Choice of electricity tariff makes a big difference to the cost of running an EV. This article covers all you need to know about electricity plans for electric cars in Ireland. Plus, it includes a live ranking of electricity tariffs for EV owners.
⚡️ How much electricity does an electric car use?
| Make and Model | Consumption (kWh/100km) | Annual Consumption (kWh) |
|---|---|---|
| Volkswagen ID.4 | 16.9 | 2,873 |
| Tesla Model Y | 15.7 | 2,669 |
| Hyundai Kona 64 kWh | 14.7 | 2,499 |
| Hyundai Ioniq | 14.3 | 2,431 |
| Tesla Model 3 | 14.9 | 2,533 |
For context, the average electricity usage in Ireland is 4,200 kWh per year. So adding an electric car makes for a big increase.
Despite this, it can cost surprising little to power an EV, provided you’re careful about when you charge it, and choose the right tariff…
✅ What makes a good electricity tariff for electric cars?
The best electricity tariffs for electric car owners have deeply discounted electricity units on offer late at night. Electric car owners can make great use of these by scheduling charging for when electricity is cheapest. This is easy to do with most modern car chargers.
To illustrate, here are 3 possible scenarios for the annual cost of charging an electric car:
| Tariff Type | Typical Cost Per kWh (Cheapest Band) | Typical Cost for 2,500 kWh of Charging (Cheapest Band) |
|---|---|---|
| 24-hour | 30c | €750 |
| Day/Night | 18c | €450 |
| “EV” or “Night Boost” | 7c | €175 |
As you can see, EV rates matter a lot. But normal unit rates also still matter. The live rankings in the next section take both into account.
🏅 Live ranking of tariffs for electric cars in Ireland
Note: Results include Urban tariffs for all meter types. Run a custom price comparison.
⚖️ Custom price comparison for electric car owners
The rankings above are based on average consumption (4,200 kWh per year) plus 7 kWh of EV charging per night. This works out to 6755 kWh per year in total.
If you’re serious about saving money, we recommend doing a custom price comparison. This replaces assumptions with real data, giving you more accurate results and bigger savings.
💸 More ways to save with an EV tariff
Switching tariffs is a quick way to save money on electricity. But there’s more.
You can make extra savings by using the discounted EV band to
- Run your immersion heater (on a timer)
- Charge night storage heaters
- Charge home batteries
📰 Articles in This Series
Best electricity tariffs for heat pumps
Best electricity tariffs for home batteries
Best electricity tariffs for storage heaters
Best electricity tariffs for EVs
Best electricity tariffs for solar panels