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The number of electric vehicle adoption in the North of England has more than doubled. Sales of battery-powered vehicles have hit record highs across the UK, according to new figures from the Department for Transport.
The UK’s transport revolution is in full swing. Electric car registrations in the north of England climbed to 74,677 last year, new statistics from the Department for Transport show.
Department for Transport also revealed that there are now more than 250,000 electric vehicles on UK roads – and there are signs that this electric vehicle adoption trend will continue.
Plug-in vehicle sales also hit an all-time high, with 327,000 registered vehicles in 2021, a 77% increase from 2020.
The government’s goal is to build 300,000 public charging stations for electric vehicles to meet growing demand. That’s almost five times the number of petrol pumps on UK roads today.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “The UK continues to be a global front-runner in the switch to electric vehicles – helping drivers to save money on fuel while moving towards our net zero targets.”
Shapps also confirmed the government will provide £500m to retrofit local street chargers and improve reliability.
This could be a welcome relief for UK drivers. A recent study shows Electric Vehicle owners are now paying almost £1,000 more a year to charge their cars at a public charger rather than at home.
Research by electric vehicle website Electrifying.com found that UK motorists who relied on public infrastructure to charge their vehicles paid around £91.75 a month. Those who park off-street over the same period paid around £13.75 a month.
Currently, Electric Vehicle owners who use their own charging stations at home can also benefit from cheaper overnight rates. These enable them to save money on each charge.
Earlier this year, the Royal Automobile Club backed a major national campaign to accelerate the shift to electric vehicles. The campaign aims to remove many of the barriers drivers currently face. This includes those unable to charge at home.
As the electric vehicle revolution accelerates across the country, a recent YouGov poll of nearly 500 current and potential learner drivers in the UK found that nearly half (42%) of respondents wanted their first car to be fully electric or partially electric after passing the driving test.
With Electric Vehicles attracting the most interest from the next generation of full driver’s license holders. The research shows that only one in five (21%) respondents would want to drive a gasoline-only model..
Only 6% of study participants said they would choose a vehicle with a diesel engine after passing the test.
The RAC recently launched Charge Watch. This monitors the average cost of charging your Electric Vehicle based on usage, without needing to subscribe to a public fast or ultra-fast charger.
RAC research shows that drivers are paying 21 per cent more to recharge their electric vehicles than they were in September 2021.
The RAC’s Charge Watch programme carried out the research in conjunction with the FairCharge campaign. The programme found that owning an electric car on a pay-as-you-go basis now costs 44.55p per kilowatt-hour without a paid subscription. In September it was 36.74p per kWh.
This equates to £22.81 (up from £18.81 in September) to complete an 80% fast charge of a typical electric car with a 64kWh battery. 80% is the battery charge limit before the car reverts to a slower charging speed.
During the same period, the cost of filling a 55-litre petrol family car rose from £59.67 to £74.21. An increase of £14.54 or almost 25%.
The rise in Electric Vehicle charging prices is the result of a 65% rise in wholesale electricity prices since September. This has been caused largely due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Figures from the UK Housing Survey 2019 show that a third of Electric Vehicle drivers use public charging stations. This means they are also subject to a 20% VAT. That compares to just 5% of the electricity bill when charging at home.
Drivers charging at home can also use economy tariffs. Economy tariffs offer cheaper electricity rates during off-peak hours.
Ultra-fast chargers with an output of over 100 kWh allow compatible vehicles to be fully charged in 20 minutes and are the most expensive public charging stations. Using an ultra-fast charger now costs 50.97p per kWh. An increase from 34.21p per kWh in September.
Charging an Electric Vehicle at home to 80% has gone up in price from £17.51 to £26.10. However, that’s still £48 cheaper than filling up a petrol car to 80 per cent.
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