Electric vehicle campaign group FairCharge and the RAC have called on the government to underline its support for the switch to electric vehicles by decoupling the wholesale price of electricity from gas, which would immediately reduce the cost of charging electric vehicles. The current high wholesale electricity price continues to be set by the unprecedented global wholesale price of gas and RAC Charge Watch data shows that the average cost of using the fastest chargers increased by 50% between May 2022 and January 2023.
Dr Euan McTurk, advisor to FairCharge and consultant battery electrochemist from Plug Life Consulting, said: “Bizarrely, it’s currently the case that the most expensive form of electricity generation – gas-fired power plants – determines wholesale electricity prices even though it’s other cheaper sources of power, such as renewables, that make up most of where our electricity comes from over the course of the year.”
FairCharge is also campaigning to get the 20% VAT charged at public charge points reduced to 5% to match the rate levied on domestic electricity.
www.faircharge.co.uk