As household spending comes under more pressure than ever, smart charging an electric vehicle (EV) at home means the average UK driver could run their vehicle from as little as £11 a month, according to Motability Scheme EV charging partner Ohme.
With petrol and diesel prices around 27 per cent higher than the start of the year, there has never been a better time for many disabled drivers to save on their motoring costs by switching to an EV. But while drivers can save money simply by switching from petrol or diesel to an electric vehicle, even larger savings can be had by then smart charging that EV using one of the many off peak tariffs on offer from energy providers.
"Ohme's smart chargers can connect with the national grid in real time and automatically adjust their charging for drivers to take advantage of all the times of low price charging with smart electricity tariffs," said Ohme CEO David Watson. "The result is that EV drivers can potentially run their car for less than £130 a year by smart charging their EV with an Ohme charger. For some petrol or diesel cars that could be what some drivers are paying for a single tank of fuel, but here it's for a full year of EV driving."
Off peak electricity tariffs enable drivers to charge their EVs for a certain amount of hours each day, often overnight, at a much lower cost than their standard rate of electricity. Rates can be as low as 7.5 pence per kWh with the Octopus Intelligent tariff.
At 7.5 pence per kWh, it means that a typical UK driver's annual mileage of 6800 miles in an average EV could cost just £127.50 - less than £11 per month.
Those who drive around 10,000 miles a year and who also charge their EV at 7.5p per kWh will pay £187.50, which works out at just over £15.60 per month.
Home chargers can be set so that you can automatically adjust the charging times according to your individual tariff. With many energy suppliers moving towards more flexible tariffs for EV drivers, this functionality is increasingly valuable to those driving an electric vehicle.
Costs shown here are indicative and may vary by region. We recommend readers conduct their own research into suitable tariffs for their individual circumstances.
The number of EVs available through the Motability Scheme is growing all the time.
Working in partnership with Ohme, Easee and BP Pulse, Motability Scheme customers leasing an EV for the first time can now choose between a fitted home charging point or access to an on-street charging network.
You will still have to pay for the electricity used to charge the vehicle.
