty to a full battery (varies by size).

Installing a dedicated home EV charger allows you to charge your car up to 3x faster than using a standard power outlet. Find out more about our home EV chargers.

Electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids have much lower running costs than petrol and diesel-powered vehicles. Once the inital cost of buying a vehicle is removed, you’ll save money that otherwise would be spent on petrol and servicing costs. EVs have far fewer moving parts, so they require less maintenance and don’t require regular fluid changes.

To find out how much you might save by owing an EV or hybrid, check out this EV cost calculator tool.