• ‍Paua prepared a full fleet managers guide including "13 insider tips". These blogs break down insights from the experience of the Paua Rangers team over hundreds of hours of engagement with businesses switching to electric vehicles
• Paua tip - a requirement that every business adopting electric vehicles needs to consider

Paua looks at the costs of charging an EV

Next time you assess the cost to charge an electric vehicle, make sure you compare the total cost of charging rather than just the marginal electricity cost.To truly answer this question, is to understand the ‘Total cost to charge’ principle. This is broadly as follows:

• The marginal cost of charging: This is just the cost for the electricity. When home charging is discussed, this is often the price mentioned by drivers. This cost forgets any home charge point installation cost or maintenance cost.
  
• The total cost of charging: This is the cost of electricity and the cost of the charging infrastructure. When public charging is discussed this is the price mentioned by drivers.

You may hear people state that the cost of charging an electric vehicle in public is too expensive. However, behind the prices there are some strong justifications. For most charge point operators, the price is fair. When comparing the price of public charging with home charging, note that the cost of just the electricity (marginal cost) is different from the total cost of charging which includes other expenses, such as the type of charger, the operating costs and ‘asset utilisation’ which we consider below.

Paua Tip: With public charging, there’s no need to worry about long-term maintenance or upfront
infrastructure costs. Many businesses find that public charging is more affordable in the long run.

The Charger

As discussed in our ‘13 Insider Tips To Help You Transition To EVs’ – a guide written specifically for Fleet Managers which you can request HERE, there are two types of EV charging: AC and DC. They have different installation costs. AC (low power) charging is cheaper to install and usually doesn’t require as much work. Home chargers are amongst the cheapest chargers to install. It’s easier to install a car park AC charger than an on-street AC charger, which may necessitate permission to dig up  a public road

A rapid/ultra-rapid (High Power) DC charger requires more money to connect and more civil works (like concrete plinths and lifting equipment). Rapid/ultra-rapid DC chargers themselves are ten times more expensive than AC  chargers. A single socket AC  charger can be bought for around £1,000, but a 50kW DC rapid unit will cost nearer £20,000. Each charger needs its own location, so there may be a rental fee associated with the land where you want to put the charger. A car park may have a lower premium than an on street or motorway location.

Operating Costs

These costs are associated with running the charging machines themselves. Software helps with different things like tariffs, payments, and mistakes. The machines require electricity to run and someone to fix them when they break. Insurance is also required in case something unfortunate happens or vandalism which is surprisingly common at public chargers. These are all costs incurred on public chargers but often forgotten at home.  

Asset Utilisation

Utilisation is how often the charger is being used. A fast charger in a car park might be used once at night or once at night and once during the day. An on-street charger might be used more regularly by more people. And finally, a rapid charger is expected to be used several times per day.  

A rapid or ultra rapid (DC) charger has the potential to charge 20+ vehicles in a single day as each charge could be less than an hour for it to be charged to 100%. A low power (AC) charger will likely only charge 1-2 vehicles a day as the charge could take up to 12 hours for it to be at 100% charge.  

Tax  

Value added tax (VAT) varies between home and public charging. A debate continues into the fairness of this. However, today home charging is taxed at a lower rate of 5% VAT and public charging at the higher rate of 20% VAT.

So is it fair or not?!

This may provide an answer to the original question, but ultimately that comes down to individual circumstances and the fleet strategy for your business. With public charging, there’s no need to worry about long-term maintenance or upfront infrastructure costs. Many businesses find that public charging is more affordable in the long run. Regardless of your view, be sure to compare the total cost of charging rather than just the marginal electricity cost. This is the ‘Golden Principle’! If you want to explore more on this topic, check out our ‘13 Insider Tips To Help You Transition To EVs’ – a guide written specifically for Fleet Managers which you can request for free HERE.