Electric car owners to benefit from energy price cap

Prime Minister Liz Truss's plans to introduce an 'energy price guarantee' will save electric car drivers up to a third on charging costs.

Announced last week, the price cap is designed to protect consumers from Ofgem's scheduled increase, which was announced on 26 August and could have seen average household bills potentially hitting £3,549 per year.

For EV owners charging at home, this could have have seen bills increase even further. The government's new energy freeze, however, will cap household electricity prices at 34p per kWh.

This is a slight increase – with the price previously being 28p per kWh – but is significantly less than it might have been without interference (52p per kWh.) This price guarantee is set to last two years.

If you’re an EV owner what costs are you looking at? 

It comes down to the 34p per kWh rate – this is the potential maximum you will pay. Obviously, the more electricity you use, the higher your electricity bill, but the price cap will keep the cost of home charging down significantly.

This 34p per kWh cap applies to default energy tariff customers, direct debit, standard credit or prepayment meter customers – so variable rate customers, not those on fixed-term tariffs.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that home charging customers who have special EV plans or those with off-peak tariffs will still benefit from lower prices.

If you'd like more advice on how to keep your at-home charging costs down, check out our article on off-peak tariffs and special EV tariffs.

How much will it save you?

We’ve done some calculations (so you don’t have to) on how much it will cost to charge some of the most popular EVs available on cinch. Based on the 34p/kWh figure, it will cost:

·      £32.30 for a Tesla Model S 100 (95kWh battery)

·      £28.80 for a Jaguar I-PACE (84.7kWh battery)

·      £17.68 for a Renault Zoe (52kWh battery)

·      £13.36 for a Nissan Leaf (39kWh battery) 

How does this compare to fuel cars?

Filling up a tank of fuel will vary across the country, with almost a £22 difference in the cost of filling up a family car, according to Daily Mail figures. As of 6 September, petrol is 169.33p per litre, which means the cost of filling up a Ford Focus (55-litre tank) with petrol is £93.13.

There are still big savings to be made from driving an electric car, and we’ve got your questions covered on our EV hub.

How much does it cost to charge an electric car?

A guide to home charging

Find the answers you need and browse our selection of cost-saving EVs too on our online showroom.

By Freda Lewis-Stempel