How to save money on EV charging at home and in public

Our top tips for cutting your EV running costs at home and on longer journeys – from smart tariffs to tracking down special money-saving offers

After the purchase price and insurance, keeping an EV charged is one of the most expensive parts of ownership.

We know, that for most drivers, the cost of charging an EV is far cheaper than fuelling a petrol or diesel car. But it’s still an expense and still one we’d all like to reduce.

While we can’t make your charging bills disappear entirely, we can offer some advice on how to cut charging costs. So follow these tips to easily save money on EV charging at home and in public.

Get an EV tariff at home

A dedicated home EV tariff is a surefire way to save on charging. Compared with a standard domestic rate of around 27p/kWh, EV tariffs can be as low as 7p/kWh at off-peak times. That means potential running costs of around 2p per mile for an average EV, compared to 7.7p per mile on a standard rate.

Try dynamic charging

Regular EV tariffs are mostly time-of-day rates, which operate at off-peak times, usually between midnight and 5am. Dynamic charging works differently by monitoring and reacting to real-time energy supply and demand. This means your EV can charge at the lowest rate at any time of the day, potentially saving even more.

Make the most of solar/storage

If you’re lucky enough to have solar panels and/or home battery storage, use these to your advantage. It might take some coordinating between apps, but by charging directly from solar when the weather permits, you’re getting free energy. You can also then top up your home batteries on a cheap overnight tariff rather than charging your car.

Get a membership

Most chargepoint operators now let anybody use their devices without signing up. However, many also still have some sort of subscription or membership that offers benefits, usually in the form of reduced charging costs. Some, such as BP Pulse or Ionity, offer discounts on one network, while others such as Plugsurfing cover multiple CPOs. Subscriptions range from around £7 to £11 and bring discounts of between 20% and 33%.

Before signing up, it’s worth working out which chargers or networks you use most frequently to see where you’ll make the biggest saving. It’s also worth thinking about how often you charge in public. Paying to get a discount might not work if you very rarely use public charging, but the savings on even a couple of top-ups a month can be enough for the subscription to pay for itself.

Use your home energy to get a discount on the road

Some home energy providers offer free or discounted public charging as part of their domestic EV packages. Through partnerships or their own public charging networks, operators such as E.On Next offer free miles in the form of credit to a home energy account or to a charging subscription. So when it’s time to renew your energy deal, do some sums and see if you could save by switching.

Buy a new car

Perhaps an extreme suggestion, but some car makers offer special tie-ins for new EV customers. These range from discounted or free home chargers (saving close to £1,000), to ‘free’ miles on a particular network or home tariff. Offers come and go, but as an example, Volkswagen is currently offering its EV customers 30,000 free miles via OVO, while Ford is offering a new charger and 10,000 miles of charging credit to new customers.

Charge off-peak

Some public CPOs have embraced the idea of peak and off-peak charging to help save customers a few quid. InstaVolt recently extended its off-peak times so drivers can top-up at a reduced 54p/kWh between 9pm and 7am – a 31p/kWh reduction over the standard rate. Kerbside charging specialist Connected Kerb also offers an off-peak rate between midnight and 7am that cuts prices from 50p/kWh to 45p/KWh.

Pretend you’re a Tesla

Obviously this doesn’t apply if you already own a Tesla, but it’s worth bearing in mind for owners of other EVs too. Around 40 of the US firm’s UK Supercharger hubs are open to all makes and models of EVs, providing access to fast, reliable and – vitally – cheap charging. Even without a Supercharging Membership, fees at Superchargers tend to be lower than other ultra-rapid chargers. Pay £8.99 a month and that drops further. Superchargers also operate time-sensitive charging. That means at quiet periods prices drop even further. The only drawbacks are that not all locations are open to non-Teslas and the comically short charging cables can make plugging in awkward.

Stop at 80%

It’s widely accepted that it isn’t worth charging beyond 80% at rapid and ultra-rapid chargers. This is because beyond 80% charging speeds drop off significantly to protect the battery. As a result, the final 20% can take as long as the preceding 60% to add. That means you’re paying ultra-rapid prices for sluggish speeds. You’re also tying up a charger that someone else could be making better use of.

Shop around

Most major CPOs charge similar prices but there are variations of up to 11p/kWh between the likes of Instavolt and Ionity that make it worth comparing costs between nearby locations. Even a few pence per kWh adds up over a longer charge.

Think about your charging needs

It’s tempting to always go for the fastest devices when charging in public, but do you really need a super-fast top-up? If you’re stopping somewhere for an hour or two, a slower charger might still give you all the energy you need and at a reduced rate. Gridserve, for instance, charges 79p/kWh for DC rapid and ultra-rapid charging, but 49p/kWh for slower AC charging.