PlugLater EV Charging Cost Index, Q4 2026

What it costs to charge an electric car in Great Britain this quarter: published home EV off-peak rates, the Ofgem price cap and public charging prices, converted to cost per 100 miles for the same typical car. Every rate was checked on its source’s own page on 15 October 2026. Next edition: January 2027, after the new price cap starts.

Key findings

• Overnight on Intelligent Octopus Go (7.6p) a typical EV costs £2.11 per 100 miles. At the price cap it is £7.29, 3.5 times as much.
• InstaVolt’s daytime and contactless price (92p) is £25.48 per 100 miles: 12 times the overnight home rate.
• Off-peak public prices narrow the gap but don’t close it: InstaVolt’s 55p overnight app price and Osprey’s 69p overnight price are still 2.1 and 2.6 times the cap rate.
• The 13 home EV off-peak rates, each read on the supplier’s own page on 16 October 2026, are 6.18, 6.66, 7.125, 7.5, 7.6, 8, 8, 8, 8.5, 9.5, 9.5, 9.5 and 13.33p. The median is the 7th value, 8p. British Gas, So Energy and Good Energy are included because those off-peak rates were on their tariff pages that day. Good Energy’s August 2026 PDF day rates include VAT and are not in this median.
• For 8,000 miles a year that is £137–£295 at home off-peak, £583 at the cap rate and £2,039 if every mile were bought at 92p.

Home EV off-peak tariffs

Full rules, windows and eligibility for each tariff: UK EV tariffs compared. Off-peak rates apply only inside each tariff’s window; day rates and standing charges vary by region and are mostly quote-only.

Price cap (standard variable tariff)

The next cap, for 1 January–31 March 2027, is due from Ofgem by 25 November 2026: see next price cap announcement.

Public charging: named networks

Public charging: Zapmap national averages

Source: Zapmap, Price Index (updated 7 October 2026). Zapmap’s figures are weighted averages of pay-as-you-go prices; Zapmap says the prices people actually pay are often lower because of memberships and offers. They are reproduced exactly as published and are not converted to cost per 100 miles here, in line with Zapmap’s terms for reusing its data.

Methodology

• Typical EV: the median of the 142 cars in EV charging costs by car, 277 Wh a mile (EV-Database real-world figures), which is 3.61 miles per kWh (1,000 ÷ 277, rounded to two places).
• Cost per 100 miles = rate in pence ÷ 3.61 (pence per mile), × 100 miles ÷ 100. 8,000 miles = 8,000 ÷ 3.61 = 2,216 kWh × rate, rounded to the pound.
• Rates: read on each supplier’s or network’s own page on 15 October 2026 (Octopus Go from Octopus’s public tariff API). Ofgem’s cap is the GB average for Direct Debit. Electricity has no VAT from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027 (Ofgem).
• Status: “Verified” or “Verified on tariff page” = the off-peak rate was on the supplier’s own page on 16 October 2026. “Illustration” = a round figure used on this site, not a published price.
• Not included: standing charges, day-rate use outside off-peak windows, charger costs, subscriptions and memberships, connection or idle fees, and charging losses. Public prices can vary by site; ranges are shown where the network publishes one.
• Updates: quarterly, in the first month of each price cap period. Corrections are noted on this page with a date. Email stephen@smartshift-uk.com.

Download the data

Download the CSV (smartshift-ev-charging-cost-index-q4-2026.csv): one row per rate, with source URL, status and check date. Zapmap rows are included unmodified with attribution.

Cite this

Questions people ask

How much does it cost to charge an electric car per 100 miles in the UK?

For a typical EV (3.61 miles per kWh), about £2.11 per 100 miles overnight at 7.6p, £7.29 at the 26.32p price cap, and £15.24–£25.76 on the rapid prices published by InstaVolt, Osprey, GRIDSERVE and bp pulse on 15 October 2026.

What is the average home EV off-peak rate?

The median of 13 home EV off-peak rates, each read on the supplier’s own page on 16 October 2026, is 8p/kWh. In order the rates are 6.18, 6.66, 7.125, 7.5, 7.6, 8, 8, 8, 8.5, 9.5, 9.5, 9.5 and 13.33p. The median is the 7th value, 8p.

How much more expensive is public rapid charging than home charging?

InstaVolt’s 92p daytime price is about 12 times Intelligent Octopus Go’s 7.6p overnight rate and 3.5 times the price cap’s 26.32p.

How often is the index updated?

Quarterly, in the first month of each Ofgem price cap period. The next edition is due in January 2027.

Can I use these figures?

Yes, PlugLater’s calculations can be reused with credit and a link. Zapmap, Ofgem and supplier figures should be cited to their owners.

Sources

• Ofgem, price cap 1 October–31 December 2026
• Ofgem, energy price cap unit rates and standing charges (1 October–31 December 2026)
• EDF, Pod Point Plug & Power tariff page
• EDF, GoElectric tariff page
• British Gas, EV Power + Hive Power+ tariff page
• So Energy, So EV tariff page
• Octopus Energy, Intelligent Octopus Go tariff page
• Good Energy, EV Charge tariff page
• ScottishPower, EV Optimise (add-on) tariff page
• ScottishPower, EV Saver tariff page
• Octopus Energy, Octopus Go tariff page
• E.ON Next, Next Drive tariff page
• OVO, Charge Anytime (pay as you go) tariff page
• InstaVolt, pricing terms and conditions
• Osprey, pricing
• GRIDSERVE, pricing
• bp pulse, public EV charging pricing
• Zapmap, Price Index (September 2026, updated 7 October 2026)
• EV-Database, UK real-world consumption list (Wh/mile)

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