Why proudly owning an EV solely beats petrol in case you can cost at residence

The cost of ultra-rapid charging an electric car has fallen – good news for EV drivers who want to top up quickly on long journeys.

The average price of using the fastest charging devices – most commonly found along motorway routes – fell by 1p/kWh in January, the AA’s EV Recharge Report shows.

While this isn’t much, it does buck the trend of rising EV charging costs.

There was no change in the cost of either peak or off-peak slow, fast or rapid charging last month, which goes to show that it is worth scheduling charging for off-peak times where you can.

Meanwhile, petrol prices rose by 2.3p to an average of 138.9p per litre in the same month as the nation’s drivers of combustion-engine cars face rising costs to fill up and ongoing uncertainty over volatile oil pricing as a result of ongoing and threatening global conflicts.

But, the research shows on a pence per mile basis, the price of filling a petrol car still beats an EV in many instances – but if you charge your EV at home this beats every option by far. 

The comparisons are based on a Vauxhall e-Corsa with a 50kW battery and a 1.2-litre petrol Corsa with a 40 litre tank.

Adding 80 per cent charge to the e-Corsa, which has a WLTP range of 221 miles, gives you 178 miles of range. 

Charging at home costs just £10 – with a pence per mile figure of just 5.65. 

Refueling the petrol Corsa’s 40-litre fuel tank to 80 per cent (32 litres) at 138.9 ppl costs £43.71.

The petrol Corsa’s combined Low MPG figure of 52.3 will return you 366 miles at 12.14 p/mile (see the tables below).

That makes the e-Corsa 53 per cent cheaper on a per mile basis.

However, while home charging beats petrol costs, it can be expensive to charge an EV out and about, and in some instances it costs nearly 20p per mile. While over 80 per cent of charging takes place at home, 90 per cent of EV drivers still use the UK’s public charging network on a regular basis, with most utilising it more or less monthly.

A petrol Corsa starts from £18,995 and an electric e-Corsa £27,495.

The AA’s research also aimed to quell a major EV ownership anxiety among Britons.

It found 95 per cent of issues EV drivers have when trying to access the nation’s charging network is resolved by a simple phone call.

The AA’s been assisting a number of EV charging providers for the last five years, with 24/7 telephone and remote technical support for their network, processing more than 7,000 calls month in 2024.

These calls, which came from a variety of EV users including first time users to the public charging network, fielded a number of problems that electric car drivers faced while charging.

The most common reason a driver needed support was because they were unable to start the charge (16 per cent), while the second most common reason was because a driver couldn’t stop a charge (11 per cent).

A pricing query was the third top call reason (seven per cent) alongside a stuck charging cable (also seven per cent).

In three per cent of the circumstances the customer resolved the issue while on the phone.

And two per cent of the time the customer range simply because of a general enquiry, and another two per cent of the time because they had an account enquiry.

App queries accounted for one per cent of the calls, as did people ringing because they wanted to know how to sign up to the app.

Pointing to the 95 per cent of charging cases that could be fixed on the phone, Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for The AA, said the the evidence shows that EV ownership may be easier and more convenient than many drivers suspect.

‘The continued scrutiny about the reliability of the public network is only to be expected and EV drivers will be honest and admit that it isn’t perfect,’ he said.

‘However, most queries and faults can be resolved remotely.’

How satisfied with the charging network are drivers?

Leading EV charge point app ZapMap recently found that the public charging network is as important as ever to UK motorists.

Half of EV owners using public charging at least once a month, even when they have a homecharger installed at their residence.

And while the average satisfaction rating for the UK’s public charging network in ZapMap’s research was just 64 out of 100, three in five respondents said that public charging had improved in 2024.

Who monitors the reliability of the charging network?

The government is responsible for overseeing the charging network.

Regulation updates came into force in November 2023 that means the government has to legislate charge point providers as well as regulate the experience and make sure it is constantly improving.

Amongst other stipulations, the government has set a bar of 99 per cent reliability for the rapid charger network and requires all charge points to have a free to use 24/7 staffed telephone helpline.

Cousens said that ‘much support will be needed as more people match the switch’: ‘Many instances are where it’s the driver’s first time using that provider and want confirmation about the steps needed to initiate the charge.’

He added: ‘As the government are now capturing the reliability of the network, including how frequently devices are out of order, chargepoint operators will be desperate to top the charts for their units being ready to use.’