8:22 am, January 26, 2022
New research has found that EV owners are battling a ‘postcode lottery’ when it comes to the cost of using council-owned charging points.
Figures obtained by British Gas show there are currently 21 local authorities in England and Wales that allow drivers to charge their batteries free of charge.
However, in some areas motorists are forced to pay as much as £4 per kilowatt hour (kWh).
Analysis found that at that price it would cost around £240 to charge a typical EV from full to flat.
It would cost around £3.90 to fully charge the same car at home using a dedicated off-peak EV tariff.
The data found that drivers in the south of England generally have access to more devices but also have to pay more to use them. .
The average cost per kWh at the cheapest charging points across East Anglia, London, the South East and the South West is 32p, compared with 25p in the Midlands, the North East, the North West, Yorkshire and the Humber and Wales.
The figures were obtained following Freedom of Information requests to more than 400 councils.
Those offering free charging include Bridgend, Leeds and Woking.
The most expensive fees are charged by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council on the south coast, and Cotswold District Council, Gloucestershire, at £4 per kWh.
The figures do not take into account the speed of the charging points.
British Gas issued a warning over the ‘postcode lottery’ of fees after commissioning a survey of 2,000 motorists, which indicated one in three are nervous about switching to EVs due to charging costs.
The energy firm’s head of EV enablement, Lucy Simpson, said: ‘The latest figures released today demonstrate the need for all UK councils to play their part in supporting the transition to electric vehicles.
‘Currently, we have 21 progressive councils that have decided to support local EV adoption, so we would expect a greater uptake of EVs to come through in these areas than in councils where it is expensive to charge.
‘If charging doesn’t become more accessible in these areas, we could see a slower rate of adoption.
‘Whilst the government does offer certain financial incentives at the point of purchase, charging costs are still a barrier to electric vehicle adoption.’
She added: ‘It is 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.’
The 21 councils which offer free EV charging
- 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
