Methodology and sources

Each figure below is marked one of two ways.

• Sourced — the value is taken from a named external source, and that source is given.
• Assumption — the value is a reasonable working figure chosen to make the calculator useful out of the box. It is not measured, not surveyed, and not taken from a published dataset. Treat it as a starting point, not as evidence.

At the time of this review, the majority of the defaults on this site are assumptions. Australian electricity and fuel prices vary so widely by retailer, tariff, time of day, state and site that a single national figure would be misleading whichever number was chosen. Rather than attach a citation that does not really support the number, the figures are labelled honestly and every one of them is editable in the calculator.

All defaults live in one file, assets/js/pricing-data.js. The values below are read from that file. If a figure on a calculator disagrees with this page, the file is the source of truth and this page is out of date — please say so.

Six price tiers appear in the rate comparison on every cost calculator. They are round numbers chosen to span the realistic Australian range from cheap overnight EV tariffs to the most expensive public ultra rapid charging.

Tier	Default price	Basis
Home solar	$0.05 per kWh	Assumption. Not a tariff you pay — it is the solar feed-in credit given up by self-consuming rather than exporting. Australian feed-in tariffs averaged roughly 3–6 c/kWh through 2026 and have been falling as daytime solar exports grow.
EV off peak	$0.08 per kWh	Assumption. Reflects dedicated overnight EV tariffs offered by some Australian retailers. Not all plans offer a rate this low.
Home off peak	$0.20 per kWh	Assumption. A typical off peak shoulder rate on a time-of-use plan.
Home standard rate	$0.30 per kWh	Assumption. A round figure for a flat residential tariff. Actual rates differ substantially between states and retailers.
Public AC	$0.45 per kWh	Assumption. Midpoint of the $0.40–$0.55 range this site quotes for public AC charging.
DC fast	$0.65 per kWh	Assumption. Within the $0.50–$0.75 range quoted for 50–150 kW public DC.
Ultra rapid DC	$0.80 per kWh	Assumption. Top of the range quoted for 250 kW+ public charging.

How the solar figure is derived

Charging from your own rooftop solar does not produce an electricity bill, so it has no tariff to quote. What it does have is an opportunity cost: every kilowatt-hour you put into the car is one you did not export for a feed-in credit. That forgone credit is the honest price of solar charging, and it is what the $0.05 figure represents.

Australian feed-in tariffs sat at roughly 3 to 6 cents per kilowatt-hour through 2026 and have been declining, because so much solar reaches the grid at midday that wholesale prices there are often near zero or negative. If your retailer pays more or less than 5 cents, enter your own feed-in rate as the solar price and every figure on the site will use it.

Two caveats worth stating plainly. This assumes the energy genuinely comes from your own generation, which means the car has to be plugged in during daylight — solar charging suits people who are home during the day or who have a charger at work, and does nothing for someone who only plugs in at night. It also ignores the cost of the solar system itself, on the reasoning that most people install solar for the household rather than for the car. If you are weighing up whether to install solar specifically to charge an EV, that is a payback calculation this site does not attempt.

These tiers are the site's own price ladder, not a published tariff schedule. They are used consistently everywhere so that comparisons between calculators are internally consistent. Enter your own rate to get a figure that means something for your plan.

State and territory standard rates

Selecting a state in the My EV panel replaces the Home standard rate tier above with a figure typical of that state. Residential electricity prices vary more across Australia than efficiency varies across vehicles, so for most people this is the single most useful setting on the site after the car itself.

State or territory	Rate used	Basis
New South Wales	$0.35 per kWh	Indicative mid-market. Sources below quote roughly $0.32–$0.40 depending on distributor and whether the plan is a competitive offer or a standing offer.
Victoria	$0.29 per kWh	Indicative mid-market. Quoted range roughly $0.26–$0.33.
Queensland	$0.32 per kWh	Indicative mid-market. Quoted range roughly $0.28–$0.33 in the south east; regional Queensland is on a regulated tariff.
South Australia	$0.40 per kWh	Indicative mid-market. Consistently the highest in the country; quoted range roughly $0.34–$0.44.
Western Australia	$0.31 per kWh	Regulated A1 residential tariff, which leaves little variation between plans.
Tasmania	$0.28 per kWh	Indicative mid-market. Quoted range roughly $0.26–$0.32.
ACT	$0.30 per kWh	Indicative mid-market. Quoted range roughly $0.26–$0.32.
Northern Territory	$0.32 per kWh	Government-set regulated tariff. The published reference rate for 2026–27 is 31.7 c/kWh including GST.

Figures are indicative single-rate residential usage rates including GST, reviewed September 2026, and are rounded deliberately — they are a better starting point than one national average, but they are not a quote. Retail offers vary by distributor zone, retailer, plan and whether you are on a competitive or standing offer. Your own bill is always the better number, and you can enter it directly. Compiled from Canstar's average usage rates by state, Wattcalc's 2025–26 state comparison and, for the Northern Territory, Jacana Energy's published residential tariff.

Only the standard home rate changes with the state. Off-peak and dedicated EV tariffs are not published on a state basis here, because whether you can get one depends on your retailer and on having a compatible meter rather than on where you live — two households in the same street can differ. Public charging prices are set by the network operators and likewise do not follow state boundaries. If you have an off-peak or EV tariff, entering it directly will give you a far better answer than any state average could.

Public charging price ranges

Where a guide quotes a range rather than a single price, these are the ranges used.

Charger type	Range used	Basis
Public AC charger	$0.40 – $0.55 per kWh	Assumption
DC fast charger (50 kW)	$0.50 – $0.65 per kWh	Assumption
DC rapid charger (150 kW)	$0.55 – $0.75 per kWh	Assumption
Ultra rapid charger (250 kW+)	$0.60 – $0.80 per kWh	Assumption

Figure	Default	Basis
Battery size	100 kWh	Assumption. A round number, deliberately at the larger end so costs are not understated. Replaced by your vehicle's real capacity when you set a vehicle with My EV.
EV efficiency	16 kWh per 100 km	Assumption. A mid-range figure for a medium EV. Replaced by the vehicle's rated figure when you set a vehicle.
Everyday charge window	10% to 80%	Assumption, reflecting common charging practice and the range over which DC charging is fastest.
Petrol vehicle fuel use	8.0 L per 100 km	Assumption. A medium petrol car. Change it to match the car you are actually comparing against.
Annual distance	15,000 km	Assumption. A round figure for an average private vehicle. The ABS Survey of Motor Vehicle Use is the obvious source for a real figure; this site does not currently cite it, so the number is not presented as sourced.
Petrol price	$2.00 per litre	Assumption. A round national figure. Fuel prices move weekly and vary by city, so this one dates faster than any other default on the site.

Vehicle specifications listed on the EV battery size list — battery capacity, WLTP range, maximum DC charging power — are taken from manufacturer specifications for the Australian market. WLTP range figures are laboratory test results and are consistently optimistic relative to real driving.

Charging time calculations use these nominal power figures. Real charging power is rarely constant: it depends on the vehicle's own limit, the battery's state of charge and temperature, and whether the charger is shared with another car.

Charger type	Power used	Typically found
Portable charger	2.3 kW	Standard power outlet
AC wall charger	7 kW	Home wall box (single phase)
3-phase AC charger	22 kW	Home, workplace or destination charger
DC fast charger	50 kW	Public fast charging station
DC rapid charger	150 kW	Public rapid charging station
Ultra rapid charger	250 kW	Public ultra rapid station

What the time calculations exclude

Charging time is calculated as energy divided by power, at constant power. Real DC charging follows a curve that tapers as the battery fills, so real charging sessions take longer than this site estimates, particularly above 80%. The site does not model the charging curve, battery temperature, preconditioning, or the vehicle's own maximum DC intake beyond the value stored for a selected vehicle.

Figure	Value used	Basis
EV servicing, per year	$400 (midpoint of $300 – $500)	Assumption. No source. Actual servicing cost varies by manufacturer, service interval and whether the vehicle is under a capped-price plan.
Petrol servicing, per year	$500 – $800	Assumption, used in guide comparisons only.
Road user charge	$0	Sourced. State per-kilometre charges on electric vehicles were held to be invalid by the High Court of Australia in Vanderstock v Victoria [2023] HCA 30. No federal road user charge currently applies to EVs. If one is introduced this figure changes.
Petrol road funding	Included in fuel excise	Sourced. Fuel excise is levied on petrol and diesel at the point of sale, so petrol running costs on this site already include a road funding component that EV costs do not.

What running cost figures exclude

The running cost figures on this site cover energy and servicing only. They do not include purchase price, depreciation, financing, insurance, registration, tyres, or battery replacement. Depreciation and insurance are usually larger than fuel for a new vehicle, so a running cost comparison is not a total cost of ownership comparison and should not be read as one.

Estimated range is battery capacity divided by efficiency. Driving conditions are applied as an adjustment to efficiency, not to the battery.

Condition	Efficiency adjustment	Basis
City driving	−25%	Assumption. Lower speeds and regenerative braking.
Mixed driving	−12%	Assumption
Typical driving	Baseline	The vehicle's rated efficiency
Highway driving	+15%	Assumption. Based on typical Australian speed limits of 100 to 110 km/h.
Fast highway	+25%	Assumption
Worst case	+50%	Assumption. Cold weather, highway speeds and cabin heating combined.

These percentages are approximate and are not derived from a published dataset. Real variation depends on the vehicle, terrain, temperature, driving style and climate control use.

• Charging losses. Energy drawn from the wall is greater than energy stored in the battery, typically by a few per cent for DC and rather more for slow AC charging. The calculators treat energy added and energy paid for as the same quantity, so real costs are slightly higher than shown.
• Session and connection fees. Some public charging networks apply a per-session fee or an idle fee. Only the per-kWh price is modelled.
• Demand charges and supply charges. Home electricity bills include a daily supply charge that does not change with EV charging, and is therefore excluded.
• Solar. Charging from your own rooftop solar has a different cost basis again. Enter your own figure if this applies to you.
• Battery degradation. Usable capacity falls over a vehicle's life. All figures assume the battery's rated capacity.
• The charging curve. See the charging time note above.

The novated lease FBT calculator uses the statutory formula method. These are the constants behind it.

Input	Value used	Basis
FBT rate	47%	Legislated rate.
Gross-up factor (type 1)	2.0802	Legislated. Type 1 applies where the employer is entitled to GST credits, which is the usual case for a novated lease.
Statutory rate — standard	20%	Legislated statutory formula rate.
Statutory rate — discounted band	15%	Legislated. This is how the announced “25% discount” is delivered.
Fuel-efficient LCT threshold	$91,387	Indexed annually. Reviewed September 2026 — check the current figure before relying on it near the boundary.
Full-exemption cap from 1 Apr 2027	$75,000	Announced threshold for the narrowed exemption.
PHEV eligibility cut-off	1 April 2025	New arrangements for plug-in hybrids ceased to be eligible from this date.

The calculator reports the FBT consequence of a car's price and start date. It does not model a whole novated lease — salary, marginal tax rate, lease interest, residual value, packaged running costs and provider fees are all excluded, because they vary by employer and provider and would make the output look more precise than it could be. It is a reference tool, not financial or tax advice. Thresholds are indexed and the phase-out schedule is itself a recent change, so confirm the current position with the ATO or a registered tax agent before committing.

Prices move. This page and the constants behind it are reviewed together, and the review date shown at the top of this page is the date of the last review of the figures themselves — not the date the page was last edited.

If a figure here looks wrong, or you have a source that would let an assumption become a sourced value, please get in touch. Corrections are welcome and will be credited on this page.