- An increase in energy prices could be felt on the public EV charging network
- Charging companies warn of price increases
- Network charges have increased dramatically over the past three years
A number of public providers of charging networks for electric cars have warned that sky-high energy costs could be passed on to electric car owners, as the price per kilowatt hours to charge on the public grid could increase as companies look to stem losses.
According to a report by Sky News, there are warnings that charging companies may have no choice but to pass the cost on to drivers, with ChargeUK noting that companies face massive network charges that have risen by an average of 462% over the past three years.
Speaking to the news outlet, Osprey Charging site in Wolverhampton said it had reported a 38,570% increase in its annual fixed charges since 2021, from £87 to £33,651 this year.
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“Our ultra-fast charging hubs require very large grid connections to build for the peak loads we will see in the future, but we have to pay in full for the large grid connections today,” Ian Johnston, managing director of Osprey Charging told Sky News.
According to ChargeUK’s 2025 White Paper, the public charging network has seen a sharp increase of 38% on average in prices since 2021.
The increase in costs is primarily attributed to energy costs, which now account for two-thirds of charge point operator (CPO) costs, according to EV Infrastructure News.
On top of this, the public network is made even more expensive by the UK government’s political charges, which add around 6p per kWh in an attempt to balance the falling revenues from fuel tax.
Public charging is also currently subject to 20% VAT, while home charging is taxed at 5%.
Analysis: A Catch-22 situation
Many of the major public charging network operators have invested millions of pounds in infrastructure “at scale years ahead of demand”, according to Osprey’s Ian Johnston.
This means that most people are counting on the number of electric vehicles on the road to continue to increase in pace over the next decade, when a return on investment can start to happen.
But it seems many are already getting nervous as the UK government continues to move the goalposts on sales quotas for electric cars, pushing back its 100% zero-emission target to 2035. Only 5% of all cars on the road are electric.
This, combined with the fact that fixed charges and energy prices are rising, means that costs are now, predictably, passed on to the consumer.
Tom Hurst, UK country director of Fastned, which owns a site in the Palace Grounds retail park in South Lanarkshire, said the company now faces standing charges of £41,000 a year – almost four times the rent for the site, according to Sky News.
“Although the station is powered by 100% renewable energy, these fixed costs, combined with higher VAT on public charges and rising wholesale energy prices, ultimately pass through to drivers.
“We are absorbing as much of these costs as possible to keep prices down for drivers, but political action is needed,” he explained to Sky News.
The whole situation is a painful Catch-22, with more EV owners required to allow these big companies to make money and promote competition – and hopefully bring down the cost of public charging – yet potential buyers are deterred by a lack of fast and affordable charging infrastructure.
After all, the eye-popping price of rapid public charging disproportionately affects a third of UK households without off-street parking.
Despite the national and local electric car charging initiatives announced by the UK government in April this year, it needs to get the public charging network under control, reduce VAT, tackle political charges and reduce standing charges if it has any chance of convincing more buyers to go electric.
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