Charging the median electric car at home in South Dakota costs about $54 a month at 15.36 cents per kilowatt-hour — the 19th cheapest of 51 states, and 16 per cent below the national average. Petrol over the same 1,125 miles costs $170, so the saving is $116 a month, $1,390 a year; on the public side 19 registered cars share each fast-charging plug, against 55 in the typical state.
Public fast charging in South Dakota
South Dakota has 46 public DC fast-charging sites with 157 plugs in the federal AFDC station locator (2026-09-16), for 3,000 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 — South Dakota is among the best-served states in the country: 19 registered EVs for every public fast-charging plug where the typical state manages 55 — 3rd of 51. That is not a charger on every corner; it means the ones that exist are less likely to have a queue.
39% of the sites in South Dakota have a single plug and the state averages 3.4 plugs per site — enough that a busy stop usually has another bay, not enough to count on it off the interstate.
Tesla is the largest network in South Dakota with 43% of the plugs (68 of 157), the rest split among the other operators — enough competition that price and reliability are not one company decision.
Which plug fits in South Dakota
The plug question in South Dakota has a clear answer: 76% of the sites carry CCS1, the connector on almost every non-Tesla EV sold in the US, against 26% 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 South Dakota | Share of sites | Cars that use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| CCS1 (J1772 Combo) | 35 | 76% | Almost every non-Tesla EV sold in the US |
| NACS / J3400 (Tesla) | 12 | 26% | Teslas, and other cars with an adapter where the site allows it |
| CHAdeMO | 13 | 28% | Older Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi only |
13 sites keep a CHAdeMO plug (28%). Useful if you drive an older Leaf in South Dakota; irrelevant to everything else on this page, and the count falls every year as sites are refitted.
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 — 3.1 times what the same miles cost at home in South Dakota, and still under the $15.07 the petrol car spends on them. Anyone charging mostly in public in South Dakota should read the home column as optimistic by a factor of 3.1 — that multiple, not the state, is what decides whether the sums work. How long each car takes on a fast charger is on its charging page.
What electricity costs in South Dakota
The EIA published residential average for South Dakota is 15.36 cents per kWh (June 2026), against a US average of 18.34. That puts South Dakota at 19th of 51 states and DC, cheapest first — the cheaper half of the country. Put the Chevrolet Equinox EV FWD on that rate — the middle car of the 36 rated here, at 31.1 kWh per 100 miles — and it costs $4.78 per 100 miles, $54 a month, $645 a year.
Against a 27 mpg car at $4.07 a gallon, electricity stops being the cheaper fuel at about 48 cents per kWh. South Dakota is below that line by 33.11 cents, so the saving holds at the state-average rate before any overnight tariff is applied. It is an average across every household and every hour of the month: an overnight window beats it, a summer peak does not. The running-cost calculator takes your own tariff instead of the state’s.
Every EPA-rated car, charged at home in South Dakota
Efficiency is worth more in South Dakota than in most states: $73 a month separates the Lucid Air Pure RWD from the GMC Hummer EV Pickup 3X, and every car in the table still beats the $170 the petrol car burns through.
| Car | EPA kWh / 100 mi | Per 100 miles | Per month | Per year | Saved vs petrol / month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lucid Air Pure RWD | 23.1 | $3.55 | $40 | $479 | $130 |
| Hyundai Ioniq 6 Long Range RWD | 26.0 | $3.99 | $45 | $539 | $125 |
| Tesla Model 3 Long Range AWD | 26.4 | $4.06 | $46 | $547 | $124 |
| Lexus RZ 350e FWD | 26.6 | $4.09 | $46 | $552 | $124 |
| Tesla Model Y Long Range AWD | 27.5 | $4.22 | $48 | $570 | $122 |
| Nissan Leaf 75 kWh | 27.8 | $4.27 | $48 | $576 | $122 |
| Subaru Solterra AWD | 28.0 | $4.30 | $48 | $581 | $121 |
| Toyota bZ4X AWD 73.1 kWh | 28.0 | $4.30 | $48 | $581 | $121 |
| BMW i4 eDrive40 | 28.5 | $4.38 | $49 | $591 | $120 |
| Kia EV3 Long Range FWD | 29.0 | $4.45 | $50 | $601 | $119 |
| Volvo EX30 Single Motor Extended Range | 29.2 | $4.49 | $50 | $605 | $119 |
| Audi Q4 45 e-tron | 29.4 | $4.52 | $51 | $610 | $119 |
| Kia EV6 84 kWh RWD | 29.6 | $4.55 | $51 | $614 | $118 |
| Polestar 2 Single Motor | 29.6 | $4.55 | $51 | $614 | $118 |
| Volkswagen ID.4 Pro | 29.8 | $4.58 | $51 | $618 | $118 |
| Hyundai Ioniq 5 84 kWh RWD | 30.0 | $4.61 | $52 | $622 | $118 |
| Ford Mustang Mach-E Extended Range RWD | 30.7 | $4.72 | $53 | $637 | $117 |
| Mercedes-Benz CLA 250+ with EQ Technology | 31.0 | $4.76 | $54 | $643 | $116 |
| Chevrolet Equinox EV FWD | 31.1 | $4.78 | $54 | $645 | $116 |
| Ford Mustang Mach-E Standard Range RWD | 31.4 | $4.82 | $54 | $651 | $115 |
| Cadillac Optiq RWD | 32.1 | $4.93 | $55 | $666 | $114 |
| Chevrolet Blazer EV FWD | 32.3 | $4.96 | $56 | $670 | $114 |
| Honda Prologue FWD | 32.5 | $4.99 | $56 | $674 | $113 |
| Genesis GV60 AWD | 33.6 | $5.16 | $58 | $697 | $112 |
| Nissan Ariya e-4ORCE 87 kWh | 36.6 | $5.62 | $63 | $759 | $106 |
| Cadillac Lyriq RWD | 36.8 | $5.65 | $64 | $763 | $106 |
| Acura ZDX RWD | 36.9 | $5.67 | $64 | $765 | $106 |
| Hyundai Ioniq 9 RWD | 37.0 | $5.68 | $64 | $767 | $106 |
| Porsche Taycan (rear-wheel drive) | 37.1 | $5.70 | $64 | $769 | $105 |
| Rivian R1S Dual Motor, Max pack | 39.9 | $6.13 | $69 | $827 | $101 |
| Kia EV9 99.8 kWh AWD | 40.0 | $6.14 | $69 | $829 | $100 |
| Tesla Cybertruck Long Range | 40.9 | $6.28 | $71 | $848 | $99 |
| Rivian R1T Dual Motor, Large pack | 42.9 | $6.59 | $74 | $890 | $95 |
| Ford F-150 Lightning Extended Range | 47.9 | $7.36 | $83 | $993 | $87 |
| Chevrolet Silverado EV Max Range | 49.5 | $7.60 | $86 | $1,026 | $84 |
| GMC Hummer EV Pickup 3X | 65.1 | $10.00 | $112 | $1,350 | $57 |
| A 27 mpg petrol car at $4.07 a gallon | — | $15.07 | $170 | $2,035 | — |
EPA combined ratings are measured at the socket, not at the battery, which is why these numbers are about a tenth higher than a pack-size calculation would give. That is the honest figure: it is what the meter in South Dakota records. The four cars without a US rating are in kilometres on the national page.
South Dakota against its neighbours
North Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana are cheaper than South Dakota; Minnesota, Iowa are dearer. The monthly column is the Chevrolet Equinox EV FWD in every row, which makes the border differences directly comparable — $7 a month separates South Dakota from its cheapest neighbour.
| State | Cents / kWh | Rank | Chevrolet Equinox EV FWD / month | Fast plugs | EVs per plug |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nebraska | 13.25 | 2nd | $46 | 282 | 42 |
| North Dakota | 14.12 | 6th | $49 | 143 | 13 |
| Montana | 15.14 | 16th | $53 | 258 | 27 |
| Wyoming | 15.24 | 18th | $53 | 169 | 11 |
| South Dakota | 15.36 | 19th | $54 | 157 | 19 |
| Iowa | 15.93 | 23rd | $56 | 577 | 26 |
| Minnesota | 17.52 | 32nd | $61 | 914 | 65 |
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 South Dakota’s.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to charge an electric car in South Dakota?
About $4.78 per 100 miles at home for the median EPA-rated car, $54 a month at 1,125 miles, using the EIA residential average of 15.36 cents per kWh. The most efficient car here, the Lucid Air Pure RWD, costs $40 a month; the least efficient, the GMC Hummer EV Pickup 3X, $112.
Is it cheaper to charge an EV than to buy petrol in South Dakota?
Yes. At 15.36 cents per kWh the median car costs $54 a month against $170 of petrol for a 27 mpg car at $4.07 a gallon — $116 a month in favour of South Dakota, $1,390 a year.
How many fast chargers are there in South Dakota?
157 plugs across 46 sites (AFDC, 2026-09-16) for 3,000 registered cars, which is 19 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 South Dakota?
Where the site is open to other brands, yes, with the right adapter. 12 of the 46 fast-charging sites in South Dakota carry the NACS plug (26%) and 35 carry CCS1 (76%), 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 South Dakota?
The Lucid Air Pure RWD, at 23.1 kWh per 100 miles: $3.55 per 100 miles and $40 a month in South Dakota. Picking it over the GMC Hummer EV Pickup 3X is worth $73 a month here, which is as much as the South Dakota rate ever makes efficiency worth; the full efficiency order is the same in every state.
Sources for the South Dakota figures
Electricity price 15.36 cents/kWh: EIA Electric Power Monthly table 5.6.A, June 2026. Sites, plugs and connectors for South Dakota: 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 South Dakota: 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.