Electric cars more expensive than petrol on long journeys

The analysis comes after the Herald revealed that the roll out of publicly available rapid electric vehicle charging points has slowed down - leading to fears that it is a barrier to take-up of the cars.

Data shows that the growth in crucial rapid connectors has slipped back with 6712 in place at the end of November, last year, a rise of 1548.

The RAC said the average price of using rapid chargers on a pay as you go basis has increased by nearly 26p per kilowatt hour (kWh) since May, reaching 70.3p per kWh this month.

This rise – caused by the soaring wholesale costs of gas and electricity – means drivers pay around 20p per mile for their electricity when using the chargers.

The per mile cost for a petrol car achieving an economy of 40 miles to the gallon is just 17p.

The equivalent cost for drivers of diesel cars is 20p per mile.

Most electric car owners predominantly use slower chargers at home, which cost less than half the price of public rapid devices.

But those taking longer trips beyond the range of their car’s battery depend on rapid and ultra rapid public chargers to complete their journeys.

According to separate research from financial services comparison platform Confused.com, more than 1 in 4 (28%) UK drivers are concerned that charging at home will add more to energy bills than the amount saved on fuel. And the are concerns that with the current energy prices, the cost to charge could be higher than before.

Car insurance expert at Confused.com, Louise Thomas, said: “The cost of EVs is generally a sticking point for drivers looking to make the switch, and these rising costs could only add to this."

But she pointed out there are still many long-term benefits to owning an electric vehicle.

These include the fact they are exempt from vehicle excise duty until 2025 and that they have have free entry to Ultra Low Emission Zones and home charging grants.

It pointed out that they are also more environmentally friendly and a good way to reduce emissions.

The RAC and other electric car campaigners believe that slashing VAT on public chargepoints from 20% to 5% to match that currently levied on domestic electricity would give the network a "shot in the arm in the face of rising electricity costs and would encourage operators to install more".

Last week the industry body confirmed that sales of EVs has overtaken diesel vehicles for the first time.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says the month of December 2022 saw battery electric vehicles (BEVs) claim their largest ever monthly market share, of 32.9%.

For 2022 as a whole, sales of electric cars rose from 190,700 to 267,000 - with their market share climbing from 11.6% to 16.6%, surpassing diesel for the first time to become the second most popular mode of vehicle after petrol. Petrol cars remain dominant among British motorists, with more than half of last year’s 1.6m newly-registered cars using the fuel. Diesels made up just a tenth of new vehicles sold to Britons.

The industry body said that the greening of the British car market is rising with a record low overall level of emissions recorded in 2022 - 111g of carbon dioxide emitted per kilometer travelled on average, a fraction of the level of only a few years ago.

But it also warned that climate change targets meant further action was needed to encourage more private buyers to go electric – and it has called for broader policies to encourage uptake of zero emission-capable vehicles during 2023.

It said that public charge point provision remains a barrier to EV uptake – and that installation rates are dropping below the totals required to meet the Government’s planned 10-fold increase by 2030.

According to data from EV mapping specialists Zap-Map.com, the rise of rapid and ultra-rapid connectors has fallen from an increase in 36% in the year to 2020 to 31.4% in 2021 and to 30% in the first 11 months of 2022. Between the end of 2016 and 2021 the total charge point network, including slower devices, is estimated to have grown four-fold from 6,500 to more than 28,000 devices.

Between 2020 and the end of 2021, 7494 charge points were added to the UK network, a growth of 36%.

But since then the annual rise has dipped to 33% in the year to November, 2022 when there were 36,752 electric vehicle charge points.

The concerns emerged two weeks after huge queues were seen at Tesla Supercharger sites across Britain over the Christmas period, with drivers forced to wait hours to charge their expensive electric cars while travelling to visit friends and family.

RAC spokesman Simon Williams said: “For drivers to switch to electric cars en masse, it’s vital that the numbers stack up.

“In time, the list price of new electric models will come down but charging quickly has also got to be as affordable as possible.

“It continues to be the case that those who can charge at home or at work and who don’t use the public charging network very often get fantastic value – even given the relatively high domestic energy prices right now.

“Sadly, the same can’t be said for people who either can’t charge at home or at work, or who regularly make longer journeys beyond the range of their cars.

“There’s no question they have to pay far more, and in some cases more than petrol or diesel drivers do to fill up on a mile-for-mile basis.”

The government’s Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy launched in March committed £1.6bn to expand the UK charging network with a view to have at least 300,000 chargepoints by 2030.

Meeting that target would need 115 new chargers to be installed every single day. The current rate is at around 24 per day.

The Scottish Government early last year launched a new public electric vehicle charging fund which seeks to attract investment from the private sector to at least double the nation's network of over 2700 charge points over four years. This fund was to provide up to £60 million to local authorities with approximately half of this funding anticipated to be invested from the private sector.