Charging on Time-of-Use Rates: When to Plug In and How Much It Actually Saves

The single easiest EV charging optimization most owners never make isn't a hardware upgrade — it's changing when the charger turns on. On a time-of-use (TOU) rate plan, that alone can be worth hundreds of dollars a year, with zero change to how you actually drive.

How time-of-use rates work

A TOU plan charges a different price per kWh depending on when you use electricity, rather than one flat rate all day. Utilities set higher "peak" pricing during hours of highest grid demand — commonly late afternoon into evening — and lower "off-peak" pricing overnight and, on many plans, midday when solar generation is abundant. The national average residential rate sits around 18.8¢/kWh as of mid-2026, but that single number hides a much wider TOU spread on plans that offer one.

| Rate period | When it typically applies | Relative price | |---|---|---| | Peak | 4pm–9pm (varies by utility) | Highest — sometimes 2–3x off-peak | | Partial-peak | Late afternoon/early evening shoulder hours | Moderate | | Off-peak | Overnight, and midday on solar-heavy grids | Lowest | | Super off-peak (some utilities) | Late night/early morning, e.g. 11pm–7am | Lowest of all, on plans that offer it |

Real utility examples

| Utility (illustrative) | Peak rate | Off-peak rate | Spread | |---|---|---|---| | California utility, EV-specific plan | ~$0.50–0.65/kWh | ~$0.20–0.25/kWh | ~$0.30–0.40/kWh | | Northeast utility, optional TOU plan | ~$0.30–0.35/kWh | ~$0.15–0.20/kWh | ~$0.15/kWh | | Southern/moderate-rate utility | ~$0.18–0.22/kWh | ~$0.10–0.14/kWh | ~$0.08/kWh |

Exact rates vary by utility and change over time — confirm your specific plan's current pricing on your utility's tariff page before relying on any figure here.

The math: what shifting charging time actually saves

Formula: Savings = kWh charged per session × (peak rate − off-peak rate)

Worked example (California-style TOU plan):

• Battery needing a 60 kWh charge (roughly 200 miles of range on a mid-size EV)
• Peak rate: $0.58/kWh → cost if charged at peak: 60 × 0.58 = $34.80
• Off-peak rate: $0.22/kWh → cost if charged off-peak: 60 × 0.22 = $13.20
• Savings per full charge: $21.60

For a driver doing this roughly 3 times a week, that's about $3,370/year in avoided cost from timing alone — an unusually large figure specific to high-spread California plans, but directionally representative of what's possible on a wide peak/off-peak gap.

Worked example (moderate-spread utility):

• Same 60 kWh charge
• Peak rate: $0.20/kWh → $12.00
• Off-peak rate: $0.12/kWh → $7.20
• Savings per full charge: $4.80, or roughly $750/year at 3 charges a week

Annual savings by household pattern

| Charging pattern | Typical annual savings from off-peak shifting | |---|---| | Occasional charger (1–2x/week), moderate-spread utility | $100–$250 | | Regular commuter (3–4x/week), moderate-spread utility | $300–$600 | | Regular commuter, high-spread utility (e.g., California) | $600–$1,500+ | | Household adding solar + battery on TOU | $600–$1,500+ (from load shifting plus self-consumption) |

How to actually schedule off-peak charging

Most EVs and most Level 2 home chargers support a built-in charging schedule — set a start time (or "charge by" time) in the car's app or the charger's app, and the car will wait until the cheaper window begins rather than drawing power the moment you plug in. This requires no additional hardware for the vast majority of owners; it's a settings change, not a purchase.

Real case: a two-car household switching plans

A household charging one EV roughly 4 nights a week switched from a flat residential rate (~$0.19/kWh) to their utility's optional EV time-of-use plan (peak ~$0.32/kWh, off-peak ~$0.13/kWh) and set the charger to start at 11pm. Their annual electricity cost for EV charging alone dropped from roughly $700 to roughly $480 — about $220 in savings — without changing their driving pattern, simply by scheduling charging to start after they were already asleep.

When TOU might not be worth switching to

If most of your household's other electricity use (not just EV charging) happens during peak hours and can't be shifted — an all-electric home with evening cooking and laundry, for example — a TOU plan can sometimes raise your total bill even while lowering your EV charging cost specifically. Run your actual usage pattern through your utility's TOU comparison tool, or the EV Charging Cost Calculator, before switching plans rather than assuming it's automatically a win.

FAQ

Is TOU charging automatic, or do I have to remember to plug in at a certain time? You can plug in whenever you get home — the schedule setting in your car or charger's app handles the timing, delaying the actual charging session until the off-peak window starts. No manual step is required once it's set up.

Does my utility automatically offer an EV-specific TOU rate, or do I need to opt in? It varies by utility and state. Some utilities have made TOU the default for new residential customers; others require opting into an EV-specific or general TOU plan. Check your utility's rate plan page — many list an EV-specific option explicitly.

Do TOU savings still apply if I have solar panels? Often even more so — solar production during midday hours can offset usage before peak pricing begins, and pairing solar with a home battery lets you store midday production to use (or export) during the highest-priced evening window. See our home battery storage guide for how batteries interact with TOU rates specifically.

What if I need to charge during peak hours occasionally, like before an unplanned trip? That's fine — TOU savings come from your average pattern, not perfect adherence. An occasional peak-hours charge for an unplanned trip won't meaningfully erase the savings from consistently scheduling routine overnight charging off-peak.

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