Shit just got my electric bill!!

[2anddone]

Just got my electric bill it's gone up £200 compared to this time last year....it's going to get worse isn't it!
I have night storage heating which works on a thermostat and is set to low (17 degrees) plus a log cabin which I need to heat for my work (childcare so have to have heat!). I don't leave lights on unnecessarily, don't have my hot water heater switched on, only run my washing machine and dishwasher when they are full. The tv is on every evening but not in the daytime, don't have a tumble dryer.
I honestly can't see where I can save money on my electric bill (was over £400 this month)

EVs suit those that drive a lot but not huge distances in smallish vehicles, they are not suitable for us at all, we have one SUV that is used for towing a caravan and small boat and does about 10k miles year and one small newish runaround that does about 1000 miles a year so an EV would not be worth the outlay. A newish SUV costs about £30k against £60k+ for a decent tower, plus the inconvenience of charging a lot on route as EVs do about half the amount of miles while towing, I have seen 150 quoted, they have a long way to go yet and a lot of price to drop.

There were a large amount of caravans bought during Covid so we are not in the minority here.

@cakeorwine

I would like an electric car. There is no way I can charge it from my flat, there's no street charging and if you charge in supermarkets etc, you could pay more than at home.

Morrisons: Geniepoint, 42p/kWh, 10.5p/mile

Lidl: PodPoint, 26p/kWh, 6.5p/mile

Tesco: PodPoint 7kW, FREE

Modern petrol car returning 50mph @ £1.40/l: 12.7p/mile and significantly higher maintenance costs

I understand that these options may not exist near where you live, or it may just be too inconvenient. But things are changing so rapidly in the EV world that what was true 12 or even 6 months ago may well no longer be true. Maybe your council is planning a massive rollout of on-street chargers, or GridServe or MFG have planning permission for an EV charging hub a few miles from you.

Just because it wouldn’t work for you last year, doesn’t mean it won’t now. Just because it doesn’t now, doesn’t mean it won’t next year.

There were a large amount of caravans bought during Covid so we are not in the minority here

Pretty sure you still are, just a slightly larger minority.

It would need to be a massive roll out.
I see the couple of charging points that can take a relatively long time to charge compared to a few minutes at a petrol station to fill up.

If there are more EV's, then there are going to be a lot more people needing to charge them. And there is no way the infrastructure is there.

People will keep topping up, just in case. Because who wants to run low.

I've just seen a woman on tik tok saying that as a country we should all change to the same supplier, it would force other suppliers to reduce their prices .
It's really got me thinking . It's quite a good idea .

Our local supermarket has 6 chargers now. There’s another 10 dotted around our small town. I say town, the entire population including surrounding villages is 3000.
The closest petrol station is 18 miles away. So there has never been the opportunity to charge locally before.

The chargers will give you an 80% charge roughly in the time it takes you to do a small supermarket shop (20-30 mins)

Even the local school/ nursery have just announced they are adding 4 chargers

A home charger is now €650 here. You then get €600 energy grant back from the government. So €50

@Bedsheets4knickers

I've just seen a woman on tik tok saying that as a country we should all change to the same supplier, it would force other suppliers to reduce their prices . It's really got me thinking . It's quite a good idea .

Wouldn't work at the moment. Suppliers are struggling because of the price cap.

Suppliers who offer cheaper prices have a tendency to over promise and then go under.

Ours came through the other day with a forecast for the next 12 months and ours has TREBLED!!!! Fuming is an understatement. Don't even know what to do about changing suppliers because they all seem to be dropping like flies. I am getting in touch with them though this week to ask for an explanation and ask for a better tariff. Bloody cheek of it!!

I am getting in touch with them though this week to ask for an explanation and ask for a better tariff

Do you know how much in KWH you are estimated to use?

Most new deals are going to be way more expensive than the price cap levels.

It would need to be a massive roll out.

Yes, it would. At one time, there were no petrol stations, no electricity or gas supply to homes.

It will come. It will have to, because come 2030 you will not be able to buy a new petrol car any more. From 2035 you won’t be able to buy a plug in hybrid either.

I see the couple of charging points that can take a relatively long time to charge compared to a few minutes at a petrol station to fill up.

Yes, 7kW, which is what home charge points usually are. Those need to be in places where cars are left for many hours, so they need to be close to places where you spend many hours. Like your home, workplace, a park and ride car park. The idea is that you use those chargers when your car would be sat there doing nothing anyway.

Rapid (50kW+) chargers are for places where you spend 30-60 minutes. Preferably while you are doing something else, such as shopping or having a coffee. This is increasingly the type of place where they are being installed - either that, or in charging hubs which provide cafe and toilet facilities, like a mini motorway service station.

If there are more EV's, then there are going to be a lot more people needing to charge them. And there is no way the infrastructure is there.

Not yet, no. It is however growing rapidly.

People will keep topping up, just in case. Because who wants to run low.

Do you top up your petrol car every day? I’m guessing, unless you do a lot of miles, that you don’t. That’s because you are familiar with its characteristics and confident of where you can fill it.

New EV owners often do top up their cars frequently. But as they get used to it, they usually calm down a bit. Especially when they know where the places are that they can charge.

It is a learning curve, to be sure, but thousands of us have negotiated it successfully and are using our EV’s for all our transport needs without ever running out. Please listen to the experience of the people who actually use them on a daily basis, rather than the FUD of people who don’t.

It will come. It will have to, because come 2030 you will not be able to buy a new petrol car any more. From 2035 you won’t be able to buy a plug in hybrid eithe

That's 8 years away. I don't think that's going to happen.

@TonysMrs

Ours came through the other day with a forecast for the next 12 months and ours has TREBLED!!!! Fuming is an understatement. Don't even know what to do about changing suppliers because they all seem to be dropping like flies. I am getting in touch with them though this week to ask for an explanation and ask for a better tariff. Bloody cheek of it!!

Is your new tariff over the price cap and if so how much over and is it fixed? It may be worth sticking with it if it is fixed as prices are going to keep going up for a while

@cakeorwine what do you think is not going to happen - the ban on ICE cars, or the expansion of charging infrastructure?

@TonysMrs

Ours came through the other day with a forecast for the next 12 months and ours has TREBLED!!!! Fuming is an understatement. Don't even know what to do about changing suppliers because they all seem to be dropping like flies. I am getting in touch with them though this week to ask for an explanation and ask for a better tariff. Bloody cheek of it!!

Don't you have an online account to look at?

[quote PuzzledObserver]@cakeorwine what do you think is not going to happen - the ban on ICE cars, or the expansion of charging infrastructure?[/quote]
The ban on ICE cars. 8 years is very close. The Government just doesn't strike me as that organised to make such a massive change to our way of life.

Rapid (50kW+) chargers are for places where you spend 30-60 minutes. Preferably while you are doing something else, such as shopping or having a coffee. This is increasingly the type of place where they are being installed - either that, or in charging hubs which provide cafe and toilet facilities, like a mini motorway service station

Has anyone added the cost of the unnecessary coffee and shopping etc to the amount it costs to charge an electric vehicle.

It is one of the reasons I think they aren’t as cheap to run as they have been made out to be.

It is just another way to get you to part with your money.

Yes you could be sat in your car waiting for it to charge but how many people are going to do that.

Once I am out for the day I need a quick place to fill up. Not driving something that has cost me to charge up the night before and then I have to stop work during the day to charge up again. I get paid by the hour in some cases so an hour of charging is an hour less working and an hours less money.

[quote PuzzledObserver]@cakeorwine

I would like an electric car. There is no way I can charge it from my flat, there's no street charging and if you charge in supermarkets etc, you could pay more than at home.

Morrisons: Geniepoint, 42p/kWh, 10.5p/mile

Lidl: PodPoint, 26p/kWh, 6.5p/mile

Tesco: PodPoint 7kW, FREE

Modern petrol car returning 50mph @ £1.40/l: 12.7p/mile and significantly higher maintenance costs

I understand that these options may not exist near where you live, or it may just be too inconvenient. But things are changing so rapidly in the EV world that what was true 12 or even 6 months ago may well no longer be true. Maybe your council is planning a massive rollout of on-street chargers, or GridServe or MFG have planning permission for an EV charging hub a few miles from you.

Just because it wouldn’t work for you last year, doesn’t mean it won’t now. Just because it doesn’t now, doesn’t mean it won’t next year.[/quote]
You have missed the part where an EV costs more than a petrol or diesel equivalent vehicle.

Once you start adding that in as a comparison and other factors etc they become to look quite expensive.

. . . not as expensive as the planet becoming uninhabitable though.

On another note my electric company who tell me I don’t exist whilst charging me monthly for the privilege
They email me to say that my latest statement is on my account but as I don’t have an account and I don’t exist I have to wait for the 2nd email a few days later to get a figure and then I pay it.
No idea if this overall is the right amount or not but I pay it hoping that as soon as I can access my account I can get answers to my questions about my account.
The only time I got sent a copy of my bill nothing from the metre readings to the daily charge made sense.

Dd has now shown me an email she has received from this company.
We live at the same address and she isn’t on the electric bill.

She has now received a demand from their collections department of an amount that doesn’t even correlate to what I pay each month.

Again just an email to pay £XXX

They are closed today but I sent them an email asking for their reasoning.

No idea what is going on.

I have started charging them £20 per hour for the amount of time spent on trying to pay a bill (2hours on the phone trying to work out if I am with the company or another company and being passed around)

I think if this isn’t resolved in March I am putting the cost up to £30 per hour then £40 then £50 because it isn’t getting their attention.

Fifteentoes

. . . not as expensive as the planet becoming uninhabitable though

Fundamentals of going Green is people don’t have the money for expensive stuff. If they are on a budget then it doesn’t matter how planet saving something is if works out as more expensive than a non green alternative then they will opt for the cheaper version.

No one is going to pay me more to cover the cost of an electric car so on a tight budget costs now are more important.

Make electric vehicles cheaper to buy/lease/run etc and everyone will be driving one.
Until then adding up the cost of everything and making a comparison to cheaper alternatives, unless you have a surplus amount each month then no one is going to deliberately go into debt trying to save the planet. Especially when other countries couldn’t give a flying f**k and will continue doing things their way.

If you want to save the planet stop buying stuff you don’t need.

@Kennykenkencat. the way I see it is that the rich pave the way by being early adopters, and over time it becomes possible for more and more people. Short of us becoming a communist country, I can’t see how it can ever be different.

At this point in time, some people can afford to buy an electric car and some can’t. The proportion who can is increasing all the time. It is also undoubtedly cheaper to run one when you can charge at home on a cheap rate, but there are plenty of people who use exclusively public chargers and make it work both practically and financially. And while you can waste money (and time) buying coffees you don’t need or want while charging it, that really isn’t necessary. I didn’t have home charging for the first 8 months, and only once did I buy a drink for the sole reason of waiting while the car charged. Every other time I was doing something I needed or wanted to be doing.

But you’re right - it needs to be accessible, convenient and affordable to enable mass take up by the people with the tightest budgets. So we’re not there yet. But, IMO, we eventually will be.

My two key points are:

1. Listen to the experience of those who actually drive an EV rather than those who don’t

2. Check back often, because the landscape is changing all the time

I rarely put the heating on. I usually just sit at my desk all day with a hot water bottle and a blanket.

I very rarely put the heating on, I make hot water bottles for the cat and if I get too cold I go to bed and use my heated blanket.

Thanks to PP who mentioned when prices may fall again - so need to budget for at least a year on current cap. Like a lot of posts on this thread, and the other similar one, it's been illuminating and knowledge is power.

I'm not a stupid person, or uninterested, but have never taken enough interest in how much elec and gas I was actually using. Would be a great skill to teach in schools.

I'm not a stupid person, or uninterested, but have never taken enough interest in how much elec and gas I was actually using. Would be a great skill to teach in schools

It's actually good and relevant maths and physics. In everyday life.