Despite a fall in wholesale energy prices the cost of charging an EV using public rapid and ultra-rapid chargers remains stubbornly high, new data from RAC Charge Watch shows.
In sharp contrast to the low prices enjoyed by drivers who are able to recharge their vehicles at home, the price of using the very fastest chargers is virtually unchanged since the start of the year.
The RAC says reforms are therefore needed to bring the cost of public charging down to ensure EVs are an attractive option for drivers who can’t charge at home.
RAC’s Charge Watch reveals that the average cost of a rapid pay-as-you-go charge, using chargers with power outputs between 50 and 149 kilowatts, currently stands at just under 80p per kilowatt hour (79.19p per kWh), virtually unchanged on the start of the year (79.55p) but up 4% since a year ago and up 28% on two years ago. Drivers today therefore pay £41.18 (Shell Ubitricity price) to charge a family-sized electric car from 10% to 80%, adding a range of around 170 miles.
Using the country’s fastest ultra-rapid chargers – those with a power output of 150 kilowatts or above that can charge many EVs in minutes – costs a similar 77.67p per kWh, making a 10-80% charge cost £40.39.
The RAC’s research found that off-peak home charging can cost just a seventh of the price of doing so at an on-street lamppost or bollard charger where these exist (7p, compared to 49p per kWh, and less than a tenth of the price of using a much more common rapid or ultra-rapid charger (7p, compared to 80p and 78p per kWh).
The low cost of home charging means that even drivers who are on a standard domestic electricity tariff pay no more than £15.88 to fully charge an EV from 0% to 100%. This is down from a high of around £22 during late 2022 and 2023. The RAC says this may leave drivers wondering why public charging prices have not come down, when the cost to charge at home has done as a result of falling wholesale energy costs: as of the end of August 2024, the wholesale electricity price was just under 9p per kilowatt hour, down from a high of 51p in August 2022.
The reason, the RAC understands, is three-fold. Firstly, the charging networks which build and operate rapid and ultra-rapid chargers have faced huge increases in some of the charges they pay for the supply of their electricity, including those covering the capacity they will need in the future.
Secondly, it is the same charging networks that are doing the vast majority of the ‘heavy lifting’ when it comes to the vital task of installing and running the country’s EV charging infrastructure, meaning the prices they charge drivers need to be higher to help fund this. The networks are, effectively, building charging stations now to meet drivers’ needs in the future, given that EVs represent less than 4% of the total number of cars on the UK’s roads.
Finally, there is no price cap applied to electricity bought by businesses including the charging networks. Ofgem’s domestic price cap was crucial in keeping down domestic energy bills after wholesale prices spiked following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
RAC spokesperson Rod Dennis says: “Drivers of EVs might be frustrated that the cost to use rapid or ultra-rapid chargers remains stubbornly high, despite wholesale energy prices dropping. But they might also be surprised to learn that the actual cost of the electricity they are using when they charge up makes up a relatively small part of the total price they have to pay due to the high charges levied on the networks for grid upgrades and connections.
“Charging networks are spending enormous sums of money now to install the charging infrastructure that an increasing number of drivers will be using in the years to come, as more of us switch to EVs. Figures show that almost twice as many of the fastest chargers have so far been installed this year compared to last, and nearly four times as many compared to 2022.
“Of course, not all drivers depend on these fastest, high-powered chargers, but they are a crucial element of the charging mix. They are especially important for drivers who don’t have their own off-street parking space and so can’t benefit from the cheap rates to charge an EV at home.
“Our figures highlight the huge gulf in prices between those paid by EV drivers to use public chargers, and those that homeowners with EVs pay at home. On the one hand, anyone who has an off-street parking space and a home charger installed can charge up for just a seventh of the price of using a lamppost or bollard charger off peak where these exist, and less than a tenth of the price of using a high-powered public charger.
“For these reasons, it’s vital that public charging costs for drivers come down. Reducing the rate of VAT charged on electricity sold at EV chargers from the present 20% to match the 5% charged to domestic customers would be a huge help, but this wasn’t included in last month’s Budget. The best prospect of lower prices may come from Ofgem reviewing and, in turn, reducing the additional charges the charging networks have to pay. If these costs come down, drivers could at least expect cheaper public charging costs in the future.”
ChargeUK chief executive officer, Vicky Read, says: “We believe reforms are needed to help chargepoint operators offer public charging that is as affordable as possible.
“The sector has committed to spend £6bn ahead of demand and profitability to deliver the charging infrastructure that the UK needs. With a public charger being installed every 25 minutes and the network expanding by 42% a year, we are on track to do this. Our members are also committed to making charging as affordable as possible, because we know this is a key consideration in the decision to switch to EVs.
“But operators are faced with significant costs outside their control. VAT charged at 20% for public charging (versus just 5% at home), standing charges for rapid charging that have risen more than 10-fold in the past 18 months, wholesale electricity prices that remain among the highest in the EU28, and the fact that operators in the UK do not benefit from carbon credit schemes, unlike many of our European counterparts.
“We call on the government and Ofgem to act now to ensure that affordability is not a hurdle in the transition to EVs.”
