Britons who own an electric vehicle and cannot “fuel up” with a home charging point face spending an extra £1,000 every year to charge their car. Even though the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars is less than seven years away, the charging costs represent a 10 percent increase from the year before.
An estimated one-third of drivers do not have access to off-street parking, which has been highlighted as putting drivers off from investing in electric.
For those without access to off-street parking, charging an EV costs drivers an additional £88 per year more than those who can park at home.
This amounts to £1,056 per year, with drivers seeing costs rise from under £80 per month last year.
The data, from Electrifying.com, is based on the average 10,000 mileage of a Volkswagen ID.3, which costs 0.34p per kWh at peak times and just 0.10p per kWh during the night.
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In comparison, it would cost £103 a month to charge for 70p kWh – the typical rate for a rapid charger found at a service station or supermarket.
Ginny Buckley, founder and CEO of Electrifying.com, said the country needed to improve when it came to increasing the rate of EV ownership.
She added: “Car buyers are embracing the electric revolution, with battery electric vehicles now boasting 16.2 percent of the market share.
“But electric car ownership should not be a privilege for the more affluent, we need to ensure that the right infrastructure is in place – and at the right price – so that we can bring everyone along on the electric journey.
“We’ve seen promises to support drivers by providing ten times as many public chargers by 2030 across the UK, but actions speak louder than words.”
Ms Buckley, who presented Why Is My Car So Expensive last year, continued, saying that it was “unfair” that those without driveways have to pay more tun their car.
One of the key proposals from the electric car industry is for the Government to cut the rate of VAT on public chargers.
At present, charging at home attracts a VAT rate of five percent, whereas charging in public will see an additional 20 percent VAT rate added.
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Ginny Buckley warned that without changes, drivers around the UK could be left behind in the acceleration towards net zero.
She also called on public charge point operators to consider introducing more, affordable off-peak charging rates.
The cost of installation and monitoring of an EV charger also plays a factor, with many charge point operators investing millions to support uptake.
Electrifying.com pointed out that people may face discrimination when owning and operating an electric car.
Driveways tend to be more commonplace in more affluent, suburban areas, meaning those on lower incomes without access to off-street parking are being left behind.
Those who live in urbanised areas, where access to a driveway may be limited, will face the most expensive costs by being forced to fill up when shopping or at service stations.
This also makes owning an EV less attractive to those who live in cities, which is where zero emission vehicles can make the biggest difference to air quality.
The Government has pledged billions of pounds to roll out more public charging options around the UK by 2030 to help cope with uptake.
However, many experts are concerned about the viability of installing such a high number of chargers in a relatively short period of time.
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