How To Charge an EV on a Road Trip？

The average cost of charging an EV at a commercial charger, from almost empty to almost full, is between $10 and $30. Keep in mind that charging your EV on a road trip—that is, at a commercial charger—costs significantly more than charging it at home.

However, fueling costs vary much more for EVs than for ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles. This is caused by multiple factors:

• Wide variation in electrical power costs: Commercial charger rates are often double or triple those of residential rates. Even commercial charger rates can vary more than 50% within the same network. In comparison, gas prices vary by about 10% or less.   

• Charger and battery varieties: Charging speed varies with the type of charger, level of charge in the battery, temperature, and the working status of the charger. This can make the time it takes to charge your battery vary considerably as well.

• Pricing: Pricing at commercial chargers is often not directly comparable because there are different pricing systems. These are typically some combination of per kWh, per unit time, and per session costs. This produces charging costs that vary considerably when calculated on a per kWh basis (the amount of charge you get per $1.)

A second factor to consider is the type of charger your car you use. Not all EV chargers are the same. There are three different tiers:

• Level 1: the slowest type of charger. It can take a full 24 hours to fully charge your car. 

• Level 2: delivers a charge of up to 28 miles per hour. The cost for level 2 ranges from $1 to $5 an hour. Normally these types of charging stations are found at shopping centers.

• Level 3: also known as direct current fast chargers (DCFC), level 3 chargers are the fastest. They can charge your battery to nearly full in as little as an hour and will cost between $10 to $30 per charge.
  

Tesla has a proprietary network of chargers that it calls "Superchargers." The cost of using these chargers for your Tesla varies depending on location and other factors, The average cost is around $0.25 per kWh, so a full recharge to 250 miles of range would run approximately $22 (unless you purchased a Model S or Model X between 2012 and 2016, in which case, it’s free)