EV public charging costs came down in May for the first time in over a year – hopefully signifying the start of a more dramatic downward trend.

Mina’s June ‘EV Snapshot’ shows a ‘small but significant’ drop in public EV charging costs

The June ‘EV Snapshot’ from EV payment specialist Mina reveals that the overall average cost to charge both cars and vans in public dropped from 76p/kWh in April to 75p by the end of May, but for cars specifically, the average now sits at 73p.

It might be a small drop – but it’s significant. Since Mina started publicly reporting on figures in June 2022, it is the first time there’s been any reduction in the average cost of charging.

Ashley Tate, Mina CEO, said: “These first indications hopefully point to the start of what will be a more dramatic change of direction in costs this summer, after watching them inexorably rise for the past year.

“But it’s worth putting in a caveat here: it may be just drivers getting smarter at charging and using slightly cheaper networks. So, we’ll have to wait for another month or two to really get a clear idea of what’s going on.”

For the same month, Mina figures suggest domestic prices have remained at the same level they have for the past four months: 32p per kWh.

But, the firm warns, this is mostly down to the effect of the Energy Price Cap and Energy Price Guarantee setting the price of domestic electricity and so it may be some time before energy prices are low enough to bring this average figure down.

To access Mina’s latest monthly EV Snapshot, and receive future editions, click here.

The publication of the new Mina report coincides with the latest instalment of the AA’s own Recharge Report, which also shows some falls in pay-as-you-go pricing for public charging.

Its figures for May reveal that the cost of off-peak slow charging, typically provided at the kerbside in residential streets, dropped more than 10% to 33p/kWh. Such charging is now on average lower than the Energy Price Guarantee of 34p/kWh – and only just above Mina’s figure above for domestic charging costs.

Meanwhile, peak slow charging has dropped by more than a quarter, from 72p to 53p kWh, bringing further respite to drivers unable to charge at home. But there is evidence of increased costs for charging at higher speeds – the result of the end of government support for businesses providing charging, under the Energy Bill Relief Scheme.