Tesla Supercharger Cost: Per kWh, Per Fill, and vs Gas

Ask what a Tesla Supercharger costs and every page on the internet gives you one national number. Tesla does not. It prices each site on its own, changes the price by the hour, charges other EVs up to 52 percent more than Teslas at the same stall, and lets business owners who host Superchargers set their own rate on pins that look identical to Tesla’s own. The only price that counts is the one on the site’s pin at the moment you plug in. This page shows you what that price looked like at seven real sites on one day, what it comes to for your car, and how to read yours.

The short version. Supercharging is billed per kilowatt-hour (kWh, the unit on your power bill) wherever Tesla can, and per minute “in other areas.” On September 8, 2026, Tesla’s own location pages for six Washington sites and one in Austin, Texas showed Tesla drivers paying between $0.17 and $0.50 per kWh depending on the site and the hour, with flat-rate sites at $0.42. A 2026 Model 3 Premium RWD uses 24.6 kWh per 100 miles by the EPA’s rating, so adding 100 miles cost roughly $5.42 off-peak, $10.35 at a flat site, and $11.33 at peak. The same 100 miles at home, at the June 2026 US average residential rate of 18.34 cents, is about $4.52; in a 27-mpg gas car at the August 31 US average of $4.071 a gallon it is about $15.08. To run your own car and your own rate, use the Supercharger cost calculator.

Before you trust any number here. Every price in this guide was read from Tesla’s public pages on September 8, 2026 and is an example, not a quote. Tesla says “Prices may change from time to time,” and they do. The price that applies to you is the one shown on the site’s pop-up in your car or the Tesla app when you plug in. This is an independent site with no connection to Tesla; nothing here is financial advice.

What seven Tesla Supercharger sites charged on one day

Each of the seven Tesla Find Us location pages read for this guide carries a pricing card (“Pricing for Tesla” on Tesla-only sites, “Pricing for Tesla & Members” plus “Pricing for Non-Tesla” on partner sites) with the rate by hour band, a busy-times chart, and the congestion-fee cap. These are the seven read on September 8, 2026:

Two things jump out. The peak rate at Federal Way is 2.09 times the off-peak rate, and at Austin it is 2.47 times, so the hour you arrive matters more than which state you are in. And two sites a few miles apart on Interstate 5, Tumwater and Lacey, use completely different structures: one flat price, one with five price bands in a day. Hour boundaries above are read from the chart on each page and are approximate to about half an hour; the dollar figures are printed on the page.

Why is the Supercharger price different at every site and every hour?

Because Tesla designs it that way. Its support page says “Supercharger stations are priced differently across locations due to Tesla’s dynamic pricing model, which adjusts rates in real-time based on site-specific factors like occupancy and forecasted demand to optimize utilization and manage congestion effectively.” Each of the variables below can change your bill:

One rule protects you from the price moving mid-session: “Charging rate is determined by the plug-in time and does not adjust if pricing changes during the charging session.” The live-pricing page says the same in different words: “Your charging price for each charging session is locked once you start the session.” The prices in the app “include normal taxes and fees,” so the number on the pin is the number on the bill, apart from any congestion fee you earn afterward.

Live pricing deserves a closer look because it is new and it cuts both ways. Tesla describes it as “a pricing model that adjusts prices based on real-time occupancy rates of charging sites. When charging sites are less busy, you can charge your EV for a lower price,” while “When charging sites are busier than usual, charging prices may increase,” and adds that quiet sites also charge faster “due to less demand on the grid.” It is “introducing live pricing at high-demand charging sites,” not everywhere, and the site’s occupancy shows as “Red: High, Yellow: Medium, Green: Low” in the app and on the touchscreen. Tesla’s own advice for the lowest price is blunt: “we recommend charging your EV when there are lower occupancy rates at charging sites.”

The host-owned sites are the variable almost nobody mentions. Under Supercharger for Business, Tesla supplies the hardware and runs the site while the host handles installation and site upkeep, “with the same visibility in the Tesla App and the same operational oversight, service response, and performance standards as Tesla-owned locations,” while the pricing row of Tesla’s offer table reads “Customer/Owner: Set your price and let us take care of the rest.” Hosts “can enable congestion fees and time-of-use pricing” too. There is no label on the pin that says a site is host-owned. The price is the only tell.

How much does a full charge cost by model?

Tesla’s site pages list stall power and range, not battery size, so the only sourced way to price a fill is to use the EPA’s rating for how much electricity each car uses per 100 miles and multiply by the miles you add. The EPA describes the figure as how many kilowatt-hours “the vehicle would use to travel 100 miles.” Supercharger billing counts the kWh delivered to the car, which is not exactly the same thing, and real use rises with cold, speed and load, so treat these as estimates rather than invoices. The table uses model year 2026 EPA entries and the three most common rates from the sites above.

The kWh column is rounded to one decimal for reading; every dollar figure is computed on the EPA’s unrounded value (24.6398 for the Model 3 Premium RWD, for example), so a cell can sit a cent above or below what the rounded column would give you.

Nobody Supercharges from zero to full, and Tesla nudges you away from it: at busy sites “your vehicle’s charge limit may be automatically adjusted to 80%,” and “Charging speeds slow as the battery charges, so reaching 100% charge will typically take significantly longer than reaching 80%.” A road-trip stop that takes a Model 3 Premium RWD from 10 to 80 percent covers about 70 percent of its rated range, roughly 62.6 kWh, which is $13.77 at $0.22 and $28.80 at $0.46. Tesla’s own speed table says a Model 3 can add “Up to 175 miles in 15 minutes”; at that car’s EPA rate that is about 43.1 kWh, or $9.49 off-peak and $19.84 on-peak for a quarter of an hour.

Does a faster Supercharger cost more?

Not per kWh. The price on the pin is the price whether the stall is a V3 or a V4. What changes is the time, and, where you are billed by the minute, the tier. Tesla’s V3 stalls deliver “peak charge rates up to 250 kW,” and in North America its V4 stalls “can charge up to 250 kW for Model S, Model 3, Model X and Model Y vehicles,” so for those four cars a V4 site is not a faster site. Only the Cybertruck gets more: Cybertruck vehicles “have the ability to charge up to 325 kW only at V4 Superchargers.” The Federal Way site above is one of those 325 kW locations, and a Model 3 there still tops out at 250.

Where Tesla bills per minute, speed does change the price. There are four tiers: Tier 1 for “Charging at or below 60 kW” at the “Lowest price per minute,” Tier 2 “above 60 kW, at or below 100 kW,” Tier 3 “above 100 kW, at or below 180 kW,” and Tier 4 “above 180 kW” at the “Highest price per minute.” Tesla says the tiers exist “to account for changes in charging speeds,” so a slow session pays the cheaper tier but for more minutes; a cold or nearly full battery still stretches the bill by stretching the clock. Tesla lists the reasons a session slows: “battery charge level, battery temperature, current use of the Supercharger station and extreme climate conditions.” The preconditioning and slow charging pages cover how to arrive with a warm battery. Note that every site read for this guide, including the Austin one, was priced per kWh, so per-minute billing is the exception, not the rule.

Supercharger vs home vs gas, per 100 miles

Where you live moves this comparison as much as the charger does, so the table shows two home rates and two gas prices.

Read the middle of that table, not the ends. An off-peak Supercharger is only about 1.2 times the US home rate, so a night-time top-up on a trip costs about what home does. A peak-hour session is 2.5 times home and still about a quarter cheaper than a 27-mpg gas car at the national pump price. The 27 mpg figure is the EPA’s real-world average for a model year 2024 new vehicle, “a record high 27.2 mpg.” If your gas comparison is a 40-mpg hybrid, peak Supercharging costs more than gas; if it is a 20-mpg truck, it never does. The electric car charging guide has the all-brands version of this table.

What do non-Tesla EVs pay at a Supercharger?

More, and by a margin Tesla does not print as a number. On the three partner sites above, the non-Tesla rate ran 39 to 52 percent above the Tesla rate at the same site and hour: Federal Way $0.31 against $0.22 off-peak and $0.64 against $0.46 on-peak, Kelso $0.62 against $0.42, Lacey $0.75 against $0.50 at midday and $0.32 against $0.21 overnight, the 52 percent case. Electrek’s April 24, 2026 analysis found that “the non-Tesla Supercharger premium sits at about 30-35%” on average and that Tesla itself claims “a ~40% premium.”

The way around it is the Supercharging Membership, which “allows other electric vehicles to Supercharge at the same price as Tesla vehicle owners,” with the Tesla price applied “at select sites.” Tesla’s page says “a monthly membership fee will be charged” but does not state the amount; the fee appears in the app when you tap Charging, then Membership. Electrek reported it as “$12.99/month” and estimated that “the membership pays for itself with roughly 80-100 kWh of charging per month.” At the Federal Way peak rate the gap is $0.18 per kWh, so $12.99 breaks even at about 72 kWh a month; at the off-peak gap of $0.09 it takes about 144 kWh. Two more rules matter for other EVs: at live-pricing sites “you must have the Supercharging Membership” to get the live price, and “Pricing charged by third parties through their apps may vary. Tesla only determines the pricing shown and charged through the Tesla app,” so a driver paying through their carmaker’s app may see a different number again.

What is the Supercharger congestion fee, and how do you avoid it?

It is the one fee that can outrun the electricity. Tesla’s fees page no longer describes a separate idle fee; the congestion fee now covers both cases. It applies “only when a Supercharger site is busy and one of the following applies: Your vehicle’s battery is already at or above the congestion fee level of 80% battery charge; or Your charging session has ended.” You get “a five-minute grace period to disconnect your vehicle and leave,” after which “you will be charged a fee for each minute you remain connected.” The typical US fee is $0.50 a minute, and the footnote adds that it “can be up to $1.00 per minute and may vary by location.” Every site card above capped it at $0.50.

The details that surprise people: “There is not a limit on the amount of congestion fees that may accrue”; the fees “include tax”; they apply “to any vehicle occupying a Supercharger if the station is busy,” even with open stalls; and they “start to apply once your vehicle surpasses the designated charge level” while you are still charging. Twenty billable minutes on the phone in a busy lot, after the five-minute grace period and after your car passed 80 percent, is $10 at the typical rate and $20 at the maximum, and the $20 case costs more than the $13.77 of off-peak electricity in the 10-to-80 percent stop above. The fix is the one Tesla gives: it “encourages drivers to charge only as much as is needed for their trip, rather than all the way to 100%,” and the app “notifies you when your vehicle passed the charge level threshold or when charging is complete.” Turn those notifications on and set the charge limit to what the trip planner asks for.

Do free Supercharging credits work everywhere?

No, and the exception is the host-owned sites again. Tesla’s page states that “Free Supercharging credits can only be used at Supercharger sites owned by Tesla. Free Supercharging credits cannot be used at Supercharger sites not owned by Tesla. Supercharging-related fees including congestion fees still apply.” If your car has unlimited free Supercharging, the same split holds: “you can charge at Supercharger sites owned by Tesla at no cost,” while at a site not owned by Tesla “you can view the price for each site before you begin your charging session.” Free Supercharging does not switch the congestion fee off. The one carve-out is narrow: cars with unlimited free Supercharging “purchased and delivered before 2017 won’t incur a congestion fee during an active charging session,” but they still pay it above 80 percent or after the session ends, and cars with credits “can be charged a congestion fee even during an active charging session when a site is busy.” Buying used? You can only see whether a car has free Supercharging “if you are the vehicle’s registered owner or if you are added as a driver by the vehicle’s registered owner in the Tesla app.” The referral credits covered in the Tesla referral guide follow the same rules. If you are ordering a new Tesla, that guide tracks what ordering through a referral link currently adds, and Tesla’s own referral page is the authority on the perk of the month.

How do Superchargers compare with Electrify America, EVgo and ChargePoint?

Of the six other networks in the table, only IONNA publishes a rate; the rest send you to the app or the charger screen. What they do publish is the plan structure:

So the Supercharger’s real advantage is not a lower headline rate, which only IONNA lets you compare, but the absence of session fees and a price that is on the map before you arrive. IONNA’s cap of $0.39 before tax sits below every peak rate in the seven-site table and above every overnight rate, with Seattle Northgate’s $0.37 evening band the one Tesla price in between; Tesla’s pin prices include tax and IONNA’s cap does not, so the gap is a little narrower than it looks. It still tells you where the Supercharger’s time-of-day pricing bites. The disadvantage is a price that moves by the hour and by occupancy, which is why this page exists.

Dealership chargers and other pins with no published price

Every rule above is for chargers whose owner publishes a price structure. Some chargers on the map belong to a car dealership, a hotel or a business that sets whatever price it likes, and the apps that list them show the owner’s price, not their own. On September 1, 2026, Road & Track reported the case of a Chevrolet Bolt driver who found a charger through the EVgo app, plugged in at a Hyundai dealership, and “after just 44 minutes of charging” was “billed a whopping $418.” The screen on the machine listed “$5 per kWh and $5 per 5 minutes.” Road & Track, citing the local station WXYZ, wrote that “the amount was the result of intentionally high prices set by the dealership,” with “general managers at the location who said the prices are set in that manner to deter use by anyone but customers or dealership employees.” The driver said “he never saw the prices before starting his charging session”; EVgo “eventually refunded $405,” down to a $13.57 that, in the magazine’s words, “the company claims represents what he would have otherwise paid for the charging session under his subscription plan,” and EVgo said “that pricing is set by a charger’s owner.”

That is ten times the highest Tesla-driver rate in this guide per kWh, plus a time charge on top, and the app that listed the charger passed the owner’s price straight through. Three habits keep you out of that story. Read the price on the pin or the screen before you plug in, every time, even on a network you trust, because the owner of a roaming station can set it. Look for the two-part price: a per-minute or per-session line stacked on a per-kWh line is the shape of an expensive stop. And if the app shows a price of zero or none at all, treat that as unknown, not free. Tesla’s own pin shows the rate, the peak hours and the congestion cap before you arrive, which is the strongest argument for the network in this whole comparison; Walmart’s page promises the price in its app and on the charger screen before you start.

How to see the exact price before you plug in

Tap the site’s pin on the car’s map or in the Tesla app. Tesla says “Specific pricing for each Supercharger site is shown on the selected pin’s pop-up on your touchscreen,” and for time-of-use sites “Prices and peak times are both displayed in the navigation application on the vehicle touchscreen and in the Tesla app.” The same location pages used for the table above are public on Tesla’s website under Find Us, which is how anyone can check a site from a laptop. After the session, “an estimate of the final charges is shown on the screen,” and invoices live in the app under Charging, then Charging History. If a bill looks wrong, that invoice, not this page, is the document to argue from.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to Supercharge a Tesla per kWh?

On September 8, 2026, seven Tesla site pages showed Tesla drivers paying $0.17 to $0.50 per kWh, with $0.42 the common flat rate and peak rates about twice the off-peak rate at the same site. Your site’s rate is on its pin in the car or the app and changes without notice.

How much does a full Supercharge cost for a Model 3?

Using the EPA’s 24.6 kWh per 100 miles for a 2026 Model 3 Premium RWD and its 363-mile rating, the energy for the full range is about 89.4 kWh, which is $19.68 at $0.22 and $41.14 at $0.46. A more typical 10-to-80 percent stop is about 62.6 kWh, or $13.77 to $28.80.

Is Supercharging cheaper than gas?

Usually, but not always. At $0.46 per kWh a Model 3 costs about 11.3 cents a mile, against 15.1 cents for a 27-mpg car at the August 31, 2026 US average of $4.071 a gallon. Against a 40-mpg hybrid, peak Supercharging costs more than gas; home charging at 4.5 cents a mile beats both.

Do non-Tesla EVs pay more at Superchargers?

Yes. The three partner sites read for this guide charged other EVs 39 to 52 percent more than Teslas at the same hour. A monthly Supercharging Membership, priced in the app, gives other EVs the Tesla rate at select sites.

What is the Tesla congestion fee?

A per-minute fee at busy sites once your battery is at or above 80 percent or your session has ended, after a five-minute grace period: typically $0.50 a minute in the US, up to $1.00, with no cap and tax included.

Can a public fast charger bill me hundreds of dollars?

Yes, if its owner sets the price that way. Road & Track reported a Bolt driver billed $418 for 44 minutes at a Hyundai dealership charger listed in the EVgo app, at “$5 per kWh and $5 per 5 minutes,” before EVgo refunded most of it. Read the price on the pin or screen before you plug in; Tesla, Walmart and IONNA all show it up front.

Are Superchargers billed per kWh or per minute?

Per kWh “whenever possible”; per minute in four power tiers “in other areas.” Every site read for this guide, including one in Texas, was billed per kWh.

Sources (26)

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