A lot of Tesla owners charging at home are still sitting on their utility’s standard electricity rate, even though most major utilities offer a separate plan built specifically for EV owners. Switching is usually free — the real cost is committing to charge at the right hours.
How EV rate plans work
Utility EV plans are a form of time-of-use pricing: electricity costs less during off-peak hours (usually overnight) and more during peak demand (typically late afternoon into evening). PG&E’s EV2-A plan prices power lowest from midnight to 3 p.m. every day, including weekends. Southern California Edison’s TOU-D-PRIME plan works the same way, and asks you to confirm you own an EV or other qualifying equipment to enroll. On the East Coast, Con Edison offers an EV-only time-of-use rate with a one-year price guarantee — if you’d have paid less on the standard rate, Con Edison compares the two after 12 months.
Once you’re enrolled, set your Tesla to charge in the cheap window using Scheduled Departure or Scheduled Charging in the Tesla app, rather than relying on plugging in whenever you get home.
What it actually saves you
The savings depend on your utility, your usage, and how consistently you actually charge off-peak — there’s no single national figure, and any specific dollar amount quoted online reflects one household’s bill, not a guarantee for yours. What’s consistent across these plans: they only pay off if most of your charging happens in the off-peak window, since peak-hour rates on an EV plan are often higher than your old flat rate. If you can’t reliably shift charging to overnight, a standard plan may still work out cheaper.
How to check what’s available to you
Most EV rate plans require a smart meter, which most utilities have already installed for residential customers. To find out what’s available: log into your utility’s online account — PG&E, SCE, and Con Edison all list EV-specific rate options directly under their rate plan pages — or call customer service and ask specifically for an "EV rate" or "time-of-use EV plan." Not every utility offers one yet, but the list keeps growing; if yours doesn’t have a plan today, it’s worth asking whether one’s coming.
Photo by Connor Scott McManus.