Electricity price cap increase to cost EV drivers more than £50 per year
- 29 May 2026
- 0
The cost of home charging some family SUVs could rise by £52 a year under the new electricity price cap, new research from What Car? shows. From 1 July,
The cost of home charging some family SUVs could rise by £52 a year under the new electricity price cap, new research from What Car? shows.
From 1 July, Ofgem will increase the maximum charge from 24.67ppkWh to 26.11ppkWh for customers on standard variable tariffs. The energy regulator said the increase is driven by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which is pushing up global oil and gas prices.
Research into the cost of charging some of Britain’s most popular electric cars by What Car? found drivers could pay between £20 and £52 more to charge their cars under the new cap.
The consumer title found that the BMW iX3, which currently costs £26.82 to charge, increases to £28.38 under the new price cap. Over a year*, that amounts to £52.12 in additional costs.
Even smaller cars will be pricier to charge. The cost for the Renault 5 increases from £11.35 to £12.01, which totals an extra £22.06 annually.
EV owners may be able to save money on home charging by opting for a dual-rate or EV-specific tariff with a low night-time rate that can be used for charging. Although the peak energy price on these deals may be high, electricity suppliers must ensure the combined day and night usage doesn’t exceed the overall cap.
Claire Evans, What Car?’s consumer editor, elaborated: “The electricity price cap increase is bad news for all consumers, including EV drivers, but there are ways of mitigating the extra cost.
“Do your research on the best EV home charging tariffs to ensure you’re on the cheapest option, take advantage of affordable workplace charging if you can, and look for off-peak deals and special offers on the public charging network.”
Cost to charge 10 popular EVs:
| Make model | Avg. cost on current cap | Avg. cost on new cap | Annual difference |
| BMW iX3 | £26.82 | £28.38 | £52.12 |
| Tesla Model 3 | £17.21 | £18.21 | £33.45 |
| Cupra Born | £16.90 | £17.89 | £32.85 |
| MG4 | £16.79 | £17.77 | £32.63 |
| Kia EV3 | £16.41 | £17.36 | £31.89 |
| Skoda Elroq | £15.91 | £16.84 | £30.93 |
| Audi Q4 e-tron | £15.85 | £16.78 | £30.81 |
| Renault 4 | £12.83 | £13.58 | £24.94 |
| Renault 5 | £11.35 | £12.01 | £22.06 |
| Hyundai Inster | £10.48 | £11.10 | £20.38 |
*Annual charging cost is based on 33.3 charges from 0-100%, which equates to 10,000 miles of driving in an EV that is capable of covering up to 300 miles between charges
