Motorists who top up their electric cars at home could pay up to £24.67 per charge from April as new energy price cap changes come into effect. In weeks, the Ofgem energy price cap for dual-fuel households paying by direct debit will fall by £117 to £1,641 per year.
The new cap is a 6.7% reduction on the previous £1,758 a year charge, with the new fees coming into effect from 1 April. Under the changes, electricity will be charged at 24.67 pence per kWh, alongside a 57.21p standing charge.
According to experts at PodPoint, road users can work out the average cost of topping up their electric car using a simple method. Motorists simply need to take the tariff, set to stand at 24.67p/kWh from April, and multiply this by the battery size of the vehicle and divide by 100.
Using this formula, the 24.67pence per kilowatt hour charge would see drivers with a mid-range 60kWh electric car pay around £14.80 to fully top up their battery. However, those with premium electric cars could have a battery size of around 100kWh.
These larger vehicles will incur higher charging costs, meaning road users can expect to pay around £24.67 to top up their EVs. Electric cars will usually need to be completely topped up at least once a week, meaning road users will pay around £1,282.84 per year in running costs.
However, motorists might be able to cut costs by securing a dedicated electric car charging tariff rate. These are specially designed plans designed for electric vehicle owners which offer significant discounts.
Under the plans, motorists top-up their vehicles at off-peak rates in the middle of the night, with drivers sometimes paying as little as 7p to 10p per kWh.
This could see costs massively fall, with road users behind the wheel of a 60kw/h electric car paying just £4.20 per top-up under a 7kWh tariff. Those with larger 100kWh electric vehicles will pay slightly more, but a special tariff would still only work out at £7 per charge.