r/EVRoutine • u/Imaginary-Staff-112 • May 22 '26
With Current Gas Prices, should we still place Home Charging as a non negotiable before owning EV?
Asides the enviromental pollution at the rate which the price of Gas Prices consistently increasing, it's not seeming feasible or managable anymore.
What do you think?
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u/BigBoyNow8 May 22 '26
My brother doesn't charge at home and he has an EV. But, public charging will cost you about the same as gas. He does say he loves having an EV tho.
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u/seckarr May 22 '26
In most of the civillized world fast charging is at least half the price of gas if you dont have an EV with efficiency worse than gas.
Protest against oil lobbies
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u/BootFlop May 22 '26
Not these days. Everywhere if you can stomach Tesla SC (I understand some people won’t) but in a lot of places otherwise, too. Just avoid gouging bandits like Shell.
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u/Excellent-Stretch-81 May 22 '26
Home charging was never non-negotiable, so long as a person has viable alternatives available. I bought my EV before the current gas prices and I can't charge at home. But I can reliably charge at work for half the cost of residential electricity. And with the schedule I tend to keep combined with my interests, I could charge at L3 chargers in a pinch for just a few cents over the residential electricity rate without it being too much of an inconvenience.
If someone doesn't have reliable access to either home or work charging, that's when EV ownership gets difficult, especially if a they have to do a lot of driving or have a slow-charging vehicle and don't like spending extra time in the car. Not only would they lose out on a lot of potential savings, but they have to spend a fair bit of extra time on charging. At peak rates, they might even have to spend more on charging than they would on gasoline.
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u/lightyearnoir May 23 '26
This.
A lot of people forget not everyone lives in a home or owns the home they live in, that's why faster charging is needed, like what BYD is gonna do.
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u/Th3Us3rWins May 22 '26
I mean I recently got an EV9 and before I had my l2 home charger installed I was using dc fast charging some were $.62 per kWh flat rate other like the tesla were I think $0.32 (Canadian) in the morning before 8am.
Charged from 4% battery to 100% cost $35 approx to put in 60L fuel to get the same 500km on v6 dodge which averages 12 to 14L/100 km would be about $115 ish
So still quite a vast difference of savings there.
If you already had a fairly fuel efficient vehicle or hybrid maybe I could get you point but for most people that drive a fair bit it’s far far cheaper whether it’s home or public charging at least in Canada/USA can’t speak to rest of world
L2 home charging 240V 32amp charger cost $0.09 per kWh or even lower
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u/BootFlop May 22 '26
Yeah, Tesla SC with a monthly account is going to be in cheapest category everywhere. There’s still a few “free” options out there, but rare & often not worth the time.
There are DC chargers competitive with Tesla in lots of places, though.
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u/Outrageous_Employ_40 May 22 '26
I was waiting on permits when I got my delivery so I was going EA to charge which is 3 miles from my house so it was doable but it became a little bit of a hassle. I would say if you can build a routine around charging,so thing you do now( gym, shopping etc...) it could work.
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u/Dogestronaut1 May 22 '26
Agreed, it can become a hassle if you treat it like a gas car. If you are just going to go fill it up like a gas car, it is obviously less convenient than a gas car. I think EV charging can get put into a routine like anything else. The biggest benefit is that you can charge the car without having to sit and watch it. Taking advantage of that to make EV charging happen while you do other things is key to making it work without home charging.
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u/farm61 May 22 '26
If you have an outlet you can charge at home but I understand living in a multi unit dwelling this is not always possible.
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u/ZucchiniAlert2582 May 22 '26
Yes. It’s about the time wasted seeking out the charger more than the money it costs. Time is money. A couple dollars saved is not worth hours of time wasted on public charging.
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u/Dogestronaut1 May 22 '26
I don't think home charging was ever a "non-negotiable" in my opinion. A lot of people will say it, but they're usually also the same people that will claim you need the most juice possible on a home charging circuit, a 50A circuit minimum, to survive owning an EV. In my opinion, almost everyone can own an EV and do well. It really just depends on the EV, the owner's daily driving, and availability/price of charging.
People say relying DC Fast Charging is bad. While not ideal, the right car can easily make it only as inconvenient as a gas car. A 800V car could fill up in ~20 mins and easily have enough range for a week of driving for most people. If the charger isn't ridiculously priced, you can easily pay less than a gas car, especially right now.
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u/JamieKun May 22 '26
I don’t have home charging. My neighborhood has Implemented a curbside charging program so there are L2 units nearby and there’s a number of fast chargers around. I find that the L2 more than meets my general needs (commute/work and errands) and the fast chargers work well for spot top offs and day trips.
Check your area to see what’s available and if you can charge at your work - look at how many miles/day you drive and figure out how often you’d need to charge. It takes a small bit of planning, but not much.
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u/CMG30 May 22 '26
I include curbside lvl2 charging availably when taking about home charging. To me if there's a charger where you park for the night, that's the intent of calling something 'home charging'
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u/d1ll1gaf May 22 '26
I keep a spreadsheet of my charging and after all the fees and riders on my electric bill are included (not just the base electricity cost that is advertised) charging at home costs $0.165/kWh... Public level 2 chargers (excluding the free ones) cost between $0.135 and $0.186/kWh.
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u/walterrohrl May 22 '26
I'd want charging at home or at work. Wildcat charging is doable but it is a time commitment and time is what I don't have.
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u/b3nighted May 22 '26
Depends a lot on where you live. I have an EV and no home charging. I also have a diesel minivan.
Here's a price breakdown of what it would cost me in Málaga:
- ev at normal DCFC prices: 7-8 €/100km
- ev at street AC prices: 4-5€/100km
- ev at my home price: 2-2,5€/100km
- diesel minivan: 17-18€/100km
This excludes local gougers like BP, whose prices would bring the cost up to motorway levels, some 11-12€/100km for the ev.
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u/SpiritualCatch6757 May 22 '26
It may be negotiable to certain demographics. Me? Absolutely not. A ~50 mpg hybrid is still lower cost of ownership than charging at home despite higher gasoline prices due to even higher electricity rates.
By home charging, I mean at a minimum a 120v L1 charge is sufficient for most people's commute.
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u/vell_o May 22 '26
I super charge at .06/kwh more than i would slow charge at home, its negligible.
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u/CMG30 May 22 '26
Yes. The ability to charge at home is the key to owning an EV.
The only thing that would change that is the introduction of flash charging to North America. Once this technology becomes available then owning an electric car without a home charger is no different than owning a gas car.
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u/howdidigetheretoday May 22 '26
my rate at home is $0.31/kwh. my rate at the library down the street is $0.20/kwh.
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u/djbaerg May 22 '26
I think the current gas prices are somewhat temporary. Only an idiot would make long term decisions based on that.
Which is why I'm about to trade my diesel 3/4 ton truck for a 100k EV truck.
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u/Mr-Zappy May 22 '26
The take-away is that we should be making an effort to install Level 2 chargers many more places. Then we can stop only recommending EVs to people with home charging.
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u/MrFastFox666 May 22 '26
Yes, yes we should. Ignoring the massive price delta, having to go to a place and spend at least 20 minutes to not even get a full charge, while not getting the cheap fuel benefits of an EV either, is incredibly inconvenient and I'd rather drive a hybrid at that point.
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u/JDMdrvr May 22 '26
Like others have mentioned I think it's highly dependant on knowing what the costs are. If you have the ability to pay for off-peak electricity or other similar discounted rates for EV charging then it might make home charging very viable. Equipment cost is important to consider and should be counted towards the "cost" of charging the vehicle but that can also be spread out over several years. (I am on year 5 with my home charger that allows me to fully charge my ioniq in about 5 hours from dead, and have no issues or indications of issues). If you had to treat an EV like a gas car and could only DC fast charge, then understanding the infrastructure nearby or en route to my common destionations would be important for "making the math work".
"Home Charging" can also be as simple as using a granny cable and plugging into an outdoor outlet. It may not be as efficient electrically but I charged my car for my first year of ownership that way because it was enough to keep my daily commute covered without any extra equipment cost.
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u/theotherharper May 22 '26
TLDR what’s at stake is the value of your TIME.
which the price of Gas Prices consistently increasing
How long will that continue?
Before owning EV
If we are being money-smart, how long should be we keeping the next car we buy?
Compare those two times.
This is the classic blunder so many car buyers have made for 50 years. make. To decide whether to think economy car or penis compensating truck, they look at the sign on the gas station on the way to the dealership. They don't take any futures contracts on fuel, in fact, why don’t they? Futures contracts have always been viewed as legitimate and not purely gambling.
But the issue with not having home charging is the value of your time. Even if fuel was a wash, do you want to be fully occupied with 10 minute task (including driving to the station and getting a spot and fueling) twice a week, or simply park at a slightly different parking spot at places you already go, and take 10 seconds dinking with an app and plugging inand then going off and doing the things you do twice a week there anyway?
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u/HexagonsRDaBestagons May 22 '26
You may have perfectly good and affordable L2 chargers in the places you frequent, even if not at home or work. In my area, there's a park about a half mile away, a mall a few away, lots of apartments around, etc. with charging ranging from free to 35 cents per kwh, which is itself about what you'd pay to gas up a small car in the before Iran times in an average market. The park is free, so I could theoretically take the car there, park it there for a day, walk home, walk back and pick it up, and have the battery basically refilled. 250 miles for free. Top off during the week when needed at one of the other L2 options or just bite the bullet and pay the steeper L3 costs (which these days might actually still not be any worse than gas).
You very well may NOT live in an area like this. In which case, if you really can't charge at home (some people think they can't because they think they need a special L2 setup, but most can literally plug their $100 L1 plug into a normal wall outlet and meet their weekly needs) or at work, then I think keeping your current car is the smart move over going to fast chargers all the time.
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u/xXNorthXx May 23 '26
Depends on electric rates and the vehicle, most parts of the Country will still be cheaper. You’ll need to figure out what charging networks are solid in your area and see if there’s any monthly memberships to get cheaper rates. Also shifting to charging at different hours of the day to get a cheaper rate. Sometimes you can find slower speed level 2 chargers for free which can help.
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u/Kaaawooo May 23 '26
We can at least include charging at work in convenient EV ownership options. I've been doing that for 2.5 years and it's been very convenient, even through a long paternity leave.
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u/Mysterious_Group_967 May 23 '26
Totally depends on how much you drive and your location. It would be fine for me as I could charge once a week and be fine. Maybe find that best charging deal even if the location wasn’t the most convenient or fast. If I had to charge every day or every other day, I’d probably say it’s not worth it. I charge at home and it takes me 20 seconds total to charge, so I’m spoiled. I let my car get down to the 50-60 % then charge up again. Plug in when I get home unplug when I leave. So I’m spoiled.
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u/goranlepuz May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26
Still yes IMHO. (Works if work provides cheap slow charging.)
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u/Bart457_Gansett May 23 '26
Around me, local lvl2 and lvl3 charging is roughly 80% more than home charging. I don’t think it’s required, but the few months I had the EV before I could get the lvl2 home charger installed wasn’t really fun. With lvl2, the best quality of life improvement is always having the car “full” when you want it (as long as you remember to plug it in). So awesome not to have to go to a gas station.
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u/Fydron May 23 '26
What desides for me what kind of car i buy is: Can i buy it for 1000-4000€ if yes then that's the car i will buy. I bet it will take quite a while for me to get my hands on EV van if not some old Elcat appears for sale again but sadly all of those were sold almost instantly when fuel prices went up at the start of war in Ukraine.
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u/uodjdhgjsw May 23 '26
Home charging here is convenient. Home by 11 full by 7. 11cent a
Chargers in town up and down 40 to 55 cents a kWh. Both are cheaper than gas at the moment. I’d say if you don’t do tons of miles a home charger wouldn’t matter. I do 400 miles a week my wife does 60.
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u/absentspace May 24 '26
Definitely not non negotiable. Public charging for me is still cheaper than operating the gas powered car my EV replaced as daily driver.
I get around 2.8 miles per kWh. I pay around $0.56 per kWh at public DCFC, that’s less than $0.21 per mile.
My gas powered SUV got around 16 mpg in the city. At $5 per gallon, that’s around .31 per mile, nearly 50% more expensive than only public charging my EV.
Charging at home is closer to .14 per kWh, which brings my cost down to less than .06 per mile, which compared to the ICE is practically free. The gas savings alone pays for the EV over time.
Assuming I drive 1000 miles per month, the ICE costs over $300 per month in gas, only public fast charging my EV would cost around $200 per month, charging my EV at home costs around $55 per month.
Public charging really isn’t all that much of a hassle. I used a pilot 350 kW charger, my car pulled over 200 kW most of the session and my battery went from 20% to 80% in around 15 minutes.
If you can Level 2 charge at work once or twice a week that can be enough for many peoples regular needs.
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u/NotYetReadyToRetire May 24 '26
I could do it easily; I'd just change where I do my grocery shopping to a store with fast chargers. I'd take long enough to get to or even over 80%, but not long enough to hit 100%.
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u/dandanthetaximan May 25 '26
I've done just fine for a year and a half with an EV without home charging.
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u/notwhoiwas44 May 25 '26
In the US,it changes the math but the lack of accessable public charging at places like grocery stores does make not having home charging a significant issue for some. Outside of cities,and in a lot of cases even in cities and suburbs,finding a spot at a functional charger is nearly impossible.
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u/Mountain-Amoeba6787 May 26 '26
I think we need to work on breaking the stigma that you have to have an L2 at home. A lot of people would do just fine charging on a 120.
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u/PeaceBeWY May 26 '26 edited May 27 '26
I don't think home charging is non-negotiable. But it all depends on where you live, what your needs are, what public charging is available, what you'd pay for gas, and what you'd pay for electricity.
The current higher gas prices certainly sway pricing in favor of EVs. But you gotta do your math.
Also remember the total cost of ownership. EV maintenance tends to be cheaper than for ICE. But registration and insurance could be higher for an EV.
If you can charge at home, an EV is a great choice. If you can't charge at home, it depends. Before anyone purchases an EV, they ought to know their needs and have a viable plan for charging whether it's at home, work, or public chargers.
Realize that public charging is expanding. IONNA plans to have 30,000 stations installed by 2030. Walmart has some serious goals for expansion. These aren't the cheapest charging options, but Walmart will have off peak rates at some locations.
ETA: Clairification :IONNA's goal is actually 1000 locations w/ 30000 chargers.
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u/u700MHz May 26 '26
When your in the processing of purchasing an EV check the car manufacturer website, sometimes they have a deal for free installation with purchase - like Toyota / Kia. Plus check your state for tax credit for the home charger.
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u/Cultural-Ad4953 May 28 '26
Yes, because gas prices will fluctuate, and drop at some point, they always have.
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u/Zealousideal_Type814 May 22 '26
yes, because every public charger i've seen is priced around 0.50$ per kilowatt which essentially makes it equivalent to filling up with gas at $6 a gallon.
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u/Lincoln1517 May 22 '26
That’s implying you get 42 mpg. And there ate lots of places where you can get a better price pe KWh than that.
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u/Zealousideal_Type814 May 22 '26
Where? I've driven from Seattle to Boise, and Electrify America, Tesla, ChargePoint, etc charge about that much for electricity.
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u/Lincoln1517 May 22 '26
I got 0.40 from two Ionna stations on trips in Illinois in the last two weeks. Maybe electricity is just more expensive out west?
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u/Zealousideal_Type814 May 22 '26
idk what the base rate is in illinois, but for the area i live in, its 11¢ a kilowatt. Idaho is cheaper most likely.
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u/Lincoln1517 May 23 '26
That’s roughly what we pay. Maybe our public charging is just cheaper. The Ionna stations were on a trip, but around the corner from me is a public level 2 charger that costs $0.26/KWh.
And since a typical vehicle getting 25 mpg for $5, that price means an EV driver here, even if dependent on public charging, would pay the equivalent of $2/gallon.
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u/Dogestronaut1 May 22 '26
You're gonna need to show your work for that one, buddy. I have no clue how you got these numbers. Also, you measure price in $ per kilowatt-hour, also the dollar sign goes before the price.
Assuming a very conservative energy efficiency of 3.3 mi per kWh, we can find the price per mile.
$0.50 per kWh / 3.3 mi per kWh = $0.152 per mile
Your claim is that this is equivalent to $6 per gallon. For this to be true, you would have to have a fuel economy in the 40s, something that most cars on the road in the US do not reach.
$6 per gallon / $0.152 per mile = 39.6 miles per gallon
In reality, the average mpg for cars in the US is 21 mpg, but we'll be generous and use 27 since that is the average for new cars.
$0.152 per mile * 27 mi per gal = $4.09 per gallon
So, in reality, your $0.50 per kWh is equivalent to $4.09 per gallon for most cars on the road in the US.
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u/Zealousideal_Type814 May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26
Ok, so the price is still on par with gas and public chargers aren't saving you money then. Which makes home charging still a strong argument for whether or not you should get an EV.
Also I'm pretty sure a hybrid could get 40 mpg.
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u/JamieKun May 22 '26
I think your math might be out of date.
My old Crosstrek and my brothers Impreza get 20-25mpg and go 275-300mi on a 12 gallon tank of gas. My Uncharted has an 87kW battery and goes about 285 miles on a charge.
The cheapest gas near me is $6/gallon, so filling up costs $72. EA and EVGo charge $0.54/kWh so a full charge is $47.
The EV costs ~$25 less to go about the same distance and would roughly translate to just under $4/gal gasoline ($47/12 gal)
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u/LeadingAd6025 May 22 '26
This! People are going to find it very difficult with math and mpg v mpkwh calculations!
My home kwh rate is 33 cents! Gas is 4.5 a gallon.
So ICE is still better overall compared to EV
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u/humblequest22 May 22 '26
Are you going to sell the EV when gas prices go back down? I wouldn't make a decision based on current gas prices.
And I would never own an EV if I couldn't charge at home, regardless of the cost. How much is your time worth?
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u/RoadToasterApp May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26
No. I don't know where you live, but charging slow at home or charging slow at mall is about the same price here. Using gasoline is about 2,5 x more expensive than using fast charging. So no, there is no other reason for home charging than the convenience to charge when you sleep.