Soaring cost of rapid charging an EV

The average price of charging an electric car on a pay-as-you go, non-subscription basis at a publicly accessible rapid charger in the UK has increased by 21% since September.

Figures analysed by the RAC’s new Charge Watch initiative in association with the national FairCharge campaign show the cost is now around 44.55p per kilowatt hour (kWh).

The 7.81p per kWh increase, from 36.74p at the end of last summer, means that the average cost to complete an 80% rapid charge of a typical family-sized electric car with a 64kWh battery has increased by £4 over this period, from £18.81 to £22.81 now.

In stark contrast, the cost of filling a 55-litre family car from empty to 80% has increased by a huge £14.54 since last September, from £59.67 to £74.21.

The RAC’s analysis shows that it now costs on average 10p per mile to charge at a rapid charger, up from 8p per mile last September.

This is still nearly half the cost per mile compared to filling a petrol-powered family car, which has risen from 15p per mile since the end of last September to a staggering 19p per mile now. The cost per mile for a similarly sized diesel-powered car is even higher at nearly 21p

The average price of charging at the quickest ultra-rapid chargers – which have a power output of 100kW-plus and can deliver a charge to a compatible vehicle in as little as 20 minutes – has increased by a greater margin of 16.76p per kWh, from 34.21p per kWh in September to 50.97p in May.

This means the cost to charge a vehicle to 80% has risen from £17.51 to £26.10. This, however, is still £48 cheaper than filling a petrol-powered car to 80%, although electric car drivers do not get quite as many miles from an 80% charge as drivers of petrol cars do from an equivalent fill-up of a tank.

The price increases facing drivers of electric cars using publicly accessible chargers can be explained by the rises in the wholesale cost of electricity.

While the cost of charging a zero-emission electric car remains good value compared to topping up a petrol or diesel car, as things stand drivers who can’t charge up at home – which could be as many as one-in-three – are penalised by having to pay a higher rate of VAT on electricity than those who can, something the RAC-backed FairCharge campaign consistently points out. This risks putting off a huge number of drivers from switching to electric next time they change their vehicles.

The FairCharge campaign is therefore calling for the 20% VAT rate currently charged on electricity at public chargers to be cut to match the 5% levied on domestic electricity, thus making it an easier decision for those who cannot charge at home to switch to an electric car.

Doing so would see the cost of charging up at a rapid charger cut by 5.57p per kWh, and at an ultra-rapid charger by 6.37p. This would reduce the cost of an 80% charge by £2.85 and £3.26 on average at rapid and ultra-rapid chargers, respectively.