Electric vehicles will remain significantly cheaper to power than petrol/diesel cars, despite the forthcoming rise in home charging costs. 

Drivers can counter some of the energy price cap rise by switching to one of the many off-peak tariffs available for charging their EV

Ofgem has confirmed that the cap on electricity unit rates will rise from 28p.3/kWh to 34p.0/kWh on 1 October with a rise in the daily standing charge from 45.3p to 46.4p. That’s instead of the previous 52p/kWh that had been announced in August for the October energy price cap but was scrapped following the Prime Minister’s Energy Price Guarantee announcement.

While the rise of over 20% in the unit charge will increase charging prices for EVs compared to the current rate, it’s far from the near-double increase that had been planned under the energy price cap and had led to headlines over the weekend that EV savings would no longer stack up.

RAC EV spokesperson Simon Williams explained: “The 34p per kilowatt hour (kWh) Energy Price Guarantee will significantly cushion the impact of rising energy prices affecting drivers of electric cars. From 1 October it will cost on average £22.22 to fully charge a typical 64kWh family-sized electric SUV, £3.85 more than it does currently, and a third less than it would have cost under the new cap that was announced by Ofgem on 26 August (£33.80).”

In comparison, RAC Fuel Watch figures for August showed the average cost of filling a 55-litre petrol car stood at £93.39 at the end of the month and £101.04 for a diesel car.

Extrapolating this, it means the pence per mile cost for a 64kWh EV with a typical range of 200 miles will be 11ppm, while a typical 40mpg petrol car will equate to 19ppm – ensuring that EVs are still the winner on charging costs.

The cap under the new price guarantee varies by region and is still a cap on standing charges and unit rate, with no cap on maximum bills.

Drivers will need to contact their energy provider to confirm the exact price of their new tariff – and are reminded that they can reduce the impact of the price rises further by charging at home overnight on an off-peak tariff.

However, drivers using the public charge point network will continue to face higher charging costs – particularly as the Government is yet to announce full details on business support under its energy scheme. It’s said so far that it will fix energy costs at the same price per kWh as households for six months and a review is expected within three months, but more details are due.

The RAC’s Rod Dennis added: “It remains to be seen what impact the Government’s new package of help will have on charge point operators and the prices they set drivers, but we remain concerned about the rising wholesale costs of energy that may force some to increase their prices in the coming months.

“There’s the potential for the Government’s net-zero transport ambitions to be derailed if higher electricity prices put drivers off from switching to an electric model, which is why we have called on the new transport secretary to cut the 20% VAT rate on public charge points to match the 5% charged on domestic electricity.”