Thousands of drivers who bought a plug-in car recently to avoid paying excessive fuel costs, will be disheartened to learn that the forthcoming energy cap rise drive charging prices higher than ever, and in some cases make it more expensive than petrol and diesel.
A new report from Which? has found that electricity prices rising to 52p per kWh will mean that medium car owners will pay £158 more per year than running the same car on diesel over the course of 12 months.
Analysis from Which? earlier this year found that 51 per cent of those who bought EVs recently did so because of the lower running costs an electric car can offer. The energy cap for the UK will rise on October 1st, and that will bring increased costs for EV owners. City car will face an increase of £551.66 over the course of a year, small cars £586.09, medium cars £627.50, compact SUVs £645.89 and large SUVs paying on average £741.22 more.
The increases will hit EV owners at home where they are most likely to charge, but the rising costs will also impact rapid charging public network, where many drivers are already paying higher prices for their energy than petrol and diesel. Some networks are now charging more than 60p per kWh, and the Which? research shows that anyone paying more than 47p per kWh is paying more than the current petrol and diesel prices.
Which? Energy and sustainability editor, Emily Seymour, said: “A big part of the EV appeal has always been its lower running costs, and we need people to switch to EVs for the sake of the environment.
“Many non-hybrid petrol drivers will still save money by switching to electric, but for many diesel drivers that now won’t be the case.
“This latest price rise is putting the cost of living at odds with sustainability.”