How much does it cost to charge an electric car in Switzerland? Home, work and public

Charging an electric car at home in Switzerland costs about CHF 24.– for a full 77 kWh battery and about CHF 5.50 per 100 km, at the 2026 median household electricity price of 27.7 Rp./kWh (centimes per kWh) published by the Federal Electricity Commission (ElCom). Over 15,000 km a year that is about CHF 830.– a year, although the figure ranges from roughly CHF 660.– to CHF 1,000.– depending on where you live. On a public rapid charger, the same kilometre usually costs two to three times as much.

This guide works out the real cost, charging losses included: per full charge, per 100 km, per month and year, canton by canton, then at work and on public chargers, with and without a subscription. If you drive a company car, Voltaback lets your employer reimburse every kWh you charge at home at the real price of your own electricity contract.

The essentials in 30 seconds

• Swiss median 2026: 27.7 Rp./kWh for a typical household (26.5 Rp. in 2027), from 21.9 Rp. in Zug to 33.2 Rp. in Basel-Stadt.
• A full charge at home (77 kWh, losses included): about CHF 24.–.
• 100 km: about CHF 5.– to 7.–, depending on season and route.
• 15,000 km a year: about CHF 660.– in Zug, CHF 745.– in Zurich, CHF 910.– in Vaud.
• Rapid charger: often CHF 0.60 to 0.70 per kWh without a subscription, or CHF 12.– to 14.– per 100 km.

How Swiss electricity pricing works (a quick primer for newcomers)

If you have moved to Switzerland recently, three things are worth knowing:

• You cannot freely choose your supplier as a household. Your local network operator (ewz in Zurich city, SIG in Geneva, IWB in Basel, Romande Energie in much of Vaud, a municipal utility elsewhere) supplies you at a regulated tariff.
• Prices vary by municipality, because around 600 network operators set their own tariffs. In 2027 the spread runs from about 10.6 to 45.9 Rp./kWh.
• Many operators offer a dual tariff: a high tariff (Hochtarif, HT) by day and a low tariff (Niedertarif, NT / tarif bas) at night and often at weekends.

You can look up your municipality's tariffs on the ElCom electricity price website. Your bill, VAT included, remains the reference.

Why you count kWh at the meter

The cost of charging is always calculated on the kWh drawn from your meter, not the kWh that end up in the battery. The difference is charging losses. The Touring Club Switzerland (TCS) measured them on 26 EVs charged at 11 kW three-phase: 11 % on average, between 7 and 16 % depending on the model. To put 77 kWh into the battery, you therefore draw about 86.5 kWh from the grid. Source: TCS press release, 9 December 2025 (in German).

What a full charge costs at home, model by model

The table shows the cost of a full charge (0 to 100 %) for Switzerland's best-selling EVs of 2025, at the ElCom median price for 2026 and 2027.

Sales ranking: electrive, based on auto-schweiz data. Battery sizes: rounded manufacturer figures. Median prices: ElCom, 2027 tariffs.

In practice, few people charge from 0 to 100 %. A typical 10 to 80 % top-up on a 77 kWh battery draws about 60 kWh at the meter, or about CHF 16.80 at the 2026 median.

Cost per 100 km: official figures versus real life

The official WLTP consumption is measured at the battery under standard conditions. On Swiss roads, a typical compact electric SUV falls into three situations.

Winter makes a real difference: cabin heating, a cold battery and winter tyres. If you commute every day from Nyon to Geneva airport in January, expect the bottom row rather than the top one.

Location matters as much as season. At 20 kWh per 100 km, 100 km cost about CHF 4.40 in Zug (21.9 Rp.) and CHF 6.65 in Basel-Stadt (33.2 Rp.).

Work out your own charging cost

The formula is simple: kWh drawn at the meter × your network operator's price per kWh.

1. Find your price on the ElCom website or on your bill.
2. Check whether you have a dual tariff: for overnight charging, the low-tariff price is the one that counts.
3. Convert to meter kWh: divide the car's consumption by about 0.89 to include losses.

Worked example

An expat engineer lives in Zurich and drives 1,200 km a month:

• consumption at the battery: 1,200 km × 18 kWh / 100 km = 216 kWh;
• kWh at the meter: 216 ÷ 0.89 = about 243 kWh;
• cost at the 2026 Zurich median: 243 × CHF 0.248 = about CHF 60.– a month.

One subtlety: the ElCom median for the H4 household profile includes the metering charge, a fixed annual amount (about 1.7 Rp./kWh once spread out). An extra kWh charged for the car therefore costs slightly less than the median. Source: ElCom, 2027 tariff components. For what makes up the price of a kWh, see our article on the price per kWh for EV charging.

How much does charging cost per month and per year?

Assumption: 15,000 km a year, 18 kWh per 100 km at the battery, so 2,700 kWh at the battery and about 3,000 kWh at the meter. Prices: ElCom 2026 cantonal medians for the H4 profile.

According to the TCS, charging losses account for about CHF 80.– a year of these amounts. In 2027 the median falls to 26.5 Rp./kWh: the same driver would pay about CHF 795.– a year.

The low tariff cuts the bill further, by an amount that depends on your operator. Some go a long way: since 2025, Romande Energie's dual-tariff customers enjoy the low tariff almost around the clock, except 5 pm to 10 pm on weekdays. Source: Romande Energie press release, 27 August 2026. Our tips are in the guide to charging on the low tariff.

Charging at work: often free for the employee

Many companies equip their car parks with chargers and do not bill the electricity. For a company car, it is straightforward: the energy is a company cost, already covered by the private-use share of 0.9 % of the purchase price per month shown on the salary certificate (Lohnausweis / certificat de salaire). There is no extra benefit to declare. Source: Salary certificate guidelines 2026 (in German), margin note 21.

For a private car charged free of charge at work, the 2026 guidelines contain no explicit rule. If in doubt, check with your cantonal tax administration.

Public charging prices: AC, rapid and ultra-rapid

On the public network each operator sets its own prices, and they change often. Orders of magnitude:

• Electra (rapid charging parks, including on the A4 between Zurich and Zug): CHF 0.69/kWh by card, CHF 0.59 in the app and CHF 0.39 with a subscription, according to April 2026 tariffs. Source: electrive.
• Other rapid networks (GOFAST, Ionity, MOVE, evpass, Tesla Superchargers open to other brands…): in a TCS survey at motorway service areas, 26 of 35 rapid chargers charged CHF 30.– to 40.– for 50 kWh, or about CHF 0.60 to 0.80/kWh. Source: TCS, rapid charging stations in Switzerland (in German).
• Idle fees: many operators add a time-based fee if the car stays plugged in after charging ends or beyond an hour.

For employees who cannot charge at home, a charging card makes the difference. Voltaback offers fleets the Electra charging card.

Charging subscriptions: when do they pay off?

A subscription pays off once the saving per kWh exceeds its monthly fee. The calculation: monthly fee ÷ saving per kWh = kWh you need to charge each month.

Electra example: the subscription brings the price from CHF 0.59 down to 0.39, a saving of CHF 0.20 per kWh. A CHF 10.– monthly fee would therefore pay for itself from 50 kWh, about 250 km of rapid charging a month. The TCS reaches a similar order of magnitude, around 60 kWh a month with the same operator. Check the current fee in the operator's app before subscribing.

Hidden costs: do you need a bigger connection?

Rarely for a socket. A T23 on a dedicated circuit draws at most 3.7 kW, which most house and flat installations can handle. An 11 kW wallbox is a different matter: the licensed electrician files an installation notice with the network operator, sometimes a connection request, and load management may be required in a shared garage.

On the bill, households pay mainly the price per kWh and a fixed metering charge. Some operators add a power-based component: check your tariff sheet. How long charging takes on each Swiss socket is covered in our article on EV charging time in Switzerland.

Company car: what charging costs and who pays

With a company car, home charging is an employer's cost. The employee pays it first through their own electricity bill, then is reimbursed in one of two ways:

• the flat rate from the model expense regulations (Spesenreglement) of the Swiss Tax Conference (SSK/CSI): at most CHF 60.– a month, shown on the salary certificate under item 13.2.3;
• actual expenses: kWh actually charged × the employee's own price per kWh.

Source: SSK model expense regulations 2026 (in German, Italian version also available).

Our canton table makes the point: at 15,000 km a year, the real cost already exceeds CHF 60.– a month in most cantons. A flat rate then leaves part of the charging cost with a high-mileage driver in Vaud or Bern, and overpays a low-mileage driver in Zug.

Reimbursing actual expenses solves this. Voltaback records every charging session, applies the price of your contract (high tariff, low tariff, solar or self-consumption community) and produces a monthly statement. Voltaback relies on the home's MID-certified meter, not on a standalone cable meter. The measurement has been audited by an independent third party, with a relative error of 1.22 %. Documented actual expenses are neither salary nor subject to AHV/AVS social security contributions, and the employer never receives the vehicle's location, in line with the Swiss data protection act (nDSG/nLPD).

To prepare your request, follow our company car driver's guide to home charging. For the company, charging is only one line of the total cost: see our article on fleet total cost of ownership, and estimate your employees' charging costs with the fleet charging cost simulator.

Take the next step

Charging your company car at home? Mention Voltaback to your fleet manager: every kWh can be reimbursed at the real price of your contract, whichever canton you live in.

Managing a fleet in Switzerland? Estimate your costs with the fleet charging cost simulator, then book 30 minutes with a Voltaback expert.