From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
By Paul Homewood
The price of charging an electric car using a public rapid charger is now more expensive than filling up with diesel according to data gathered by Parkers. The soaring price of wholesale gas and electricity has forced up the cost of charging a typical electric car, with £10 of charge taking you less far than the same amount of diesel.
This rise in EV charging begins to bite just as petrol and diesel prices are finally beginning to fall. Despite the spiralling costs of using public electric car chargers, the long-term consideration of an electric car is still very much on many drivers’ minds.
The RAC says that the average price per kilowatt hour (kWh) of a UK rapid charger is 63.29p, but it can cost a lot more. Osprey announced in August 2022 prices on its rapid chargers to £1 per kilowatt hour. Tesla charges an average of 77p/kWh for non-Tesla drivers (according to Zap-Map), and the second largest rapid network, Gridserve, charges 66p/kWh.
Refilling petrol vs public charging prices
The gap between petrol, diesel and electric is closing. Using Parkers’ own Miles Per Pound data gathered from official WLTP testing, we can directly compare how much it costs to fuel your car – by saying how far your money will take you when using public chargers at the RAC’s average cost. Putting £10 in your tank is now working out cheaper than £10’s worth of plugging in at a typical fast or rapid charger.
Audi Q5 (2.0 TFSI petrol) vs E-TronPetrol takes you 46 miles for £10, whereas electric on a public charger takes you 35 milesBMW 4 Series Gran Coupe (420d) vs i4Diesel takes you 73 miles for £10, whereas electric on a public charger takes you 44 milesCitroen C4 (110hp diesel) vs e-C4Diesel takes you 84 miles for £10, whereas electric on a public charger takes you 59 milesMercedes-Benz GLA (2.0 petrol) vs EQAPetrol takes you 43 miles for £10, whereas electric on a public charger takes you 52 milesPeugeot 208 (110hp diesel) vs e-208Diesel takes you 89 miles for £10, whereas electric on a public charger takes you 56 milesVauxhall Mokka (110hp diesel) vs Vauxhall Mokka-eDiesel takes you 80 miles for £10, whereas electric on a public charger takes you 50 miles
In fact Parker’s are understating just how expensive running costs are for EVs, because their figures for petrol/diesel include fuel duties, which account for nearly half of the cost.
So, for instance, if you exclude fuel duties the Vauxhall Mokka will take you will take you about 130 miles for your tenner.
As we all know, sooner or later EV drivers will have to pay their share of fuel duties one way or another. Therefore it is fraudulent to ignore these costs in any comparison between EVs and proper cars.
