Level 3 Charging In The UK Is Expensive, Which Can Raise The Cost Of Driving An Electric Car – CleanTechnica

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A headline by The Times in the UK has been picked up by the anti-EV FUD machine and is now being touted by media sources around the world as proof positive that the whole electric car idea is wrongheaded. Here’s the headline: “Cost Of Driving Electric Car Up To Twice The Price Of Petrol Or Diesel.” OMG! People would have to be crazy to buy an electric car if that was true, wouldn’t they?

I have a Google News alert set up that sends me stories about electric cars every morning at 6:00 am. I peruse it every day to see if there are stories out there that might be of interest to CleanTechnica readers. This morning, that Times headline was repeated by Yahoo Finance — “Running an electric car is twice as expensive as a petrol one” — and The Telegraph, which used precisely the same headline — “Running an electric car is twice as expensive as a petrol one.” The Daily Express at least had the decency to write its own headline — “Electric car costs soar as trip from London to Cornwall costs £71 more than by petrol car.” For the sake of accuracy, we prefer the headline that goes with this story.

So, what’s the real story here? The Times subheading begins to reveal the truth behind the screaming clickbait headline: “Motorists without space at home to charge their cars are facing prohibitively high costs at public facilities.” So that’s the truth of the matter, but alert readers will note that the damage was done right up front by a headline that was misleading. The result is that anti-EV complainers now have a new cudgel they can use to bash the electric car movement.

Charging An Electric Car In The UK

Data shared with The Times shows the average cost of Level 3 charging in the UK of 80p (about $1.00) per kWh. That data shows even those who choose slower public chargers are still paying more per mile than petrol and diesel drivers after recent declines in the price of oil. While electric cars are significantly more efficient and less polluting than petrol or diesel vehicles, the high cost of chargers — and the falling price of oil — can make going green an expensive choice for those who do not have access to charging at home.

The average electric car travels 3.3 miles for every kWh of electricity used, meaning Level 3 DC fast chargers currently cost the equivalent of 24.1p ($0.50) per mile while slower chargers cost 16.4p ($0.40) per mile. The cost per mile of an average diesel-powered car is 12.5p ($0.31), while for an average petrol car it is 14.5p ($0.36) a mile. However, at-home charging is much less expensive. The current price of electricity in the UK is 22.4p ($0. 28) per kWh, less than a third the cost of using a Level 3 DC fast charger. Off peak charging at home costs just 6.7p (0.084) per kWh, making the operating cost for a typical electric car 2p ($0.025) per mile — less than a tenth the cost of a diesel-powered car. Where is the headline for that factoid?

One issue for many people in the UK is they do not have the ability to charge at home. Although there are plans to bring more curbside chargers to those communities, that program needs to be accelerated. Many in the motoring industry believe that without a transformation in the cost of electric motoring — either through cheaper vehicles or more widespread access to cheaper charging — there is little hope that carmakers will be able to meet government targets on the number of electric cars they must sell.

Under the current zero-emission vehicle mandate, 22% of car sales this year in the UK must be electric. This rises to 28% next year and increases incrementally to 80% by 2030. The former Tory government pushed the plan back to 2035, but the new Labour government has reinstated the original goal. Research published this week by Auto Trader illustrates the scale of the challenge facing the industry. It found that the average electric car in the UK costs nearly a third more than the equivalent petrol or diesel model, and 90% of buyers said they would not pay more for an electric vehicle.

Hugh Bladon, the chairman of the Alliance of British Drivers, believes the government will ultimately have to give up banning petrol and diesel sales. “This is for several reasons, not the least of which is the sheer impossibility for vast numbers of people being able to charge their cars. Imagine high-rise flats, roads with no parking, and so on. In the end, hybrid will be the answer. With a range of 40 or so miles the local running will be on electric with the long distance journey no longer a problem. How can anybody not see that this is the answer?” [Editor’s note: The argument there is a bit confusing. This person is saying that many people won’t be able to have BEVs because of lack of charging at home, yet then says PHEVs are the solution because you can then drive on electric locally but not worry on road trips. Secondly, the cars park somewhere. There are solutions on the market already for curbside EV charging and parking garage EV charging — sorry, I should say “kerbside” and “multi-storey car park.” And, well, look at Norway…. —Zach]

The Takeaway

CleanTechnica readers, who are all above average, know why cars with both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor are far from the ideal solution, even though they may play a role as a bridge to a zero-emissions future for drivers of private cars. When we dig into the statistics, PHEVs are not significantly less costly than battery electric cars. They have the highest incidence of vehicle fires and the worst reliability ratings. And they only work if their batteries are recharged. Sadly, too many owners neglect to plug them in at the end of the day, which rather defeats the purpose of owing one in the first place.

The real issue here is that DC fast charging in the UK is frightfully expensive while the cost of gasoline and diesel is artificially low. There are many reasons for that state of affairs, but none of them pertain specifically to the electric car experience. Do there need be more options for curbside charging? Absolutely. But people also need to consider efficiency. All electric cars are not created equal, because some are more efficient than others.

My Chevy Bolt — if its statistics can be  believed — averages close to 4.8 miles per kWh used. Now, the car does not do a lot of highway driving, which eats up plenty of range, but it does get used on the backroads of New England quite regularly where hills are common. It is quite fun to watch the range drop on the way up and then increase on the way back down. The point is that cost per mile is a function of efficiency. The more efficient an electric car is, the less it will cost to operate. And let’s not lose track of all those other costs that go with owning a car. In two years of ownership, I have spent $12 for a new rear window wiper. That’s it. I think that is quite extraordinary.

Charging this summer has mostly been done at home using a standard 120-volt wall outlet. It’s slow, but there are times when the car does not get used for a day or two. I recognize that not everyone has the same driving experience. A few Level 3 charging sessions showed the cost of them is all over the place. The highest I paid was $0.80 per kWh at a Flo charger, which was high, but at the time I was really in need of elections and there were no other options available. I’m OK with spending a few dollars more to avoid the hassle of being towed.

If there is a point to all this, it is that The Times headline is seriously misleading and does great disservice to the EV transition. After all, the fundamental reason for doing all this is to lower the emissions from transportation, a goal that will benefit everyone. Leading with a headline that bashes the electric car experience is bad journalism, even if the subhead takes some of the sting away.

One thing that being an all-electric family for the past three years has taught us is that when it comes to charging, there are many perturbations and permutations. Some merchants offer free charging to attract customers (Ben & Jerry’s in Vermont, for instance). Some charge by the amount of time you are plugged in. Some are very low cost for the first 30 minutes or so while people are shopping and ratchet up in cost later. It is really hard to generalize about the charging experience because it will be different for every driver.

Paying $1.00 per kWh for every charging session is super expensive, but The Times utterly fails to explain that doing so is not common. It is like saying some passengers get earaches while flying and therefore no one should fly. If there are those who find driving an electric car does not fit their needs or lifestyle, fine. They shouldn’t drive one. But tarring the entire EV revolution because of situations that are outliers is irresponsible. We just thought you should know so when your friends use The Times headline to bash electric cars, you will have some ammunition to fire back with accurate data instead of innuendo.