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Cheapest charging on the go in UK
- Thread starter m3p_uk
- Start date
Gatsojon
Member
Tesla destination chargers are free I believe. The town hall near me is free and a couple of my clients have free chargers for their employees that are hardly ever in use so I'm going to plug in there until I get told otherwise.
At the moment, as Adopado says, Dumfries and Galloway charge. But to my knowledge also Dundee City charges today and Aberdeenshire have voted to introduce charging (15p/KWh) but no news as to when it will be implemented. I suspect it won’t be long before other local authorities up here also decide to bring in charges. In my opinion this is no bad thing because a fair few folk (me included sometimes I admit) use the local free chargers to get a good boost rather than charge at home where they pay for their electricity. Provided the cost is reasonable I have no problems with it and it should keep the chargers from being used by locals who could charge at home.
Tesco have free 7kWh chargers.
But the best advice is to have a look at Zap Map - only you know where you are likely to travel to, and many of the EV charging networks are regional.
But the best advice is to have a look at Zap Map - only you know where you are likely to travel to, and many of the EV charging networks are regional.
I know my local Lidl which opened 2 months ago uses podpoint. 50kWh chargers at 23p/kWh
Tesco and Lidl also offer free charging at all 7kWh chargers. These can be found here.
Tesco: Tesco VW EV Charging | UK National Rollout | Pod Point
Lidl: Lidl EV Charging | UK National Rollout | Pod Point (Although my local Lidl isn't listed as its so new)
Tesco and Lidl also offer free charging at all 7kWh chargers. These can be found here.
Tesco: Tesco VW EV Charging | UK National Rollout | Pod Point
Lidl: Lidl EV Charging | UK National Rollout | Pod Point (Although my local Lidl isn't listed as its so new)
^This
Hope they also introduce overstay charge too. There’s an Outlander PHEV that hogs a 7kw charger the whole day near where I work when there are 2 granny charge points right next door. He must be charged in 2 hours tops and then blocks it for 6.
It's not an easy comparison to make, as many of the companies have rates varying with location, mode of payment etc. It's also not very relevant as most of the time the location matters more than the cost - unless you value your time very poorly, it's not worth a big detour (or slower charge) to make a saving on something that's not very expensive in the first place.
However, there's a few that stand out:
Ionity - much the most expensive (69p/kWh), unless you got good rates bundled with a car from one of the owning groups (VW etc).
Instavolt - nice simple pricing, always 35p/kWh (they only do rapid charging)
Podpoint, CYC - pricing set by site owner, so widely variable, sometimes per kWh, sometimes per hour, sometimes free etc. Mix of slow and rapid charging.
BP Chargemaster/Polar - Same prices at all locations, but different pricing depending on payment method and charger type. They are very keen for you to pay them a monthly subscription to get lower rates. Disproportionate surcharge at their ultra-rapid locations. Non-subscription prices range from 18p to 40p/kWh.
Tesla - not quite constant pricing, but UK supercharger locations around 24p/kWh. Destination charging at the discretion of the site owner, usually free but may be limited to paying customers (at hotels etc.).
Geniepoint - 30p/kWh, with £1/session surcharge at rapid units.
