Drivers in the UK are being hit with a new £52 charge with bills rising earlier this month.
Motorists have been slapped with a new £52 fee (Image: Getty)
Motorists across the UK have been slapped with a £52 charge, with the new bill hitting road users earlier this month. Ofgem’s energy price cap increased from July 1, with the maximum energy fee rising from 24.67p/kWh to 26.11p/kWh.
The increase will have a considerable knock-on effect for Britain’s two million electric car owners, with at-home charging costs on the rise. Experts at WhatCar? Have previously explained that vehicles such as SUVs could be paying up to £52.12 every 12 months as a result of the increase.
The Ofgem energy price cap increase will impact electric vehicles (Image: Getty)
Smaller models such as the Renault 5 could pay slightly less but would still see average bills rise by £22.06 per year. WhatCar? explained that the typical EV driver would usually plug in their EV for the equivalent of 33.3 charges per year.
They then used this data to work out average charging costs on the old energy price cap and on the new energy price cap. The latest Ofgem increase covers the period from July 1 to September 30, meaning road users will be paying the elevated costs for at least another two months.
Claire Evans, WhatCar?’s consumer editor explained: “The electricity price cap increase is bad news for all consumers, including EV drivers, but there are ways of mitigating the extra cost. Do your research on the best EV home charging tariffs to ensure you’re on the cheapest option, take advantage of affordable workplace charging if you can, and look for off-peak deals and special offers on the public charging network.”
According to experts at Carwow, a typical electric car uses around three to four miles of range per kWh. Under the new rates, this means driving 1,000 miles could cost around £65-£85 in electricity.
Meanwhile, they stressed that charging a 60kWh battery from empty could cost around £15.67. However, the specialists still admitted that electric cars are still typically cheaper to run than petrol or diesel cars, despite the increase.
It’s not just cars that will be affected, with the new changes set to add around £221 a year to the average household energy bill.
Gordon Wallis, energy expert at Your NRG, said: “Many households won’t immediately feel the impact of the price rise because energy usage tends to be lower during summer.
“However, that can create a false sense of security. The decisions people make now could have a significant impact on what they pay during the colder months when energy consumption increases.”