Electric vehicle (EV) owners have unique spending patterns – chiefly, paying for EV charging instead of gasoline. In recent years, credit card issuers have caught on and some now include EV charging as a bonus category for rewards. Additionally, owning an EV might involve expenses like home charger installation or higher electricity bills.
The good news is there are a handful of credit cards that reward these costs, offering extra points or cash back when you plug in your car. As an EV driver myself, I’ve researched and identified the top credit cards to maximize rewards on charging stations, electricity, and other EV-related purchases.
Here are the best options and how to use them:
Citi Strata Premier℠ Rewards Credit Card
The Citi Strata Premier stands out as one of the first to clearly count EV charging as a bonus category. You earn 3X Citi ThankYou points for every dollar you spend at charging stations. That’s alongside 3X on flights, hotels, gas, and groceries, all packed into a card with a $95 annual fee.
What makes those 3X points even better is the ability to move them to Citi’s airline partners like JetBlue or Turkish. Used right, that can turn into about 3 to 5 percent in travel value. Say you spend around $50 a month charging your EV—that’s 150 points every month going straight toward a future trip.
This card skips foreign transaction fees too, making it a strong pick for travel in general. If you’re driving an EV, you’re getting rewarded just for plugging in. Over time, those monthly charging sessions could easily stack up into a hotel stay or help cover the cost of a flight.
U.S. Bank Altitude® Connect Visa Signature Rewards Credit Card
The Altitude Connect is a gem for both EV and gasoline, especially since U.S. Bank revamped it with no annual fee (previously $95) and adjusted the rewards. It offers 4X points on gas and EV charging – effectively 4% back in travel rewards – on up to $1,000 in combined spending per quarter.
After $1,000/quarter, you’d presumably earn 1X. Four points per dollar is fantastic; if you charge mostly outside home, that likely covers most people’s public charging costs (roughly up to ~$333 per month). Altitude Connect also gives 4X on travel and 2X on dining and streaming services.
A standout perk is four complimentary Priority Pass lounge visits per year (great for road-trippers who also fly occasionally) and a $120 Global Entry/TSA PreCheck credit – unusually generous for a no-fee card.
U.S. Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature Rewards Credit Card
The Altitude Go gives you another solid no-fee option. Most people know it for the 4X on dining, but it also gives you 2X points at EV charging stations and gas pumps—with no limit on how much you can earn. If you hit the spending cap on the Connect card, you can switch to the Go and keep earning 2X without missing a beat.
If you’re after a simple setup without tracking limits, the Go delivers steady value. Each point is worth a penny toward travel or cash back, so 2X translates to 2% back. You also get a $15 credit each year for streaming services and avoid foreign transaction fees. Think of it as a lighter, more straightforward version of the Connect card.
U.S. Bank Cash+® Visa Signature Rewards Credit Card
The Cash+ is a unique no-annual-fee card that lets you choose your bonus categories. One of the 5% cash-back categories you can select is Home Utilities. If you charge your EV at home, that likely spikes your electric bill – and utilities category would cover your electricity payments. You’d get 5% back on your electricity cost (and other utilities) on up to $2,000/quarter combined in your chosen 5% categories.
Meanwhile, Cash+ also lets you pick one 2% unlimited category, one option being Gas/EV Charging. So you can set Gas/EV as your 2% category to get 2% back on any public charging sessions. This means you can get 5% back on charging at home (since that’s part of your electric utility bill) and 2% back on charges away from home.
The only caveat is you need to remember to activate/confirm your categories each quarter (similar to rotating category cards, but you choose them).
Wells Fargo Autograph® Rewards Credit Card
The Wells Fargo Autograph is a no-annual-fee card that offers 3X points on travel, transit, gas, EV charging, dining, streaming, and phone plans. It’s very broad. EV charging specifically is included in the transit category (and possibly the gas category too, as they listed both). So effectively, you get 3X (worth 3% towards travel or other redemptions) whenever you pay for a charge.
This card is a bit of a sleeper hit – it covers a ton of everyday categories at 3X without an annual fee. I tested my Autograph card at an Electrify America station and indeed got triple points. Wells Fargo’s points aren’t transferable to airlines, but you can redeem them for travel, gift cards, or other rewards at decent value (1¢ each typically).
If you want a one-card solution for many things, Autograph is great: your public transit, rideshares, EV charging, gas, parking, tolls – all that is 3X. Plus your travel and dining is 3X too.
Chase Freedom Unlimited
I mention this as a fallback. If you don’t have any of the above cards, the Freedom Unlimited’s flat 1.5% back (or 1.5X UR points) on all purchases is a reliable baseline for EV expenses. It doesn’t specifically bonus EV charging, but if none of your cards do, this one at least beats the standard 1%.
And if paired with a Sapphire Preferred/Reserve, those points can be transferred to travel partners for potentially greater value (effectively making that 1.5X worth ~2-3% if used for high-value award tickets). So, while I would try to get a 2% or 3% card for charging, Freedom Unlimited ensures you earn something above 1% no matter what.
Maximizing Value for EV Owners
To squeeze the most out of these cards, consider your charging habits. If you primarily charge at home, a strategy like Cash+ (5% utilities) is gold. For a mix of home and public charging, you could use Cash+ for home and something like Autograph or Strata Premier (3X) for on-the-go charging.
If you’re out on the road a lot, the Altitude Connect gives you 4X points on up to $1,000 each quarter, which lines up well with heavier spending months. Some cards won’t reward charging directly, but they might give you points on related expenses. Say you’re buying an EV charger or covering the setup costs—that could fall under home improvement.
Unless you’ve got a card that covers that category, you’re better off using a flat-rate 2% card. EV insurance can be pricey too, so using a solid 2% back card for those premiums, like Double Cash or BofA Premium Rewards, can help you rack up more value.
One more tip: The Amex Platinum card isn’t a rewards Credit card for EV charging per se, but it offers an annual $200 credit for hotel bookings which can complement using Fine Hotels & Resorts if you drive to a destination (this ties into topic 7). Not directly EV-related, but if you have a Platinum, use other cards for charging because Platinum doesn’t bonus that (only 1X).
