Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help reduce the cost of charging electric vehicles.

The Government’s EV cost calculator demonstrates that battery electric vehicles can be charged from as little as 1p per mile, compared to 8-17p per mile for even the most fuel-efficient petrol and diesel cars. At home, smart charging of an electric vehicle during off-peak periods when electricity demand is low means consumers can benefit from cheaper electricity prices. Next year we intend to mandate that all new private chargepoints must have smart functionality to help realise the benefits smart charging can offer consumers. In May, the Secretary of State for Transport announced that he will consult on improving the charging experience for EV drivers when using the public charging network. This includes consulting on options to introduce a common pricing metric e.g. p/kWh allowing drivers to compare the cost of charging between different networks more easily. Just like with today's conventional fuels this will help drive competition between chargepoint operators and bring down prices.