Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an estimate of the average cost of charging an electric vehicle through a (a) public and (b) private electric vehicle charging point.

The average cost of charging at public chargepoints is generally higher than at private chargepoints. Some energy suppliers offer off-peak tariffs which EV drivers can use for private charging at home. For example, Octopus Energy offer a tariff which has an off-peak price of 7.5p/kWh and a peak price of 35.1p/kWh. Public charging costs can vary heavily depending on battery size and charger speed, network and location. Cornwall Insight has found charging costs in May varied from 26p/kWh-89p/kWh.

Through our EV Infrastructure Strategy we set out our vision that people will have access to affordable and fairly priced public charging, so that those without off-street parking at home can switch to an EV without facing disproportionate charging costs. Competition between chargepoint operators will keep prices down and quality of service high. EVs benefit from a huge advantage in running costs – as low as around 2p per mile for off-peak electricity compared to 20p per mile for petrol or diesel vehicles. The cost of running an EV remains competitive compared to petrol/diesel equivalents - irrespective of charging type.