New electricity price cap increase to cost EV drivers £50 per year

This week's announcement that the electricity price cap will increase in July could cost some electric car owners an additional £50 per year, according to new research by What Car?.

From 1 July, the energy regulator, Ofgem, will increase the maximum charge from 24.67p/kWh to 26.11p/kWh for customers on standard variable tariffs. Ofgem says the increase is driven by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which is driving up global oil and gas prices.

Exclusive research into the cost of charging some of Britain’s most popular electric cars by What Car? found drivers could be paying between £20 and £50 more to charge their cars under the new cap.

What Car?’s Car of the Year for 2026, the BMW iX3, currently costs £26.82 to charge – increasing to £28.38 under the new price cap. Over a year, that amounts to £52.12 in additional costs. 

The charging cost for the Renault 5 – What Car’s 2025 award winner – increases from £11.35 to £12.01, which totals an extra £22.06 annually. 

While Ofgem bosses say the amount of energy consumed during the summer months decreases, that will be of little comfort to cash-strapped users in the UK, where electricity prices are among the highest in Europe.

How to reduce EV charging costs

The energy price cap is designed to protect customers on standard variable tariffs from sudden hikes in the cost of energy, but not if you have agreed a fixed tariff with your supplier or have a business energy contract.

If you are on a dual-rate tariff with differing costs for peak and off-peak electricity prices, suppliers must ensure the combined day and night usage doesn’t exceed the overall cap. That means peak energy on these tariffs can be more expensive.

There are steps you can take to reduce the cost of charging your EV:

• Consider a dual-fuel tariff and ensure you charge only during off-peak periods. Many electric cars and home EV chargers allow you to schedule charging, which you can set to match those off-peak periods. Some smart tariffs, such as Octopus Intelligent Go, can do this automatically.

• Shop around and switch to a better EV home charging tariff

• Take advantage of workplace charging if you’re able to

• Ensure you have sufficient charge before you start your journey to reduce reliance on the public charging network, which is significantly more expensive

• However, you should limit the number of times you charge your car beyond 80% to preserve the long-term life of your car’s battery

How we calculated the increase in EV charging costs

According to the RAC Foundation, electric cars travel around 10,000 miles per year on average. And data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) shows that the average EV can travel around 300 miles on a charge.

That means the typical EV driver could plug in their EV for the equivalent of 33.3 charges per year.

We then researched the usable capacities of the most popular electric cars searched for on whatcar.com. Where a choice of battery sizes is on offer, we took an average figure.

The costs are based on the per-kWh cost, including VAT at 5% but don’t take into account daily standing charges or increases in the gas price cap.

Read more: Best electric cars

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