Why are public electric car charging costs still so high?

[dwordle]

With a new generation of electric cars now in showrooms it's never been a better time to go electric. 0% PCP deals, huge range of cars to choose from.

While I can charge at home for 3 pence a mile the only thing I can't get my head around is the cost of using public chargers.

Some are nearly 80 pence per KWH, to me that's robbery when I'm paying 5 pence per KWH at home.

Why isn't there a charging network supplied by utilities or even better state run network. There must be millions of people with no way to charge at home and are being denied access to electric cars.

Our parish has just installed three points at our village hall that charge 11p per kWh. That covers the cost of the installation and any maintenance, but gives our villagers who don't have a drive, a more reasonable way to charge their cars.

We had a grant from govt, we did a survey and it was the most asked-for facility.

I agree, the difference is huge. I have an EV but I would never have got it if I couldn't charge at home. Could it be because of the speed of charging? A full charge for me at home takes about 5 hours, versus 1.5 hours at a motorway service station.

That is amazing, why can't more places be like that

Possibly, but you would think it would be less than some off the fees being charged. I had a look online and it appears some charge up to 92 pence....instaVolt

The infrastructure costs for high speed chargers can be considerable, not just for the chargers themselves but also for the installation of the high power electrical grid connection.

But it's also just capitalism. If people will pay 80p/KwH then that's what the fee will be.

That's probably the issue...also the land is often leased so that's another cost. You would have thought they could install low cost low speed ones on lamp posts

You can apply to have them installed. We did on our street https://www.gov.uk/guidance/electric-vehicle-chargepoint-grants

I have a home charger but it's more when I'm on the road. Also how do we get people electrified when theres no street infrastructure. Another problem I've found was a charger at Lidl had all its cables cut off by metal thieves...that can't be cheap to replace.

So, as it seems like people are telling you, they are building the street infrastructure? I literally gave you a link to how we got ours and someone else did upthread.

You can't have things before you've done them. Life isn't magic. If you want more street charging where you live, apply for it. If you want your local restaurant to have it in the car park, ask them. Participate in your own life.

Your rather high-handed reply didn't actually address the question.

The OP has clearly said she's talking about the chargers when she's travelling, not where she lives. How would you advise OP can change this?

Instavolt charge the quickest to be fair so when in mid long journey I don’t mind paying the extra. It’s still cheaper than a tank of petrol.

It’s not necessarily a good thing to make private travel as cheap as possible. Yes, electric cars reduce some emissions, but making them dirt cheap to run increases demand and congestion.

I have an EV. I mostly charge at home. I use a public charger about once a fortnight when doing a long journey.

I don’t resent the charges and I find the infrastructure is brilliant on the routes I take. I’ve been surprised by how many fast chargers are available for me to use up and down the country.

I wouldn’t use a slow charger at a lamppost, if I’m charging my car it’s because I need to get somewhere. I don’t have hours to wait for that to happen.

Either way it is massively cheaper per mile to run than petrol.

It's not really high handed. I don't, like, work for the government or EV or whatever. I'm not in charge of any of this. I just get a bit tired sometimes of this whiny foot stampy behaviour that is so common now. But whatever, I know I shouldn't have said anything. I should have just rolled my eyes and kept my peace, and I shall now take my lumps.

It's more for people who can't charge at home, lamp posts would be a great idea. The infrastructure is there and a 7kw charger would help people parked on a street.

I recently did a job on a new build site, what amazed me is the infrastructure being put in now. Three phase electrical supplies, chargers, solar, heat pump. We really need to be speeding up our efforts and make this country ahead of the game.

Railway stations, public car parks, schools, colleges and universities. Lamp post charging in city cities and park and ride. It needs to be no more than 20 pence per KWH for 7kw. We need to incentivise electric cars to make them so attractive that people simply give up on fuel. I'm against punishing fossil fuels use but more using the tax off it to fund infrastructure directly. I think people using diesel and petrol are paying enough the job now is to make electricity the better alternative.

1. Low Power
2. Reduced Servicing Costs
3. Lower finance rates
4. Widespread infrastructure

OK, that's fine. You just were slightly snarky to OP suggesting she undertake action to get a charger near her home because she was being too passive - or whiny, foot-stamping, whatever - but that wasn't what she was asking. Do you have any suggestions as to how she can actively do something to change the situation she is asking about?

My issue with it is that it's been done in an apparently piecemeal fashion up til now - early adopters of EVs have seen all kinds of changes and had to keep up with various apps, providers, prices etc. If the government want to incentivise EV take-up then consistency and knowing what you're gonna get and where can only help.

But if it's whining to ask why things can't be better in the big picture then I'll shut up.

For me it's about making charging available to everyone. Fast charging is great for long journeys but we need to make sure people can charge when they leave their cars at park and rides all day and work....it needs to be cheaper 7kw types

The problem is the whole market is in a state of uncertainty, and no one is going to make a 10 year investment only to have it fail.

And in the meantime if people are happy to pay whatever they pay per kWh, then they will.

Electric is going no where, the combustion engine is simply being phased out. The modern combustion engine is flawed and expensive to maintain.All the emission tech built into the combustion engine has added huge costs to service costs.

I was very sceptical about electric but honestly it's been life changing. Repairs bills are a quarter of a combustion engine. Brakes are regenerative so you barely wear your pads and discs, no annual service instead it's two yearly and that includes air conditioning. Tyres is the only thing I've replaced.

And with the price of petrol/diesel climbing to their new nor (I can see £2.50/l for diesel and £2.25/l for petrol before 2028) that is only going to become more true.

I am still predicting an intersection of autonomous and electric cars being the final piece in the jigsaw. Once a car can go and charge itself, then having them nipping to a local charging bay between midnight and 6 (for example) will mean people who can't charge at home lose a massive reason not to "go electric".

And the mechanical simplicity (no gearbox or clutch or water circulation) will be reflected in reliability

Brakes are regenerative so you barely wear your pads and discs

I didn't actually realise this! Thanks! Love learning something new.