Charging the median electric car at home in Washington costs about $52 a month at 14.91 cents per kilowatt-hour — the 13th cheapest of 51 states, and 19 per cent below the national average. Petrol over the same 1,125 miles costs $170, so the saving is $117 a month, $1,409 a year; on the public side 102 registered cars share each fast-charging plug, against 55 in the typical state.
Public fast charging in Washington
Washington has 529 public DC fast-charging sites with 2,315 plugs in the federal AFDC station locator (2026-09-16), for 236,400 battery-electric cars registered in the state at the end of 2025.
Washington is one of the most crowded states in the country per plug: 236,400 registered EVs share 2,315 public fast-charging plugs, 102 cars each where the typical state manages 55 — 49th of 51. If you cannot charge where you sleep, that number is the one to weigh before buying.
33% of the sites in Washington have a single plug and the state averages 4.4 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 Washington with 42% of the plugs (977 of 2,315), the rest split among the other operators — enough competition that price and reliability are not one company decision.
Which plug fits in Washington
The plug question in Washington has a clear answer: 84% 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 Washington | Share of sites | Cars that use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| CCS1 (J1772 Combo) | 442 | 84% | Almost every non-Tesla EV sold in the US |
| NACS / J3400 (Tesla) | 161 | 30% | Teslas, and other cars with an adapter where the site allows it |
| CHAdeMO | 217 | 41% | Older Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi only |
CHAdeMO is unusually well represented here: 41% of Washington’s sites still carry it (217 of 529). 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 — 3.2 times what the same miles cost at home in Washington, and still under the $15.07 the petrol car spends on them. Anyone charging mostly in public in Washington should read the home column as optimistic by a factor of 3.2 — 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 Washington
The EIA published residential average for Washington is 14.91 cents per kWh (June 2026), against a US average of 18.34. That puts Washington at 13th 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 $4.64 per 100 miles, $52 a month, $626 a year.
Against a 27 mpg car at $4.07 a gallon, electricity stops being the cheaper fuel at about 48 cents per kWh. Washington is below that line by 33.56 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 Washington
Efficiency is worth more in Washington than in most states: $70 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 | $3.44 | $39 | $465 | $131 |
| Hyundai Ioniq 6 Long Range RWD | 26.0 | $3.88 | $44 | $523 | $126 |
| Tesla Model 3 Long Range AWD | 26.4 | $3.94 | $44 | $531 | $125 |
| Lexus RZ 350e FWD | 26.6 | $3.97 | $45 | $535 | $125 |
| Tesla Model Y Long Range AWD | 27.5 | $4.10 | $46 | $554 | $123 |
| Nissan Leaf 75 kWh | 27.8 | $4.14 | $47 | $560 | $123 |
| Subaru Solterra AWD | 28.0 | $4.17 | $47 | $564 | $123 |
| Toyota bZ4X AWD 73.1 kWh | 28.0 | $4.17 | $47 | $564 | $123 |
| BMW i4 eDrive40 | 28.5 | $4.25 | $48 | $574 | $122 |
| Kia EV3 Long Range FWD | 29.0 | $4.32 | $49 | $584 | $121 |
| Volvo EX30 Single Motor Extended Range | 29.2 | $4.35 | $49 | $588 | $121 |
| Audi Q4 45 e-tron | 29.4 | $4.38 | $49 | $592 | $120 |
| Kia EV6 84 kWh RWD | 29.6 | $4.41 | $50 | $596 | $120 |
| Polestar 2 Single Motor | 29.6 | $4.41 | $50 | $596 | $120 |
| Volkswagen ID.4 Pro | 29.8 | $4.44 | $50 | $600 | $120 |
| Hyundai Ioniq 5 84 kWh RWD | 30.0 | $4.47 | $50 | $604 | $119 |
| Ford Mustang Mach-E Extended Range RWD | 30.7 | $4.58 | $51 | $618 | $118 |
| Mercedes-Benz CLA 250+ with EQ Technology | 31.0 | $4.62 | $52 | $624 | $118 |
| Chevrolet Equinox EV FWD | 31.1 | $4.64 | $52 | $626 | $117 |
| Ford Mustang Mach-E Standard Range RWD | 31.4 | $4.68 | $53 | $632 | $117 |
| Cadillac Optiq RWD | 32.1 | $4.79 | $54 | $646 | $116 |
| Chevrolet Blazer EV FWD | 32.3 | $4.82 | $54 | $650 | $115 |
| Honda Prologue FWD | 32.5 | $4.85 | $55 | $654 | $115 |
| Genesis GV60 AWD | 33.6 | $5.01 | $56 | $676 | $113 |
| Nissan Ariya e-4ORCE 87 kWh | 36.6 | $5.46 | $61 | $737 | $108 |
| Cadillac Lyriq RWD | 36.8 | $5.49 | $62 | $741 | $108 |
| Acura ZDX RWD | 36.9 | $5.50 | $62 | $743 | $108 |
| Hyundai Ioniq 9 RWD | 37.0 | $5.52 | $62 | $745 | $108 |
| Porsche Taycan (rear-wheel drive) | 37.1 | $5.53 | $62 | $747 | $107 |
| Rivian R1S Dual Motor, Max pack | 39.9 | $5.95 | $67 | $803 | $103 |
| Kia EV9 99.8 kWh AWD | 40.0 | $5.96 | $67 | $805 | $102 |
| Tesla Cybertruck Long Range | 40.9 | $6.10 | $69 | $823 | $101 |
| Rivian R1T Dual Motor, Large pack | 42.9 | $6.40 | $72 | $864 | $98 |
| Ford F-150 Lightning Extended Range | 47.9 | $7.14 | $80 | $964 | $89 |
| Chevrolet Silverado EV Max Range | 49.5 | $7.38 | $83 | $996 | $87 |
| GMC Hummer EV Pickup 3X | 65.1 | $9.71 | $109 | $1,310 | $60 |
| 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 Washington records. The four cars without a US rating are in kilometres on the national page.
Washington against its neighbours
Idaho is cheaper than Washington; Oregon is dearer. The monthly column is the Chevrolet Equinox EV FWD in every row, which makes the border differences directly comparable — $2 a month separates Washington from its cheapest neighbour.
| State | Cents / kWh | Rank | Chevrolet Equinox EV FWD / month | Fast plugs | EVs per plug |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Idaho | 14.37 | 10th | $50 | 309 | 46 |
| Washington | 14.91 | 13th | $52 | 2,315 | 102 |
| Oregon | 16.32 | 26th | $57 | 1,319 | 74 |
How long the charge itself takes does not change with the state, only what it costs: the Kia EV6 charging time, Kia EV9 charging time and Volkswagen ID.4 charging time are 17, 22 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 Washington’s.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to charge an electric car in Washington?
About $4.64 per 100 miles at home for the median EPA-rated car, $52 a month at 1,125 miles, using the EIA residential average of 14.91 cents per kWh. The most efficient car here, the Lucid Air Pure RWD, costs $39 a month; the least efficient, the GMC Hummer EV Pickup 3X, $109.
Is it cheaper to charge an EV than to buy petrol in Washington?
Yes. At 14.91 cents per kWh the median car costs $52 a month against $170 of petrol for a 27 mpg car at $4.07 a gallon — $117 a month in favour of Washington, $1,409 a year.
How many fast chargers are there in Washington?
529 sites and 2,315 plugs (AFDC, 2026-09-16), which 236,400 registered cars have to share — 102 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 Washington?
Where the site is open to other brands, yes, with the right adapter. 161 of the 529 fast-charging sites in Washington carry the NACS plug (30%) and 442 carry CCS1 (84%), 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 Washington?
The Lucid Air Pure RWD, at 23.1 kWh per 100 miles: $3.44 per 100 miles and $39 a month in Washington. Picking it over the GMC Hummer EV Pickup 3X is worth $70 a month here, which is as much as the Washington rate ever makes efficiency worth; the full efficiency order is the same in every state.
Sources for the Washington figures
Electricity price 14.91 cents/kWh: EIA Electric Power Monthly table 5.6.A, June 2026. Sites, plugs and connectors for Washington: 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 Washington: 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.