The UK has more than 12,500 rapid or ultra-rapid charging stations — a 40 per cent increase on a year ago — but data shared with The Times shows they cost an average of 80p per kilowatt hour (kWh), making the switch to electric cars prohibitively expensive for motorists who do not have access to cheaper at-home charging.
Prices at rapid chargers have increased 5 per cent over the past year, according to ZapMap, which supplied the data. Over the same period, the wholesale cost of electricity has fallen by 30 per cent.
Public chargers are defined as rapid if they deliver at least 50 kWh of power, allowing a battery to fully recharge in about 30 minutes. However, the data shows that even those who
choose slower public chargers are still paying more per mile than petrol and diesel drivers, following recent falls in the cost of oil.
Industry leaders have raised concerns that the cost of public chargers, as well as the higher cost of electric vehicles, is delaying the transition to greener motoring.
The latest figures show that sales of electric cars have stagnated, accounting for just 17.2 per cent of all new registrations so far this year, down from a high of 18.7 per cent in the second half of 2022.
In Europe, sales of electric cars are performing even worse, with registrations down 44 per cent in August alone.
