UK drivers hit with £16 charges from April. (Image: GETTY)
The price to fully charge an is expected to hit £16 in April when the new energy price cap comes into effect.
Regulator will raise the price cap – the limit providers can charge per unit of and – by 6.4% on April 1.
The move is set to collectively raise electric vehicle (EV) drivers’ by millions of pounds per month.
According to calculations by , the digital car finance lender, the average price to fully charge an EV at home (based on a 60kWh battery) is currently £14.91. Following the price cap increase, drivers are expected to spend £1.30 more per charge, costing £16.21.
With 1.2 million EV cars across the UK and the average at-home car charger using 108kWh per month, motorists are expected to spend approximately £35million a month charging their cars after the energy price increase in April – a whopping £2.84million increase from what they will pay in March.
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Drivers are set to take a ‘significant’ hit – but there are ways to cut costs. (Image: Getty)
Plug-in hybrid drivers are estimated to see the average cost of charging their vehicles jump from £3.48 to £3.78 per full charge.
Aidan Rushby, founder and CEO of , said: “Ofgem’s price cap adjustments affect households across the UK, and while warmer months are ahead and that will help with the costs of heating and lighting homes, rising energy costs will continue to drive up monthly bills for electric vehicle (EV) owners.
“With Ofgem announcing a 6.4% increase in the next price cap, EV drivers nationwide can expect a significant rise in their energy bills.”
Mr Rushby highlighted that a recent survey from Carmoola found nearly a third of Britons would not switch to an EV due to rising energy costs. Following Ofgem’s announcement, he suggested: “This number is likely to grow.
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“With the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel car sales approaching and more EVs hitting UK roads, drivers will be hoping for energy price relief to make charging their vehicles more affordable.”
Despite the price cap increase, the expert pointed out that EV drivers would still be cheaper to charge their vehicles at home rather than public charging stations.
According to Carmoola, the average price to charge your car at a public charging point currently costs 56p/kWh. This is “nearly double” what it costs, on average, to charge a vehicle at home, even after the price cap rise (27.03p/kWh).
Mr Rushby said: “To save money, we’d suggest that EV drivers aim to charge their cars at home whenever possible and explore whether their energy providers offer off-peak tariffs to help reduce charging costs by topping up at these cheaper times.”