EV Charging Guide

Time-of-Use Rates: How to Pay Less for Charging

The single highest-impact, zero-cost way to cut your EV charging bill.

Updated May 2026 | 5 min read

The Short Answer

Switch to your utility’s time-of-use plan and charge overnight. Off-peak electricity is 40 to 60 percent cheaper than peak rates. For a typical EV driver doing 12,000 miles per year, that is $300 to $600 saved annually with no hardware purchase and one scheduled departure time set in your car app.

What TOU Rates Are

Most households pay a flat electricity rate, the same price per kWh day and night. Time-of-use (TOU) plans charge more during peak demand hours and less during off-peak hours, reflecting what electricity actually costs to generate at those times. During peak hours (roughly 4 to 9 PM on weekdays), utilities run expensive fast-response “peaker” plants to meet surging demand. At midnight, cheap baseload power and wind energy run at surplus. TOU rates pass that real cost difference to you, and let you benefit by shifting when you use power. For EV owners, this is a straightforward win. Your car doesn’t need to charge at 7 PM. It just needs to be full by the time you leave in the morning.

Peak vs Off-Peak: When the Hours Fall

Period	Typical Hours	Rate vs Flat
Peak	4 PM to 9 PM weekdays	30 to 100% higher
Shoulder	Mid-morning, early evening	Near flat rate
Off-Peak	11 PM to 7 AM, weekends	30 to 60% lower

Hours vary by utility and season. Your utility’s website will show the exact schedule for your plan. The window that matters for EV charging is off-peak, typically 11 PM through early morning.

Real 2026 Rates: The Numbers That Matter

Utility	Peak Rate	Off-Peak Rate	Saving
PG&E EV2-A (CA)	~$0.50/kWh	~$0.18/kWh	64% cheaper
PECO (PA)	$0.32/kWh	$0.053/kWh	83% cheaper
Dominion (VA)	$0.110/kWh	$0.056/kWh	49% cheaper
Southern CA Edison	Up to $0.74/kWh	~$0.15/kWh	Up to 80% cheaper
Georgia Power (EV plan)	Standard peak	~$0.08/kWh	EV overnight rate

The PECO figure is striking: charging a 75 kWh battery from empty costs $3.98 off-peak versus $24.00 at peak. That is a $20 gap on a single charge. Many utilities also offer dedicated EV rate plans with overnight rates as low as $0.05 per kWh specifically designed for home charging.

What You Actually Save

$300

to $600/yr typical EV savings

40-60%

average off-peak discount

$75

saved per month by some CA drivers

A Tesla Model 3 LR driven 12,000 miles per year needs roughly 3,077 kWh of home charging annually. At the US flat average of $0.1765 per kWh, that is $543 per year. At a realistic off-peak rate of $0.09 per kWh, it drops to $277. Saving of $266 per year, zero hardware change required. In California at higher flat rates, the saving rises to $600 to $900.

The gas price equivalent: On PG&E’s EV2-A off-peak rate (~$0.18/kWh), charging costs about 4.6 cents per mile at 3.9 mi/kWh. A 28 MPG gas car at $3.20/gal costs 11.4 cents per mile. The EV on TOU is more than 2x cheaper per mile than gas, even in one of the most expensive electricity states in the country.

Who Benefits and Who Should Be Careful

Works well if you…

Charge overnight at home
Have a car or charger with scheduling
Drive high annual miles
Have solar panels

May not work if you…

Run heavy AC from 4 to 9 PM
Have no control over charge timing
Rely mainly on public charging
Are in a state with a small rate spread

For most EV owners, the car’s charging load alone is large enough to make TOU worthwhile even if everything else in the house stays the same. An EV uses more electricity per night than most homes use for all other purposes combined.

How to Set It Up: Four Steps

Find your utility’s TOU plans

Log into your utility’s website and search for “rate plans” or “EV rates.” Look specifically for EV overnight plans, which often have the lowest off-peak rates. Call your utility if you can’t find it online.

Model the switch before committing

Most utilities offer a bill comparison tool showing what you would have paid on a TOU plan based on your actual usage history. Check this before enrolling. Some utilities offer a 30-day trial with no cost to switch back.

Set a scheduled departure time in your EV

Every major EV supports this. In Tesla: open the app, go to Charging, set Scheduled Departure. The car charges during off-peak hours and finishes just before you leave. Hyundai, Kia, Ford, Chevy and Rivian apps have the same feature. Set it once and it runs automatically every night.

Shift other large loads where easy

Dishwashers and washing machines have delayed-start settings. Run them after 11 PM. A $15 mechanical outlet timer can automate appliances that don’t have built-in scheduling. This stacks additional savings on top of the EV gains.

One Thing Worth Knowing

California’s NEM 3.0 rules (2023) cut solar export credits to about 25 percent of the retail rate. If you have solar in California, the optimal strategy is now to store surplus in a battery and use it to charge your EV at night rather than exporting it. This makes the combination of solar, a home battery, and a TOU plan significantly more valuable than any one of those three on its own. For everyone else: TOU rates are the easiest, cheapest, most immediate way to reduce what you pay per mile in an EV. No new hardware. No behaviour change beyond a one-time scheduled departure setting. The grid generates cheap electricity at night. TOU plans let you use it.

Reviewed by the EVRatio editorial team. Every figure on this page is checked against primary sources (utility rate schedules, EIA) before publishing. See our full methodology. Last reviewed: June 2026.