Electric vehicle owners wasting £13.2million every month on public charging
Electric vehicle owners have been warned that they are losing millions of pounds every month by not charging from home.
New data revealed that drivers are “wasting” roughly £13.2million each month when powering their vehicle elsewhere rather than with a cheaper at-home charger.
In a bid to stop drivers from losing money, Cord has urged motorists to buy a chargepoint which can be installed at home to help combat high costs.
The chargepoint operator found that around 221,000 EV owners do not have a device and are resorting to using expensive public stations to power their vehicles.
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Electric cars remain exempt from VED until April 2025
Drivers lose £13.2million a month on public charging
PA
At least 143,000 drivers rely on public charging and spendbetween £92 and £138 more on charging each month than they would with off-peak charging at home.
Cord co-founder Paul Tomlinson explained how “far too many” EV drivers are missing out on the best part of driving an electric car, “waking up to a fully fueled car that costs less than a takeaway coffee to charge overnight”.
Instead, he warned that drivers are waiting around at public charging stations and spending a cumulative £13.2m more than they need to, every month.
Tomlinson said: “Obviously a big issue here is the ten million homes across the UK without any off-street parking, which makes installing a home charger trickier – but not impossible.”
The Government recently extended the criteria for its one-off grant for electric cars which allows drivers to get either £350 or 75 per cent off the cost to buy and install a socket, whichever amount is lower.
Tomlinson added that while drivers are doing the “right thing for the planet” they should make sure to do the “right thing” for their wallet too.
Despite the Government spending over £185million on electric vehicle chargers the public chargepoints still remain too expensive.
Anthony Browne, technology and decarbonisation minister, explained that the Government has a plan to help speed up the installation of EV chargepoints, “which we’re getting on and delivering”.
Zapmap data detailed how 77,000 EV drivers are relying on the three-pin plug that comes with an EV which allows them to charge their car at home, but only at an “excruciatingly” slow speed.
Recently, home charger Connected Kerb rolled out a total of 6,000 chargepoints to offer drivers a cheaper alternative.
Ben Boutcher-West, chief digital officer at Connected Kerb, said: “Public smart charging is the catalyst we need to create a fairer, greener, and cheaper charging network.
“We know that just under two-thirds of people in the UK don’t have access to a home charger, which is why we’re committed to levelling the playing field between those who can access smart charging and those who can’t.”
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77,000 EV drivers are relying on the three-pin plug that comes with an EV to charge
CORD
Connected Kerb plans to unveil 4,000 more chargepoints this year to boost the UK’s network of EV chargers.
