Drivers are being urged to ensure they are making savings when charging their electric vehicles as the nation’s energy regulator hikes prices.
From today, Wednesday, October 1, Ofgem will raise the cost of the energy price cap, which will remain in place until December 31, 2025.
For the next three months, the energy price cap will be set at £1,755 per year for a typical household that pays for electricity and gas by Direct Debit.
Despite the ongoing pressure of the cost of living crisis, the energy price cap has seen a two per cent hike since the cap was set between July 1 and September 30.
While drivers can make major savings on their electric vehicles when charging at home, compared to in public, they could still face high costs.
Experts are calling on EV owners to ensure they have switched to a smart tariff to reduce their running costs.
Data from Ohme shows that the new Standard Variable Tariff for electricity will rise to 26.35p per kilowatt hour, meaning drivers could spend more than £440 over the course of a year.
Although this is still less than half of the cost of running a petrol car, drivers can make further savings.
Drivers could charge their cars for as little as £10 a month with a smart EV-friendly tariff
|
GETTY
EV-friendly tariffs, such as the Intelligent Octopus Go option, slash charging costs compared to other off-peak and smart energy tariffs.
The Octopus tariff has rates as low as seven pence per kilowatt hour, meaning the cost to charge an electric car could be less than £10 a month.
David Watson, CEO of Ohme, said: “Any EV driver charging at home should look at switching to one of the wide range of smart electricity tariffs to help them reduce their everyday running cost.
“Charging at home is still the most affordable place for EV drivers to charge their cars even with this latest rise and changing to a smart tariff will enable them to maximise those savings still further.”
Ohme is the official charger provider for Mercedes-Benz, Volvo Cars, Volkswagen Group, Hyundai, Smart, Suzuki and Xpeng in the UK.
Charging an Audi A6 Avant e-tron with a 75.8kWh battery from empty with an Ohme charger on a dynamic tariff could cost just £5.31.
In comparison, drivers would have to pay almost £20 to fully charge the 361-mile battery with the new Standard Variable Tariff.
This could act as a crucial lifeline for motorists who have the ability to make significant savings without making major changes.
Calls for drivers to act come as experts demand the Government slashes the VAT rate on public EV chargers to make charging fair for all motorists.
At present, drivers pay a 20 per cent VAT rate when visiting public chargers, while home chargers attract a VAT rate of just five per cent.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been urged to slash the VAT rates, as millions of drivers could avoid switching to an EV since they need to rely on the public charging network.
There are more than 85,000 chargers across over 120,000 locations, with experts optimistic that the UK will hit an original target of 300,000 chargers by the end of the decade.