How much does it cost to charge a Nissan Leaf?

A full charge for a 2026 Nissan Leaf 75 kWh, 18-inch steel wheels costs about $15.27 at home, at the US average residential electricity rate of 18¢/kWh. Filling up the same car costs $10.48 in Idaho, the cheapest state, and $28.21 in California — your own rate decides it.

That full charge draws roughly 85 kWh from the wall and buys 303 miles of EPA-rated range — about $0.05 a mile.

What it costs at three real electricity rates

Your rate is the only input that really moves this number, so here is the same car at three real ones — the cheapest state, the national average, and the most expensive large mainland market.

Hawaii is higher still at 52¢ — a 4.2:1 spread from the cheapest state to the dearest. Figures checked August 2026.

What it costs per mile

A Nissan Leaf costs about $0.05 a mile to charge at home at the US average electricity rate, or $5.04 per 100 miles. That is energy only — the EPA rates this car at 28 kWh per 100 miles measured at the wall socket, so charging losses are already inside the figure and should not be added again.

Per mile is the number that survives a change of car: it does not care about battery size, so it is the only fair way to line this car up against one with a much bigger or smaller pack.

What it adds to your electricity bill

Charging a Nissan Leaf at home adds about $50 a month to your electricity bill at the US average rate, driving 12,000 miles a year. That is the yearly cost of $605 spread evenly across twelve months — a month with a road trip in it costs more, and a quiet one costs less.

Nothing else on the bill changes: the car draws the same kilowatt-hours whatever else is running in the house, so the increase is the charging and nothing more.

At the cheapest state rate the same driving adds $35 a month, and $93 at the most expensive — the table above has all three. If your utility offers an overnight or time-of-use rate, charging on it lands at the low end rather than the middle.

Where the numbers come from

The EPA rates this 75 kWh, 18-inch steel wheels at 28 kWh per 100 miles with 303 miles of combined range. Those two figures together give the energy for a full charge, which is where the 85 kWh above comes from.

We work it out that way rather than quoting a battery size on purpose. Manufacturers publish gross capacity, which includes a buffer at each end of the pack that never takes a charge, so a cost built on it overstates your bill. And the EPA measures at the wall socket rather than at the battery, so charging losses are already inside the figure — no need to add them, and adding them would count the same loss twice.

What this means for this car

The Leaf is the clearest illustration on this site of how much wheels matter. Nissan rates the same 75 kWh car at 28 kWh per 100 miles on 18-inch steel wheels, 30 on 18-inch alloys and 33 on 19-inch wheels. That is an 18% spread in running cost across a single model year, decided entirely by a trim choice most buyers make on looks. Range moves with it, from 303 miles down to 259. At 28 kWh per 100 miles this base version undercuts almost every SUV on this list — only the Tesla Model Y, the Toyota bZ and the Lexus RZ rate better — which is what you would expect from a small hatchback: the cheapest car here to buy is also among the cheapest to feed, and the two savings compound over the years you own it.

How it compares

All at 18¢/kWh and 12,000 miles a year. The gas comparison is illustrative — it is not a claim about any particular car.

Figures are for the 2026 Nissan Leaf 75 kWh, 18-inch steel wheels. Other trims of the same car are rated differently — see above. How these figures are calculated.