Charging the median electric car at home in Maine costs about $104 a month at 29.59 cents per kilowatt-hour, 61 per cent above the national average — the 48th cheapest of 51 states. It still beats the $170 a petrol car costs over the same 1,125 miles, by $66 a month, but Maine is close enough to the break-even that the tariff you are on matters more than the car you buy.
Public fast charging in Maine
Maine has 136 public DC fast-charging sites with 435 plugs in the federal AFDC station locator (2026-09-16), for 11,900 battery-electric cars registered in the state at the end of 2025.
By the measure that matters on a Friday afternoon — cars divided by plugs — Maine is among the best-served states in the country: 27 registered EVs for every public fast-charging plug where the typical state manages 55 — 9th of 51. That is not a charger on every corner; it means the ones that exist are less likely to have a queue.
Nearly half of those sites stand alone: 54% of Maine fast-charging locations have exactly one plug, so an occupied or broken charger means driving on rather than waiting behind one car. The state averages 3.2 plugs per site.
Tesla is the largest network in Maine with 48% of the plugs (208 of 435), the rest split among the other operators — enough competition that price and reliability are not one company decision.
Which plug fits in Maine
The plug question in Maine has a clear answer: 83% of the sites carry CCS1, the connector on almost every non-Tesla EV sold in the US, against 32% 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 Maine | Share of sites | Cars that use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| CCS1 (J1772 Combo) | 113 | 83% | Almost every non-Tesla EV sold in the US |
| NACS / J3400 (Tesla) | 44 | 32% | Teslas, and other cars with an adapter where the site allows it |
| CHAdeMO | 67 | 49% | Older Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi only |
CHAdeMO is unusually well represented here: 49% of Maine’s sites still carry it (67 of 136). 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 — 1.6 times what the same miles cost at home in Maine, and still under the $15.07 the petrol car spends on them. The multiple is unusually small here, because Maine’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 Maine
Maine 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 Maine is 29.59 cents per kWh (June 2026), against a US average of 18.34. That puts Maine at 48th 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 Maine that is $9.20 per 100 miles and $1,242 over a year, $39 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. Maine is below that line by 18.88 cents, so the saving holds at the state-average rate before any overnight tariff is applied. A summer peak on top of 29.59 cents can push a Maine household past the break-even on its own, which is why the average is a floor to argue from rather than a figure to rely on. Put your real tariff into the running-cost calculator.
Every EPA-rated car, charged at home in Maine
At the Maine average rate, one car in the database costs more to charge than the petrol car costs to fuel: 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 | $6.84 | $77 | $923 | $93 |
| Hyundai Ioniq 6 Long Range RWD | 26.0 | $7.69 | $87 | $1,039 | $83 |
| Tesla Model 3 Long Range AWD | 26.4 | $7.81 | $88 | $1,055 | $82 |
| Lexus RZ 350e FWD | 26.6 | $7.87 | $89 | $1,063 | $81 |
| Tesla Model Y Long Range AWD | 27.5 | $8.14 | $92 | $1,099 | $78 |
| Nissan Leaf 75 kWh | 27.8 | $8.23 | $93 | $1,111 | $77 |
| Subaru Solterra AWD | 28.0 | $8.29 | $93 | $1,119 | $76 |
| Toyota bZ4X AWD 73.1 kWh | 28.0 | $8.29 | $93 | $1,119 | $76 |
| BMW i4 eDrive40 | 28.5 | $8.43 | $95 | $1,138 | $75 |
| Kia EV3 Long Range FWD | 29.0 | $8.58 | $97 | $1,158 | $73 |
| Volvo EX30 Single Motor Extended Range | 29.2 | $8.64 | $97 | $1,166 | $72 |
| Audi Q4 45 e-tron | 29.4 | $8.70 | $98 | $1,174 | $72 |
| Kia EV6 84 kWh RWD | 29.6 | $8.76 | $99 | $1,182 | $71 |
| Polestar 2 Single Motor | 29.6 | $8.76 | $99 | $1,182 | $71 |
| Volkswagen ID.4 Pro | 29.8 | $8.82 | $99 | $1,190 | $70 |
| Hyundai Ioniq 5 84 kWh RWD | 30.0 | $8.88 | $100 | $1,198 | $70 |
| Ford Mustang Mach-E Extended Range RWD | 30.7 | $9.08 | $102 | $1,226 | $67 |
| Mercedes-Benz CLA 250+ with EQ Technology | 31.0 | $9.17 | $103 | $1,238 | $66 |
| Chevrolet Equinox EV FWD | 31.1 | $9.20 | $104 | $1,242 | $66 |
| Ford Mustang Mach-E Standard Range RWD | 31.4 | $9.29 | $105 | $1,254 | $65 |
| Cadillac Optiq RWD | 32.1 | $9.50 | $107 | $1,282 | $63 |
| Chevrolet Blazer EV FWD | 32.3 | $9.56 | $108 | $1,290 | $62 |
| Honda Prologue FWD | 32.5 | $9.62 | $108 | $1,298 | $61 |
| Genesis GV60 AWD | 33.6 | $9.94 | $112 | $1,342 | $58 |
| Nissan Ariya e-4ORCE 87 kWh | 36.6 | $10.83 | $122 | $1,462 | $48 |
| Cadillac Lyriq RWD | 36.8 | $10.89 | $123 | $1,470 | $47 |
| Acura ZDX RWD | 36.9 | $10.92 | $123 | $1,474 | $47 |
| Hyundai Ioniq 9 RWD | 37.0 | $10.95 | $123 | $1,478 | $46 |
| Porsche Taycan (rear-wheel drive) | 37.1 | $10.98 | $124 | $1,482 | $46 |
| Rivian R1S Dual Motor, Max pack | 39.9 | $11.81 | $133 | $1,594 | $37 |
| Kia EV9 99.8 kWh AWD | 40.0 | $11.84 | $133 | $1,598 | $36 |
| Tesla Cybertruck Long Range | 40.9 | $12.10 | $136 | $1,634 | $33 |
| Rivian R1T Dual Motor, Large pack | 42.9 | $12.69 | $143 | $1,714 | $27 |
| Ford F-150 Lightning Extended Range | 47.9 | $14.17 | $159 | $1,913 | $10 |
| Chevrolet Silverado EV Max Range | 49.5 | $14.65 | $165 | $1,977 | $5 |
| GMC Hummer EV Pickup 3X | 65.1 | $19.26 | $217 | $2,601 | −$47 |
| A 27 mpg petrol car at $4.07 a gallon | — | $15.07 | $170 | $2,035 | — |
At Maine prices the roughly ten per cent lost in the charger and cable is worth about $9 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.
Maine against its neighbours
Every state on Maine’s borders is cheaper: New Hampshire at 27.01 cents. The monthly column is the Chevrolet Equinox EV FWD in every row, which makes the border differences directly comparable — $9 a month separates Maine from its cheapest neighbour.
| State | Cents / kWh | Rank | Chevrolet Equinox EV FWD / month | Fast plugs | EVs per plug |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | 27.01 | 44th | $95 | 346 | 47 |
| Maine | 29.59 | 48th | $104 | 435 | 27 |
How long the charge itself takes does not change with the state, only what it costs: the Volvo EX30 charging time, Toyota bZ4X charging time and BYD Seal charging time are 28, 28 and 36 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 Maine’s.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to charge an electric car in Maine?
More than in most of the country: $9.20 per 100 miles, $104 a month for the median car at 29.59 cents per kWh. The Lucid Air Pure RWD brings that down to $77; the GMC Hummer EV Pickup 3X pushes it to $217, and in Maine that choice is worth $140 a month.
Is it cheaper to charge an EV than to buy petrol in Maine?
Yes. At 29.59 cents per kWh the median car costs $104 a month against $170 of petrol for a 27 mpg car at $4.07 a gallon — $66 a month in favour of Maine, $793 a year.
How many fast chargers are there in Maine?
435 plugs across 136 sites (AFDC, 2026-09-16) for 11,900 registered cars, which is 27 per plug and among the easiest ratios in the country. DC fast only — Level 2 is a different question.
Can a non-Tesla use a Tesla charger in Maine?
Where the site is open to other brands, yes, with the right adapter. 44 of the 136 fast-charging sites in Maine carry the NACS plug (32%) and 113 carry CCS1 (83%), 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 Maine?
The Lucid Air Pure RWD, at 23.1 kWh per 100 miles: $6.84 per 100 miles and $77 a month in Maine. Picking it over the GMC Hummer EV Pickup 3X is worth $140 a month here, which is as much as the Maine rate ever makes efficiency worth; the full efficiency order is the same in every state.
Sources for the Maine figures
Electricity price 29.59 cents/kWh: EIA Electric Power Monthly table 5.6.A, June 2026. Sites, plugs and connectors for Maine: 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 Maine: 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.