AmpLedger
Updated August 18, 2026

Charging at home costs six times more at 6pm than at 2am.

Most people buy the wrong charger and then plug it into the wrong rate plan. Enter your car and your ZIP — we'll show you what you'd actually pay, how many amps you actually need, and what to buy.

13.1¢ super off-peak 80.2¢ on-peak Federal tax credit expired June 30, 2026

What will home charging cost you?

Three inputs. No email required. Every rate figure links to the utility's own filed tariff.

US average is about 230.

Charging off-peak saves you

$0 / year

Energy needed
Your car accepts
Charger to buy
Breaker required

Annual cost to charge, by when you plug in

Annual home charging cost by time-of-use window

Rates change, and your address changes them again. We re-verify every tariff on the date shown, but utilities file revisions continuously, and your actual bill also depends on riders, franchise fees and taxes specific to where you live. Treat this as a well-sourced estimate for comparing your options — then confirm with your utility before you commit to a rate plan or a charger.

Matched to your car

Chargers that fit — nothing oversized

A 48-amp charger on a car that only accepts 32 amps buys you nothing. These are filtered to what your vehicle can actually use.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Prices and availability are shown on Amazon and change frequently.

Recommended for your car
Check price

What most guides get wrong

Three things that will save you more than the charger costs

The federal tax credit is gone

Section 30C was repealed effective June 30, 2026. It does not apply to any charger placed in service after that date. If yours was installed on or before June 30, you can still claim it on your 2026 return.

Source: IRS Form 8911 instructions, Pub. L. 119-21 § 70504

You may not need a panel upgrade

Before agreeing to a $1,500–$4,000 service upgrade, ask your utility for your home's measured peak demand. The NEC lets an electrician size the load from real measured data instead of adding up nameplate ratings — many homes that fail on paper pass on the meter.

Editorial guidance based on NEC 220.87. Confirm with a licensed electrician and your local authority.

There is no "80% rule"

The code requires sizing the circuit at 125% of continuous load — the inverse of the same arithmetic, but the article number matters if you're reading the code. EV charging is always treated as a continuous load.

Editorial summary of NEC 625.41 and 625.42. Not installation advice.

How we work

We don't test hardware. We verify numbers.

There are people who put chargers in freezers for fourteen hours to test cable pliability, and they are better at it than we would be. We link to them. What nobody maintains is the rate and rebate layer underneath the buying decision — so that's what we do, with a source and a verification date on every figure.

Affiliate disclosure. AmpLedger participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. When you buy through a link on this page we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. This never affects which products we recommend — recommendations are filtered by what your vehicle can accept and what your utility will subsidize, not by what pays best.

Not electrical advice. Nothing on this site is installation guidance. Electrical work must be performed by a licensed electrician in compliance with your local code and permitting authority.