Charging the median electric car at home in Hawaii costs about $184 a month at 52.72 cents per kilowatt-hour, and at that rate it is dearer than petrol: the same 1,125 miles in a 27 mpg car cost $170. The most expensive state in the country to charge at home, 187 per cent above the national average. An overnight tariff, not the state average, is what makes the sums work here.
Public fast charging in Hawaii
Hawaii has 47 public DC fast-charging sites with 179 plugs in the federal AFDC station locator (2026-09-16), for 35,100 battery-electric cars registered in the state at the end of 2025.
Hawaii is one of the most crowded states in the country per plug: 35,100 registered EVs share 179 public fast-charging plugs, 196 cars each where the typical state manages 55 — 50th of 51. If you cannot charge where you sleep, that number is the one to weigh before buying.
Sites here are mostly multi-plug: only 13% have a single charger, and the state averages 3.8 plugs per site. A stop being occupied is far less often a dead end in Hawaii than the national picture suggests.
OpConnect is the largest network in Hawaii with 40% of the plugs (72 of 179), the rest split among the other operators — enough competition that price and reliability are not one company decision.
Which plug fits in Hawaii
The plug question in Hawaii has a clear answer: 79% of the sites carry CCS1, the connector on almost every non-Tesla EV sold in the US, against 30% carrying the Tesla NACS plug. A CCS car has the run of the state; a Tesla is at home on its own network and needs an adapter elsewhere.
| Connector | Sites in Hawaii | Share of sites | Cars that use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| CCS1 (J1772 Combo) | 37 | 79% | Almost every non-Tesla EV sold in the US |
| NACS / J3400 (Tesla) | 14 | 30% | Teslas, and other cars with an adapter where the site allows it |
| CHAdeMO | 41 | 87% | Older Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi only |
CHAdeMO is unusually well represented here: 87% of Hawaii’s sites still carry it (41 of 47). That is a legacy of early buildout rather than a live standard — no car sold new in the US takes it, and those bays are worth nothing to a car bought this decade.
Public fast charging does not follow the residential rate. At a typical network price of $0.48 per kWh the median car costs $14.93 per 100 miles — 0.9 times what the same miles cost at home in Hawaii, and still under the $15.07 the petrol car spends on them. The multiple is unusually small here, because Hawaii’s residential rate is already close to network pricing; public charging costs less of a premium than it does in most of the country. How long each car takes on a fast charger is on its charging page.
What electricity costs in Hawaii
Hawaii is one of the ten most expensive places in the country to buy a kilowatt-hour, which changes the arithmetic before any car is chosen. The EIA published residential average for Hawaii is 52.72 cents per kWh (June 2026), against a US average of 18.34. That puts Hawaii at 51st of 51 states and DC, cheapest first — the dearer half of the country. The Chevrolet Equinox EV FWD sits in the middle of the 36 cars rated here at 31.1 kWh per 100 miles; in Hawaii that is $16.40 per 100 miles and $2,213 over a year, $120 a month more than the same car would cost at the national average rate.
Petrol wins once electricity passes roughly 48 cents per kWh — the figure worth knowing in a dear state. Hawaii is above that line by 4.25 cents: at the state-average rate, the median car costs more to fuel than the petrol car. Only an overnight tariff well below the average changes that. That makes the tariff, not the car, the decision in Hawaii: an overnight window priced well under 48 cents turns the answer around, and the state average never will. The running-cost calculator takes your own rate.
Every EPA-rated car, charged at home in Hawaii
At the Hawaii average rate, 27 of the 36 cars costs more to charge than the petrol car costs to fuel: Kia EV3 Long Range FWD, Volvo EX30 Single Motor Extended Range, Audi Q4 45 e-tron, Kia EV6 84 kWh RWD, Polestar 2 Single Motor, Volkswagen ID.4 Pro, Hyundai Ioniq 5 84 kWh RWD, Ford Mustang Mach-E Extended Range RWD, Mercedes-Benz CLA 250+ with EQ Technology, Chevrolet Equinox EV FWD, Ford Mustang Mach-E Standard Range RWD, Cadillac Optiq RWD, Chevrolet Blazer EV FWD, Honda Prologue FWD, Genesis GV60 AWD, Nissan Ariya e-4ORCE 87 kWh, Cadillac Lyriq RWD, Acura ZDX RWD, Hyundai Ioniq 9 RWD, Porsche Taycan (rear-wheel drive), Rivian R1S Dual Motor, Max pack, Kia EV9 99.8 kWh AWD, Tesla Cybertruck Long Range, Rivian R1T Dual Motor, Large pack, Ford F-150 Lightning Extended Range, Chevrolet Silverado EV Max Range, GMC Hummer EV Pickup 3X. Everything above $170 a month in the table is in that position; everything below it saves money at the meter.
| Car | EPA kWh / 100 mi | Per 100 miles | Per month | Per year | Saved vs petrol / month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lucid Air Pure RWD | 23.1 | $12.18 | $137 | $1,644 | $33 |
| Hyundai Ioniq 6 Long Range RWD | 26.0 | $13.71 | $154 | $1,850 | $15 |
| Tesla Model 3 Long Range AWD | 26.4 | $13.92 | $157 | $1,879 | $13 |
| Lexus RZ 350e FWD | 26.6 | $14.02 | $158 | $1,893 | $12 |
| Tesla Model Y Long Range AWD | 27.5 | $14.50 | $163 | $1,957 | $6 |
| Nissan Leaf 75 kWh | 27.8 | $14.66 | $165 | $1,979 | $5 |
| Subaru Solterra AWD | 28.0 | $14.76 | $166 | $1,993 | $4 |
| Toyota bZ4X AWD 73.1 kWh | 28.0 | $14.76 | $166 | $1,993 | $4 |
| BMW i4 eDrive40 | 28.5 | $15.03 | $169 | $2,028 | $1 |
| Kia EV3 Long Range FWD | 29.0 | $15.29 | $172 | $2,064 | −$2 |
| Volvo EX30 Single Motor Extended Range | 29.2 | $15.39 | $173 | $2,078 | −$4 |
| Audi Q4 45 e-tron | 29.4 | $15.50 | $174 | $2,092 | −$5 |
| Kia EV6 84 kWh RWD | 29.6 | $15.61 | $176 | $2,107 | −$6 |
| Polestar 2 Single Motor | 29.6 | $15.61 | $176 | $2,107 | −$6 |
| Volkswagen ID.4 Pro | 29.8 | $15.71 | $177 | $2,121 | −$7 |
| Hyundai Ioniq 5 84 kWh RWD | 30.0 | $15.82 | $178 | $2,135 | −$8 |
| Ford Mustang Mach-E Extended Range RWD | 30.7 | $16.19 | $182 | $2,185 | −$12 |
| Mercedes-Benz CLA 250+ with EQ Technology | 31.0 | $16.34 | $184 | $2,206 | −$14 |
| Chevrolet Equinox EV FWD | 31.1 | $16.40 | $184 | $2,213 | −$15 |
| Ford Mustang Mach-E Standard Range RWD | 31.4 | $16.55 | $186 | $2,235 | −$17 |
| Cadillac Optiq RWD | 32.1 | $16.92 | $190 | $2,285 | −$21 |
| Chevrolet Blazer EV FWD | 32.3 | $17.03 | $192 | $2,299 | −$22 |
| Honda Prologue FWD | 32.5 | $17.13 | $193 | $2,313 | −$23 |
| Genesis GV60 AWD | 33.6 | $17.71 | $199 | $2,391 | −$30 |
| Nissan Ariya e-4ORCE 87 kWh | 36.6 | $19.30 | $217 | $2,605 | −$47 |
| Cadillac Lyriq RWD | 36.8 | $19.40 | $218 | $2,619 | −$49 |
| Acura ZDX RWD | 36.9 | $19.45 | $219 | $2,626 | −$49 |
| Hyundai Ioniq 9 RWD | 37.0 | $19.51 | $219 | $2,633 | −$50 |
| Porsche Taycan (rear-wheel drive) | 37.1 | $19.56 | $220 | $2,640 | −$50 |
| Rivian R1S Dual Motor, Max pack | 39.9 | $21.04 | $237 | $2,840 | −$67 |
| Kia EV9 99.8 kWh AWD | 40.0 | $21.09 | $237 | $2,847 | −$68 |
| Tesla Cybertruck Long Range | 40.9 | $21.56 | $243 | $2,911 | −$73 |
| Rivian R1T Dual Motor, Large pack | 42.9 | $22.62 | $254 | $3,053 | −$85 |
| Ford F-150 Lightning Extended Range | 47.9 | $25.25 | $284 | $3,409 | −$115 |
| Chevrolet Silverado EV Max Range | 49.5 | $26.10 | $294 | $3,523 | −$124 |
| GMC Hummer EV Pickup 3X | 65.1 | $34.32 | $386 | $4,633 | −$217 |
| A 27 mpg petrol car at $4.07 a gallon | — | $15.07 | $170 | $2,035 | — |
At Hawaii prices the roughly ten per cent lost in the charger and cable is worth about $17 a month on its own, which is why these are EPA ratings measured at the socket rather than pack-size arithmetic. The four cars with no US rating are in kilometres on the national page.
Hawaii against the mainland
Hawaii has no land border to compare against, so the reference points are the national average (18.34 cents, $64 a month for the median car), the cheapest state, Nevada at 13.11 cents, and the dearest, Hawaii at 52.72. The full ranking is on EV charging cost by state.
How long the charge itself takes does not change with the state, only what it costs: the Porsche Taycan charging time, Nissan Ariya charging time and Volvo EX30 charging time are 19, 48 and 28 minutes from 10 to 80 per cent wherever you plug in, and each of those pages runs the same cost arithmetic as this one at the national average rate rather than Hawaii’s.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to charge an electric car in Hawaii?
More than in most of the country: $16.40 per 100 miles, $184 a month for the median car at 52.72 cents per kWh. The Lucid Air Pure RWD brings that down to $137; the GMC Hummer EV Pickup 3X pushes it to $386, and in Hawaii that choice is worth $249 a month.
Is it cheaper to charge an EV than to buy petrol in Hawaii?
Not at the state-average rate. 52.72 cents per kWh is above the 48-cent break-even against a 27 mpg car at $4.07 a gallon, so the median car costs $15 a month more to fuel. A cheaper overnight tariff, a more efficient car or dearer petrol each move the answer.
How many fast chargers are there in Hawaii?
47 sites and 179 plugs (AFDC, 2026-09-16), which 35,100 registered cars have to share — 196 per plug, against 55 in the median state. Only DC fast chargers are counted; Level 2 is not.
Can a non-Tesla use a Tesla charger in Hawaii?
Where the site is open to other brands, yes, with the right adapter. 14 of the 47 fast-charging sites in Hawaii carry the NACS plug (30%) and 37 carry CCS1 (79%), so a CCS car still has the larger of the two networks to fall back on. The plug on each car is listed on its model page.
Which electric car is cheapest to charge in Hawaii?
The Lucid Air Pure RWD, at 23.1 kWh per 100 miles: $12.18 per 100 miles and $137 a month in Hawaii. Picking it over the GMC Hummer EV Pickup 3X is worth $249 a month here, which is as much as the Hawaii rate ever makes efficiency worth; the full efficiency order is the same in every state.
Sources for the Hawaii figures
Electricity price 52.72 cents/kWh: EIA Electric Power Monthly table 5.6.A, June 2026. Sites, plugs and connectors for Hawaii: AFDC station locator, public DC fast only, 2026-09-16. A site counts once per connector it carries, so those rows sum above the site total. Registered EVs in Hawaii: AFDC registration counts, 2025, battery-electric only. Energy per 100 miles: EPA combined ratings, credited on each car’s page. Mileage, petrol price and the public DC rate are the standing assumptions on the methodology page.