Public Fast-Charging Fees Not Reflecting Falling Electricity Prices in U.K., Says RAC

Cuts in wholesale prices of electricity are not being passed on to consumers using public fast-chargers for their battery-electric vehicles in the U.K.

That’s a finding of research by the greatly respected Royal Automobile Club (RAC) motorist representative body whose RAC Charge Watch survey suggests consumers get the best electric prices when charging at home.

The RAC points out that the drop in electricity prices enjoyed when home charging are not being passed on to consumers who use public chargers for longer journeys or for those without facilities to charge at home.

It says public charging fees have not changed since the start of 2024. The average cost of a rapid pay-as-you-go charge, using chargers with power outputs between 50 and 149 kW, currently stands at just under 80p ($1) per kWh, virtually unchanged from the start of the year at 79.55p but up 4% since a year ago and up 28% on two years ago.

The organization calculates that BEV drivers now pay £41.18 ($52.48) at public chargers to charge a family-sized car from 10% to 80%, adding a range of around 170 miles (274 km).

Using the U.K.'s fastest ultra-rapid chargers, those with a power output of 150 kW or above that can charge many BEVs in minutes, costs a similar 77.67p (99¢) per kWh, making a 10%-80% charge cost £40.39 ($51.47).

At the same time, off-peak home charging can cost just a seventh of the price of doing so at an on-street lamppost or bollard charger where these exist and less than a tenth of the price of using a much more common rapid or ultra-rapid charger.

The low cost of home charging means that even drivers who are on a standard domestic electricity tariff pay no more than £15.88 ($20.23) to fully charge an electric vehicle from 0% to 100%.

This is down from a high of around £22 ($28) during late 2022 and 2023 and the RAC suggests this may leave drivers wondering why public charging prices have not come down, when the cost to charge at home has fallen along with wholesale energy costs.

The organization recognizes there are several commercial reasons for the delay in passing on energy price savings in the public charging network.

One is that the charge point operators (CPOs) which build and operate rapid and ultra-rapid chargers are facing huge increases in some of the charges they pay for the supply of their electricity, including those covering the capacity they will need in the future.

Also, because these companies bear the "heavy lifting" when it comes to installing and running the country’s BEV charging infrastructure, they need to charge drivers higher prices to help fund this.

By doing so, they are building infrastructure for the future rather than for current needs with BEVs accounting for less than 4% of the nation’s vehicle fleet.

These companies have the extra issue of not having a regulated price-cap that domestic users enjoy to moderate energy price spikes since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

RAC spokesperson Rod Dennis says: “Drivers of electric vehicles might be frustrated that the cost to use rapid or ultra-rapid chargers remains stubbornly high, despite wholesale energy prices dropping. But they might also be surprised to learn that the actual cost of electricity they are using when they charge up makes up a relatively small part of the total price they have to pay owing to the high charges levied on the networks for grid upgrades and connections.”