Guide · South East Queensland · rates checked 14 October 2026
The hour the car charges matters far more than the charger it uses. The same 240 km a week costs about $118 a year at 4.5c a kWh overnight, and about $1,280 at 48.9c in the evening peak. A normal power point is enough for most people. Set the car to charge in the cheap window, then check the rest of your bill isn't paying for it.
Nearly all the saving comes from two choices: how fast you charge, and which hours. The working for each is below, using the rates in the government's plan data on 14 October 2026. Every rate includes GST.
The sum is the charger's power, less what's lost as heat, divided by what the car uses per kilometre. We use a small or medium SUV at 18.0 kWh per 100 km, and the losses on our EV page: 14% on a power point, 7% on a wall charger.
| Power point (2.3 kW) | Wall charger (7 kW) | |
|---|---|---|
| kWh into the battery each hour | 2.3 × 0.86 = 1.98 | 7 × 0.93 = 6.51 |
| Kilometres added each hour | 1.98 ÷ 18.0 × 100 = 11 km | 6.51 ÷ 18.0 × 100 = 36 km |
| In six hours (12am to 6am) | 66 km | 217 km |
| A 240 km week: kWh from the wall | 43.2 ÷ 0.86 = 50.2 | 43.2 ÷ 0.93 = 46.5 |
| Hours of charging a week | 50.2 ÷ 2.3 = 21.8 | 46.5 ÷ 7 = 6.6 |
The 43.2 kWh is 240 km × 18.0 ÷ 100. A 240 km week is about the Australian average: 12,600 km a year, from the Bureau of Statistics. On a power point that's roughly three hours a night. It fits inside the six-hour overnight windows above with room to spare.
A 7 kW charger doesn't make the electricity cheaper. It puts the same kWh in faster, which matters if you drive a lot further, or your cheap window is short.
One Queensland catch. Energex says you can charge from a 10 or 15 amp power point on any tariff. A 7 kW charger usually draws 32 amps. As at 14 October 2026, Energex's charging page lists three ways to connect one on single-phase wiring: on an economy tariff, on your main tariff with a dynamic connection, or on your main tariff with basic active management, where the network can slow or pause charging at busy times. A news report says the extra conditions for a 32 amp single-phase charger were dropped on 1 October 2026, but Energex's page hadn't changed when we checked. Ask your electrician which rule applies on the day. We haven't priced installation.
Most EVs can start charging at a set time, from the car's screen or its app. So a plain power-point lead can wait for the cheap window. As examples, not endorsements: Kia's owner's manual says scheduled charging is set in the infotainment system or the Kia Connect app, and Tesla's own page says its cars have a schedule setting. Check your own manual.
Two things to know. A schedule only controls home charging (Kia notes it works only with a slow or portable charger). And check the battery the first morning, so you know it works before you rely on it.
A smart wall charger adds control at the charger. Wallbox and the Tesla Wall Connector have their own schedules, and myenergi's zappi has a mode that charges from surplus solar and tops up from the grid. If the car and the charger both have a schedule, check both.
These are the cheap hours in the South East Queensland plan data on 14 October 2026.
The free window only helps if the car is home at midday. If it is, the sums work: a power point draws 2.3 × 3 = 6.9 kWh in those three hours, which is 48.3 kWh over a week, close to the 50.2 kWh a 240 km week needs. A 7 kW charger would draw 21 kWh in the window, which leaves little of the 24 kWh for the house.
At 50.2 kWh a week, a year is 50.2 × 365 ÷ 7 = 2,618 kWh on a power point. Charging only, at each rate:
| When the car charges | Rate | 2,618 kWh × rate |
|---|---|---|
| OVO The EV Plan, 12am to 6am | 4.5c | $118 |
| GloBird EASYEV or CovaU EVMax, 12am to 6am | 6c | $157 |
| Origin Night Shift, 12am to 6am | 8c | $209 |
| Solar Sharer free window, 11am to 2pm | 0c | close to $0, if home every day |
| Shoulder rate on a Solar Sharer plan (Powershop) | 26.41c | $691 |
| Evening peak, 4pm to 9pm, same plan | 48.9c | $1,280 |
A cheap charging hour doesn't change what the rest of the bill costs. The Powershop Solar Sharer plan has a supply charge of 172.35c a day, which is 172.35 × 365 ÷ 100 = $629 a year, and a 48.9c peak from 4pm to 9pm. OVO's The EV Plan has a supply charge of 177.85c a day ($649 a year) and a 47.78c peak over the same hours. A house that cooks and cools in the evening pays that peak. Also, appliances on a controlled-load circuit don't get the free Solar Sharer hours.
Power the car takes from your panels isn't free. It's power you would have exported, so it costs the feed-in credit you give up. In the plan data, 834 of the 942 residential plan listings that pay a feed-in pay 5c or less, and the middle one pays 2c. (A listing is one version of a plan, so an offer filed twice counts twice.) At 2c, the car's 50.2 kWh costs 50.2 × 2c = $1.00 a week, against 50.2 × 4.5c = $2.26 at OVO's overnight rate. When the sun is covering the car, midday is the cheapest charging there is.
Two limits. Whatever the panels don't cover, you buy at the daytime rate. And if you're still on Queensland's old 44c Solar Bonus Scheme, every kWh the car takes from the panels costs you 44c, so charge overnight and keep the 44c (more on the 44c tariff). Energex also notes that a power point on an economy (controlled-load) tariff can't charge from your solar.
It depends on the hour. A small or medium SUV driven 240 km a week takes about 50.2 kWh a week from a power point, or 2,618 kWh a year. That is about $118 a year at 4.5c overnight, $691 at a 26.41c shoulder rate and $1,280 at a 48.9c evening peak. Rates are from 14 October 2026 and include GST.
For a typical 240 km week a power point is enough: about 11 km an hour, so roughly three hours a night. A 7 kW charger adds about 36 km an hour but doesn't make the electricity cheaper, and in Energex's area check the connection rules for a 32 amp charger with your electrician, as they were changing in October 2026.
On the EV plans in the data it is 12am to 6am, at 4.5c to 8c a kWh. On a Solar Sharer plan it is the free window, 11am to 2pm, if the car is home. On many ordinary time-of-use plans the cheapest rate is at midday, not overnight.
Partly. Since 1 July 2026, Solar Sharer plans in South East Queensland make the first 24 kWh the house uses from 11am to 2pm free, if you have a smart meter and opt in. You still pay the supply charge and higher rates at other times.
Related: EV charging costs, priced for your car · The plans your meter can't take · Do you lose the 44c if you switch?
General information about charging an electric vehicle at home in South East Queensland as at 14 October 2026, not personal advice. Confirm rates and eligibility with the retailer, and charger connection requirements with your electrician and Energex.