Original research by CarsMultiverse · Q3 2026 edition · Published 23 July 2026 · Updated quarterly
Plugging into a public fast charger costs six times more in the United Kingdom than in India. At $1.06 per kWh, the UK is the most expensive country in the world to fast-charge an electric car; adding 100 km of range there costs $17.95 at a rapid charger, against $2.99 in India, $3.99 in South Korea and $4.59 in Canada.
This index compares the pay-as-you-go price of DC fast charging (50 kW and above) across 30 countries, using published operator tariffs and national price indexes, every one linked and dated in the table below. It is the public-charging companion to our home charging price index.
How to read this: prices are ad-hoc, pay-as-you-go rates with tax included, from one representative major network or national price index per country. Subscriptions, memberships and off-peak windows are usually cheaper; ultra-rapid hubs are often dearer. This is an operator-tariff index, not an official statistic; the EU's official EAFO price dataset has not been updated since January 2024, which is why we built this. The full source and date for every row is in the table and the free CSV.
Key findings
The UK is the world's most expensive fast-charging market. The Zapmap price index puts the average pay-as-you-go rapid rate at 79p per kWh ($1.06), roughly three times what the same 100 km costs on a typical UK home tariff in our home index. One reason is structural: public charging carries 20% VAT in the UK against 5% at home.
European countries fill the entire top ten. The Netherlands ($15.61 per 100 km), Portugal ($15.32), Italy and Belgium ($14.55) follow the UK. Finland is the great European exception at $5.43, cheaper than the United States.
Asia is where fast charging is cheap. India ($2.99 per 100 km), Thailand ($3.77) and South Korea ($3.99) hold the bottom of the table; Korea's rate is a regulated Environment Ministry price.
The US lands mid-table. The average state-level DC fast price of $0.538 per kWh works out to $9.15 per 100 km, more than double what most US households pay to charge at home.
Subscriptions change the answer. In Norway, a NOK 69 monthly membership cuts the drop-in rate from NOK 6.49 to 4.79 per kWh; Ireland, Germany and Poland show similar gaps. Our index deliberately prices the walk-up case, the one every driver can get.
Cost to add 100 km at a DC fast charger, USD
Ad-hoc DC fast charging (≥50 kW), tax included, at 17 kWh per 100 km. ECB reference FX rates, 22 July 2026. Sources per country in the table below.
The full table
| # | Country | DC fast, local/kWh | Public AC, local/kWh | DC fast, USD/kWh | USD per 100 km | Source & date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Kingdom | GBP 0.79 | 0.54 | $1.06 | $17.95 | Jun 2026 |
| 2 | Netherlands | EUR 0.805 | 0.695 | $0.92 | $15.61 | 2026 tariff |
| 3 | Portugal | EUR 0.79 | 0.315 | $0.90 | $15.32 | Jul 2026 |
| 4 | Italy | EUR 0.75 | 0.67 | $0.86 | $14.55 | Mar 2026 |
| 5 | Belgium | EUR 0.75 | 0.4875 | $0.86 | $14.55 | Jul 2026 |
| 6 | Ireland | EUR 0.72 | 0.6 | $0.82 | $13.96 | Jul 2026 |
| 7 | Poland | EUR 0.69 | 0.44 | $0.79 | $13.38 | May 2026 |
| 8 | Denmark | EUR 0.65 | 0.54 | $0.74 | $12.61 | 2026 tariff |
| 9 | Switzerland | CHF 0.59 | 0.45 | $0.73 | $12.35 | Apr 2026 |
| 10 | Norway | NOK 6.49 | 5.49 | $0.68 | $11.50 | May 2026 |
| 11 | Japan | JPY 110 | – | $0.68 | $11.47 | Apr 2026 |
| 12 | France | EUR 0.575 | 0.4 | $0.66 | $11.15 | Jul 2026 |
| 13 | Sweden | EUR 0.57 | 0.56 | $0.65 | $11.05 | 2026 tariff |
| 14 | Austria | EUR 0.56 | 0.56 | $0.64 | $10.86 | Jul 2026 |
| 15 | Spain | EUR 0.55 | 0.399 | $0.63 | $10.67 | 2026 tariff |
| 16 | Brazil | BRL 2.9 | – | $0.57 | $9.71 | Jun 2026 |
| 17 | Germany | EUR 0.49 | 0.39 | $0.56 | $9.50 | 2026 tariff |
| 18 | Singapore | SGD 0.72 | 0.63 | $0.56 | $9.48 | Jul 2026 |
| 19 | United States | USD 0.538 | – | $0.54 | $9.15 | Q2 2026 |
| 20 | New Zealand | NZD 0.85 | – | $0.49 | $8.41 | Apr 2025 |
| 21 | South Africa | ZAR 7.35 | 5.88 | $0.45 | $7.58 | Aug 2025 |
| 22 | Australia | AUD 0.6 | – | $0.42 | $7.13 | mid-2026 |
| 23 | Malaysia | MYR 1.5 | 0.9 | $0.37 | $6.24 | Jul 2024 (cut to RM1.30-1.40 at select sites Jul 2026) |
| 24 | United Arab Emirates | AED 1.26 | 0.735 | $0.34 | $5.83 | Sep 2024 tariff |
| 25 | Finland | EUR 0.28 | 0.235 | $0.32 | $5.43 | Jan 2026 |
| 26 | Turkey | TRY 13.78 | 9.95 | $0.29 | $4.96 | Mar 2026 |
| 27 | Canada | CAD 0.38 | – | $0.27 | $4.59 | Jul 2026 |
| 28 | South Korea | KRW 347.2 | 324.4 | $0.23 | $3.99 | Mar 2026 |
| 29 | Thailand | THB 7.5 | – | $0.22 | $3.77 | Jul 2026 |
| 30 | India | INR 17.0 | – | $0.18 | $2.99 | Apr 2026 |
Download the full dataset (free CSV, CC-BY) — includes every source URL, price date and per-row notes. Reuse with attribution to CarsMultiverse.
Methodology
For each country we price the walk-up, pay-as-you-go case: what a driver with no subscription pays per kWh at a public DC fast charger (50 kW or above), tax included. We use one representative source per country, preferring national multi-network price indexes where they exist (Zapmap for the UK), a regulated or ministry rate where one exists (South Korea, Dubai's DEWA), and otherwise the published tariff of a major national charging network (named in each row of the CSV). Where a source publishes a range, we take the midpoint and record the range in the notes. Local prices are converted at ECB reference rates of 22 July 2026 (AED at its USD peg). The cost per 100 km assumes an efficient EV using 17 kWh per 100 km, the same assumption as our home charging index, so the two indexes are directly comparable.
What this index is not. It is not an official average; no institution currently publishes one. Prices at individual stations vary with power level, time of day, subscription status and, in some markets, fast-moving inflation (Turkey). Six of our 36 tracked markets are not yet included: Mexico and Hong Kong publish no verifiable per-kWh rate (networks there price per minute or per session), and Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and the Philippines are pending verification for the next edition. Where a country's public AC column is blank, that market prices AC charging per minute, per hour or per session, which cannot be honestly converted to a per-kWh figure.
FAQ
Why is the UK the most expensive?
Three things stack: high underlying electricity costs, a 20% VAT rate on public charging (home electricity is taxed at 5%), and rapid-network pricing that reflects grid connection and hardware costs. The gap to home charging is why UK EV economics depend so heavily on having a driveway.
Is fast charging more expensive than petrol?
In the priciest markets, ad-hoc fast charging can now rival petrol per kilometre; on cheap home tariffs the EV still wins by a wide margin. The honest comparison depends on your country's pump price and your home tariff; our fuel-type running cost study runs it country by country.
Why is public charging sometimes cheaper than home charging?
Where the public rate is regulated or subsidised (South Korea; Dubai's DEWA tariff) it can undercut an unregulated household price. In most of Europe the opposite holds: the public fast rate is two to three times the home rate.
How often is this updated?
Quarterly, with the FX date and every price date recorded per row. Spotted a price that has moved, or a better national source? Tell us and we will correct it publicly.
Related research
Home EV Charging Price Index · True Cost of Ownership Index · EV Price Gap study · Find chargers near you (live map)
This dataset follows the site-wide CarsMultiverse methodology (reference case, sources, update policy). Errors are logged publicly on the corrections page. See also the data disclaimer.
