What an electric car costs to run is not the price on the charger; it is that price divided by how far the car goes. A cheap post for a thirsty car can cost more per kilometre than an expensive one for an efficient car. Two numbers settle it — dollars per kWh and kilometres per kWh — and the lab below is the whole guide in one place.
- Median public tariff
- A$0.50
- Type 2 median
- A$0.45
- CCS2 median
- A$0.70
- Typical cost per km
- A$0.083
Work out your own
The car sets the efficiency, the post sets the price, and the year turns it into a number you can compare with anything else you spend on transport. Every modelled car’s figure is the catalogue consumption, so it is a fair comparison between cars rather than a promise for a particular route. The public presets are the directory’s own medians: a Type 2 post at A$0.45 per kWh, a CCS2 post at A$0.70. The home presets are published rates rather than averages — A$0.045 is OVO’s EV Plan between midnight and 6am, and A$0.22 is the single-rate reference the same retailer prints for its standard plan.
Cost lab · two numbers and a year
What does a kilometre cost you?
1 · Pick a car
2 · What you pay per kWh
A$0.50
A$0.045 · an overnight EV rateA$1.00 · the dearest sites recorded
3 · Kilometres a year
Compare with petrol
A$2.36/L is the five-city average for the week to 21 October 2026 (ACCC weekly monitoring, via the Federal Government's Fuel Plan page). 8.3 L/100 km is the light-vehicle fleet average derived from the NTC's 190.8 g CO₂/km. Put your own two numbers in.
Cost per kilometre
A$0.066per kilometre
Peugeot e-308 · 7.6 km/kWh · A$0.50/kWh
- Per 100 km
- A$6.58
- Per year
- A$987
Electric
A$6.58 / 100 km
8.3 L/100 km petrol
A$19.59 / 100 km
The electric kilometre is A$13.01 cheaper per 100 kilometres — about 66% less than petrol at these numbers.
15,000 kilometres needs about 1,974 kWh a year. Public per-kWh tariff: session fees, idle fees and parking are not included.
Peugeot e-308 efficiency and range →The formula
Cost per kilometre
Price per kWh ÷ kilometres per kWh = cost per kilometre. At the A$0.50 median and 6 km per kWh, A$0.50 ÷ 6 = A$0.083 per kilometre — A$8.33 per 100 km. Multiply by the kilometres you drive for the year and you have a fuel bill.
To get kilometres per kWh from a car’s consumption, invert it: a car using 15 kWh per 100 km returns 100 ÷ 15 = 6.7 km per kWh, and one using 22 kWh per 100 km returns 4.5. The catalogue publishes Wh/km, which is the same figure scaled by ten — 150 Wh/km is 6.7 km/kWh.
How much does 100 km cost?
The grid below is the formula run at a range of prices and efficiencies, so you can find your own corner of it without moving a slider. The three efficiency rows are the shapes of car in this catalogue: a large one, the median, and an efficient one.
| Efficiency | A$0.10/kWh | A$0.25/kWh | A$0.45/kWh | A$0.70/kWh |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.5 km/kWh | A$2.22 | A$5.56 | A$10.00 | A$15.56 |
| 6.0 km/kWh | A$1.67 | A$4.17 | A$7.50 | A$11.67 |
| 6.7 km/kWh | A$1.49 | A$3.73 | A$6.72 | A$10.45 |
Cost for 100 km, before session fees, idle fees, parking or membership discounts. At the A$0.50 median, the middle row pays A$8.33.
What a year of driving costs
15,000 km at the A$0.50 median tariff, for three cars of different appetites:
Efficient car · 7.0 km/kWh
A$1,071
15,000 km · 2,143 kWh · A$0.071/km
Typical car · 6.0 km/kWh
A$1,250
15,000 km · 2,500 kWh · A$0.083/km
Large car or van · 4.8 km/kWh
A$1,563
15,000 km · 3,125 kWh · A$0.104/km
The gap between an efficient car and a large one is A$491 a year over 15,000 km. Moving the same car from an overnight rate of A$0.045 to the public median of A$0.50 is A$1,138 — so where you charge is a bigger lever than which car you buy.
Electric against petrol
The comparison a reader arrives for. Every figure here has a source: the electric rows are this directory’s medians at the catalogue’s median efficiency, and the petrol row uses the ACCC’s weekly five-city retail price and a consumption figure derived from the National Transport Commission’s fleet emissions data. Read the petrol row as a high-water mark — the same government page puts the current price 65 cents a litre above the pre-conflict level of 20 February 2026, so a cheaper litre makes the electric column look better, not worse.
| What | Per km | Per 100 km | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| EV, public median | A$0.083 | A$8.33 | A$0.50 median ÷ 6 km/kWh |
| EV, overnight 4.5c | A$0.007 | A$0.75 | OVO EV Plan, 00:00–06:00 |
| EV, anytime 21.6c | A$0.036 | A$3.60 | OVO single-rate reference, VIC |
| Petrol now | A$0.20 | A$19.59 | A$2.36/L × 8.3 L/100 km (ACCC, 21 Oct 2026) |
| NSW road-user charge, from 1 Jul 2027 | 3.095c | A$3.10 | NSW Government, 2026-27 rate |
The charge applies to battery EVs from 1 July 2027 or when EVs reach 30% of new sales, whichever comes first, and is indexed each financial year. No state collects a distance charge today; Victoria's was struck down in 2023.
Where is public charging cheapest?
The national median hides a spread. These are the 7 states and territories with at least 10 priced stations, cheapest first. Northern Territory has fewer than that, so it keeps a cost page but is not ranked here.
| State or territory | Median | Priced | Stations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Capital Territory | A$0.45 | 21 | 29 |
| New South Wales | A$0.50 | 396 | 636 |
| Victoria | A$0.50 | 150 | 210 |
| Western Australia | A$0.50 | 80 | 148 |
| Queensland | A$0.55 | 112 | 182 |
| Tasmania | A$0.65 | 11 | 28 |
| South Australia | A$0.69 | 53 | 86 |
At least ten priced stations to be ranked. Lowest: Australian Capital Territory A$0.45, New South Wales A$0.50, Victoria A$0.50. Highest: South Australia A$0.69, Tasmania A$0.65, Queensland A$0.55.
Which EVs are cheapest per kilometre?
The most efficient models in this catalogue, by the consumption figure on their own pages, with what a 100 km costs at the median tariff.
| Model | Consumption | km per kWh | Per 100 km |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peugeot e-308 | 13.2 kWh/100 km | 7.6 km/kWh | A$6.58 |
| Tesla Model 3 | 13.2 kWh/100 km | 7.6 km/kWh | A$6.58 |
| Renault Megane E-Tech | 13.3 kWh/100 km | 7.5 km/kWh | A$6.67 |
| MINI Cooper SE | 13.5 kWh/100 km | 7.4 km/kWh | A$6.76 |
| Kia EV4 | 13.9 kWh/100 km | 7.2 km/kWh | A$6.94 |
| BYD Atto 1 | 14.1 kWh/100 km | 7.1 km/kWh | A$7.04 |
Cost at the national median of A$0.50 per kWh. WLTP efficiency describes the test cycle the catalogue quotes; a real trip in traffic or cold weather uses more.
What changes the number
- Efficiency. Speed, temperature, tyres, load and heating all move kilometres per kWh. A winter trip can use noticeably more energy than the same trip in spring.
- The plug you use. Type 2 posts here have a median of A$0.45 and CCS2 posts A$0.70 — the same car pays both prices, for different amounts of time.
- Fees. Session fees, idle fees and parking sit on top of the per-kWh figure and are not in any median on this page. A per-session fee on a short top-up can cost more than the energy.
- Where you charge. Home electricity is a different market from a public tariff, with its own guide to what home charging costs — the territory tables are public prices only.
Can you spot the cheaper kilometre?
Four pairs. Both cards carry the two numbers that matter, so the answer is a division — the trap is assuming the cheaper kilowatt-hour always wins.
Game · 4 pairs · pick the cheaper kilometre
Which is cheaper per kilometre?
1 / 4 · 0 right
Do the sum on both cards: price divided by kilometres per kWh.
The whole page in four lines
- 1Cost per kilometre = price per kWh ÷ kilometres per kWh.
- 2A cheap post on a thirsty car can beat a dear post on an efficient one — divide before you assume.
- 3The public tariff is not your home rate; fees sit on top of both.
- 4Fifteen thousand kilometres turns a per-kilometre figure into the number that shows up on a bill.