New figures published by Zapmap have revealed that the overall cost of high-powered charging on the public network increased by 11% in 2023.
According to the Zapmap Price Index, the average price of charging an electric vehicle (EV) in Britain using a rapid or ultra-rapid increased from 73p/kWh in December 2022 to 81p/kWh. Slow charging prices also rose, increasing by 13% from 49p/kWh in December 2022 to 55p/kWh in December 2023.
These changes did not go unnoticed by EV drivers as Zapmap noted that 62% highlighted the high cost of charging on public networks as an issue in 2023, up from 41% in 2022.
Despite this increase, Melanie Shufflebotham, co-founder and COO at Zapmap assured that “most electric car drivers continue to experience lower costs than driving an equivalent petrol or diesel car.”
Zapmap’s price index showed this to be especially true when drivers have access to at-home charging with the average price per mile being 7p for a couple charging their car at home for 80% of the time compared to 15p per mile for the driver of a typical internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle.
What caused the increase?
According to Zapmap, there were two predominant reasons for the increase in public charging prices: consolidation and the changing mix of charging.
In terms of consolidation, Zapmap explained that although many EV charging networks maintained their prices last year, there were a number that “significantly” increased theirs to be more in line with the market.
The top six rapid/ultra-rapid charging networks have now settled at a price point of 79p/kWh, added Zapmap, with InstaVolt charging 85p/kWh.
According to the EV chargepoint mapping company, this consolidation of prices can be “seen in the context of uncertainty in wholesale energy prices,” as businesses, with no price caps, tackle an increase in the cost of building and operating chargepoints.
The change in the grid code is a major factor in this as operators must now absorb standing charges which have increased significantly in the past two years.
A change in the mix of charging has also contributed to the increase in prices as drivers now appear to opt for faster and more expensive charging rates (100kW+). To illustrate this, Zapmap revealed that ultra-rapid chargepoints delivered 29% of the total kWh supplied in December 2022, this jumped to 45% in December 2023.
Additionally, the estimated energy transferred by ultra-rapid charge points in 2023 increased by nearly 150%.
“This year, with the continued uncertainty in wholesale energy prices and other cost pressures, don’t expect prices on the public charging network to come down in the near future,” said Shufflebotham.
However, looking to the future, there are reasons to be positive. There is continued pressure on the government to equalise the VAT levels between domestic and public charging at 5%. FairCharge is campaigning hard on this and the recent recommendations from the House of Lords also state that the government should act on this.
The report follows new laws approved by MPs in October 2023 requiring providers to publicly share data EV chargepoint availability and charging prices.
