Check out cost and time required to recharge your EV

With energy prices rising, and EV grants and incentives recently cut by the UK Government, it’s not surprising to see that Google searches for “cost of charging electric car UK” are up by 300%.

It coincides with the news that global passenger plug-in electric car sales have reached a new record in November 2021, with data from Ev-volumes showing that over 721,000 new passenger plug-in electric cars were registered during November – 72% more than a year ago and a new monthly high.

Last month the UK Government cut the Plug-in Car Grant (PICG) for buyers of electric vehicles while reducing the number of cars eligible for the scheme.

The grant, which had previously offered EV buyers 35% off the purchase price up to a maximum of £2,500, has now been cut to £1,500, with the maximum recommended retail price of vehicles eligible for the grant reduced from £35,000 to £32,000 – all of which potentially adds to the cost of having an EV.

However, research by car leasing company Leasing Options showed a significant difference in the amount of money spent charging electric vehicles, depending on the make and model, and have identified the top 20 cheapest and fastest EVS to charge in public.

Of the 50 EVS analysed, Fiat’s hot-hatch 500 is the cheapest to charge at £5.76 per charge, with the MINI electric close behind at just £7.82.

Honda’s new “e” and the Mazda MX-30 are in joint third at £8.52.

The MINI is slightly quicker than the “e” and the MX-30, taking just six minutes longer than the 500 at 30 minutes for a recharge, and six minutes faster than the others.

At the other end of the scale, the Audi e-tron performs superbly, managing 0-60 mph in around five seconds, but that extra boost will cost you. Recharging from 20%-100% is around £23, a difference of £17.24 compared to the Fiat 500, taking around 90 minutes to complete. The 500 takes 24 minutes. The e-tron S will cost owners around 14.6p per mile.

The Tesla Model S and X, while cheaper per mile than Audi’s e-tron, also costs £23 for a recharge from 20% to 100%.

So, as EV sales rocket and energy prices rise, make sure to look not only at the purchase incentives, but what it’s likely to cost you to keep charging in public spaces, too.

POWERING UP: The Audi e-tron performs superbly, but recharging it from 20% to 100% will cost around £23.