What do people consider to be reasonable a reasonable kWh charge cost?

[MrBadger]

Too many variables to post a poll and slightly tricky due to the current electricity markets (or use a delta from come charge costs), but though it interesting to ask anyway.

What do you consider to be reasonable kWh/time charge costs and how might it affect your charging and driving habits?

 

[davidmc]

Is this costs for public charging or home charging?

 

[Adopado]

I would be more relaxed about high kWh pricing on genuinely rapid reliable and well positioned chargers but less so for slower routine charging as an alternative to charging at home.

 

[Dilly]

5 pence… and I’m not from Yorkshire

 

[MrBadger]

Is this costs for public charging or home charging?

It doesn’t matter. Many may have different rates in mind for both. Likewise same for if just topping up and whether you need to charge.

Hence no poll. Too many different variables not to add the reasoning behind it.

 

[spooksman]

I usually equate using Supercharger/Rapid Charger with stopping at a motorway services for petrol - I try to avoid it if possible, but when needs must, choices are limited...

I guess I would relate it to 'normal/daytime' electricity costs. When that was 15p per kWh, then 30p was acceptable, now it's crept up to 25p per kWh, I guess north of 40p is to be expected sadly.

However, I do worry that when domestic electricity rates start to come back down, those rapid charger rates won't.

 

[HenryT]

I usually equate using Supercharger/Rapid Charger with stopping at a motorway services for petrol - I try to avoid it if possible, but when needs must, choices are limited...

I guess I would relate it to 'normal/daytime' electricity costs. When that was 15p per kWh, then 30p was acceptable, now it's crept up to 25p per kWh, I guess north of 40p is to be expected sadly.

However, I do worry that when domestic electricity rates start to come back down, those rapid charger rates won't.

I have a similar view.

I would see about double the 'standard' domestic rates for the fastest chargers as being fair and about 50% above the par rate for the slower ones.

 

[bhanorthy]

30p or less ideally. I won’t use superchargers that are more which rules out most of them sadly.

PodPoint 50KW units are well priced around 26-28p
BP Pulse 50KW 29p
Gridserve Electric Highway 30p
Gridserve Braintree 24p

Yes it takes longer but Podpoints are normally at supermarkets where I can grab some shopping. My long journeys are also normally for work where during a stop I need to grab the laptop and get some work done. Sounds strange to say it but superchargers can be too fast sometimes.

Obviously depends on individual use cases but I fear we won’t see anything under 30p for much longer and 40p+ become the norm.

 

[NewbieT]

If we don’t pay, they won’t be installed or maintained. If you pay 15p in the daytime at home you’ve got to expect to pay more for a public charger. For me, ‘fair’ looks something like (ignoring the current blip):

7-22kW charge point 20-25p
50kW machine say 25-35p
150kW+ machine 35-45p

If you’re going beyond 45p might as well drive an ICE. Tesla do seem to hit the sweet spot for me.

I do resent paying silly money for a 50kW delivering at 40kW thats showing as unreliable on Zap Zap map and might have a queue.

 

[NewbieT]

Interesting Instavolt make £5m to £6m loss each year while they lay out big capital for new installs.

Charging equipment depreciated over 10 to 30 years. Probably 10yr for charge points and 30yrs for transformers/switchgear/cabinets. We all know how 10yr old EH chargepoints work.

 

[pgkevet]

It all depends on how one looks at figures. A petrol station only makes a few pence per litre profit i.e a few pence per (say) 12 miles range and has not too dissimilar infrastructure costs. The profit is mostly from other sales which is why they all have their own shops these days. A charging station should be able to negotiate a reasonable input price on leccy. I have no choice (because of ruralism) than paying 26p/kwh at home. If a charging station paid that (and I bet it's a lot less) then a few p profit for12miles range puts the price under 30p/kwh. Granted start-up costs with wayleaves and recabling charges and more expensive equipment - but that's down to economy of scale - a single petrol pump wouldn't be a cheap item if they were rare.

 

[Nick77]

Anything over 35p on Rapids is taking the piss really.

Unfortunately I only have one near me which is less than that and it's BP Pulse which is the worst supplier of EV chargers going IMO.

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

The amount thats reasonable is directly proportional to how much I needed the charge. Sounds a bit glib, and it's also why I think free chargers are a stupid idea at the one extreme, but as a one off, charge when in need, a working available decent charger is worth its weight in electrons.

Trying to be less of a smart so and so, anything that approaches petrol prices gets me wincing so I generally avoid if I can (and I've been successful in doing so over the years), but as we have a petrol car if the journey was going to cost similar on electric then we'd take that anyway, it rarely happens.

The worry longer term is tax revenue. On a petrol car that costs say 20p a mile, the tax take is what 70% or 14p tax, 6p raw material cost. With an EV public charger (bit of simplified maths going on) costing 60p a kwh and 4 miles per kwh, 15p a mile. with the tax element about 3p, and raw material cost 12p. We've a long way to squaring the disparity on the ratios between costs and tax collection which kind of says EVs might be cheaper for us but they're certainly not better to the government in raising tax. Electric cars wouldn't be cheaper for us either if the playing field was levelled, not even close, [accepting there are potentially complex other factors at play].

 

[Garry TheBiz]

Seems like Instavolt have set the bar at 40p with Fastned (39p), Osprey (40p), GeniePoint (42p) and Shell Recharge (45p) all in the same ball park.

I feel 40p is about right for reliable charges installed in multiples at convenient locations

I perceive Gridserve as a bargain at 30p and Ionity as expensive at 69p, but that's just my own perception. I'd still use Ionity if the need ever arises, but would avoid them if there was an alternative. As for the others I mentioned, the difference is small enough to not be significant, so I'd happily stop at any of them if needed.

I agree with @NewbieT that once you go over 45p you might as well be driving a Diesel, apart from that full charge you had when you left home of course!

 

[Adopado]

I agree with @NewbieT that once you go over 45p you might as well be driving a Diesel, apart from that full charge you had when you left home of course!

It certainly eases the pain when you realise that most of the rest of your journey cost 5p per kWh. I wouldn’t be driving a diesel at any price I’m afraid.

 

[browellm]

Wow, life comes at you fast. Just looking at some of these prices up the thread.

Rather than spin up a new thread, I'm curious as to the backstory on why Tesla decided on a per-site variable tariff, rather than the flat per network price of the other providers.

Is it a hangover from different pricing state by state in the US? Is it demand based? Even so, I wonder why they don't amortise it across the UK network.

 

[prabhu]

Seems like Instavolt have set the bar at 40p with Fastned (39p), Osprey (40p), GeniePoint (42p) and Shell Recharge (45p) all in the same ball park.

I feel 40p is about right for reliable charges installed in multiples at convenient locations

I perceive Gridserve as a bargain at 30p and Ionity as expensive at 69p, but that's just my own perception. I'd still use Ionity if the need ever arises, but would avoid them if there was an alternative. As for the others I mentioned, the difference is small enough to not be significant, so I'd happily stop at any of them if needed.

I agree with @NewbieT that once you go over 45p you might as well be driving a Diesel, apart from that full charge you had when you left home of course!

Osprey is going up to 49p from the 17th. Subscriptions are the best way to get a fixed cost right now for heavy users.

 

[Undecided_2]

I consider 5p per KWh to be reasonable.

They estimate that the energy companies made circa £4b profit last quarter.

They should spend that sorting out their delivery network as a huge amount of what they generate is lost - some estimates put it as high as 50%.

However, they instead make it our problem and want us to spend thousands on our homes to delivery energy back to help stabilise their network.

 

[Jason71]

depends how long the piece of string is

 

[NewbieT]

The world looks quite different since this thread started. First the gas supply/demand & now exasperated by the invasion of Ukraine. Sadly I’m thinking more and more that this probably isn’t a blip but a long term re-alignment of the cost of energy. It’s good for the ROI/payback on renewables - suddenly investment decisions look quite different but its definitely bad for the wallet and bad for the economy. Diesel & Petrol also going up so at least it doesn’t radically change the equation for the shift to EV.

Instavolt currently at 50p/kWh is a bit steep even in the current market.