Drivers in the south are paying over a quarter (28%) more than those in north England and Wales to charge using the cheapest public chargers.

Drivers in the south are paying over a quarter (28%) more than those in the north of England and Wales to charge using the cheapest public chargers

New research from British Gas reveals a ‘postcode lottery’ when it comes to EV charging prices, with drivers across 21 councils able to plug in for free. But in other areas drivers are charged up to £4.00 for every kilowatt hour, according to a Freedom of Information request sent to over 400 councils.

Drivers in the south (East Anglia, London, the south east and south west of England) pay 32p per kWh to recharge compared with just 25p per kWh for people in the north (Wales, the Midlands, the north east and north west of England and Yorkshire & the Humber), based on the average price of the cheapest council-owned chargers in each area.

Drivers in the south west are hit hardest; the cheapest charger here costs 63p per kWh, on average, followed by the East of England, where it costs 40p per kWh to charge.

The most expensive public chargers are within Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council on the south coast and Cotswold council in the South west, with the cost of charging set at £4.00 per kWh. This would mean a 100% charge would cost EV drivers £240, based on average battery capacities, compared to just £3.90 to charge at home, using a dedicated off-peak electric vehicle tariff; particularly impacting those drivers without a driveway and reliant on public charging infrastructure.

Within Scotland and Northern Ireland, drivers can make use of the government-mandated, subsidised and maintained ChargePlace Scotland and ecarNI public charging networks, offering free or heavily discounted charging.

The investigation on regional disparities in England and Wales also explored fast charging and revealed that it will cost drivers in the south over 10% more to use the cheapest council-owned fast chargers than those in the north –  32p vs 29p per kWh respectively.

Condemning the “location discrimination”, British Gas said the north-south divide on charging costs makes the transition to EVs less accessible ahead of the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars.

Expensive public charging costs were cited by a third (29%) UK drivers as one of the biggest barriers to switching to an EV, alongside the outlay for the car itself and the fact that government incentives do not cover enough of the costs.

More than one in three (34%) expect charging costs to be the same in the North and the South. And 58% went on to say that they think that the Government needs to invest money into public charging infrastructure in all regions of the UK equally to support the levelling-up agenda.

Meanwhile, more than two in five (42%) drivers also said they were put off switching as they are concerned about the time it takes to charge, requiring access to fast chargers to improve across the UK.

Lucy Simpson, head of EV enablement at British Gas, said the figures demonstrate the need for all UK councils to play their part in supporting the transition to electric vehicles.

“Whilst the Government does offer certain financial incentives at the point of purchase, charging costs are still a barrier to electric vehicle adoption. With 29% of drivers citing expensive public charging as one of the main reasons holding them back, it’s unfair that those who don’t live in areas with either free or low cost charging are being discriminated against based on their address. If this continues, we risk leaving a huge number of drivers behind in the transition to electric cars.”

Simpson also said that while EV drivers are currently advised to stick with their energy providers due to the cost of wholesale energy, in the medium term home charging systems, such as Hive EV charging, and electric vehicle-specific tariffs will be the most cost-effective and convenient way to charge.

“What’s more this is invariably the greenest method of charging as it makes use of overnight renewable energy,” she stated.

List of 21 councils where it is currently free to charge your EV:

• Arun
• Bracknell Forest
• Bradford
• Bridgend County Borough Council
• Crawley
• Daventry
• East Riding of Yorkshire
• Hambleton
• Lancaster
• Leeds
• Lichfield
• Lincoln
• Oadby and Wigston
• Southampton
• Staffordshire
• Stevenage
•  Stockport
•  Swindon
•  Tunbridge Wells
•  Warrington
•  Woking