Electric car chargepoint Osprey cuts rates from £1 per kWh to 79p

Public charging operator Osprey has provided some relief to owners of electric cars using the network by cutting rates – a month and a half after raising prices to a record £1 per kWh.

The company made headlines in mid-September when it said skyrocketing wholesale energy costs had forced its hand to raise public charging rates to three times what it costs on average for EV owners to plug in at home.

This week, the British company confirmed it will cut its rates to 79 pence per kWh from November 1, after recalculating its prices since the introduction of the government’s scheme to ease energy bills for businesses.

The new pricing means Osprey is no longer the UK’s most expensive public charging operator.

That unwanted title has now been handed over to Shell, with the oil giant’s ‘Recharge’ network demanding 85 pence per kWh to access its fastest ultra-fast charging devices.

Osprey announced his dazzling increase to access one of its 300 charging devices nationwide from Sept. 15, saying it had been placed in a “difficult position” as the wholesale price of electricity went into overdrive, increasing by a staggering 600 a year. rose. cent.

It increased its flat rate by 52 percent from 66 pence per kWh to £1.

By contrast, electric owners with a home charger on their property benefit from an average electricity rate of 34p per kWh since the energy price guarantee was abolished on October 1, while those with special EV rates can charge off-peak for just 7.5 cents per kWh.

It means that those who do not have a parking space and charging facilities at home and who use Osprey devices have paid up to 13 times more this month than those with a household charging device.

The company had promised to review its prices by the end of September, although delays in calculating the impact of the government scheme on businesses have prevented it from making cuts so far.

Osprey Charging CEO, Ian Johnston, told This is Money: “While the Energy Bill Relief Scheme was announced on Sept. 21, there has been little clarification from the government about the support mechanisms, with some energy suppliers saying customers may have to wait for their October bill before charging. know the actual costs, they will be charged.

“Even after getting some details about the wholesale discount through October, energy suppliers must work internally, taking into account their existing contracts and future market forecasts, to calculate the updated business prices they can offer to their corporate customers like Osprey.

“The Osprey team has worked tirelessly with its supplier partners to model the different scenarios to arrive at a picture of where support could end so that we can pass savings on to customers as quickly as possible.

“Under current mechanisms, a company that agrees to a new supply arrangement today will not receive confirmation of the level of government support until next week, and confirmation of suppliers’ final costs until the next bill – leaving any company to whom electricity has a significant share of their cost base heavily exposed.’

While government intervention will help lower the cost of charging an electric car for the time being, both the energy price guarantee for household bills and the support scheme for businesses will end in March 2023 and the cost of driving an electric car could rise next year.

In his statement to EV drivers, Mr Johnston added: ‘We would like to thank all our customers for their patience during these difficult times and understand that if drivers want to make the switch to electric, they need cheap, reliable charging stations. anywhere in the UK.

“Our focus remains on building an EV charging infrastructure for the future that is accessible and safe for everyone.

“Over the next two years we will invest more than £50 million in expanding our nationwide public charging network, creating the much needed national infrastructure that all drivers can rely on and rely on.”

End of the road for free charging in Tesco car parks

As Osprey lowers its prices, other public charging locations will introduce them for the first time starting next month.

Last week, Pod Point, which manages devices in Tesco parking garages in partnership with Volkswagen, confirmed that EV drivers no longer benefit from free supermarket charging.

From November 1, electric car owners will have to pay 28p per kWh to use the slowest 7kW devices, 40p for 22kW chargers and 50p per kWh to connect to the network of fast 50kW charge points.

The operator said it would end free charging in the hopes that “customers will only top up when needed, making way for others once their car is charged.”

Founder and CEO of Electrifying.com dedicated electric car website, Ginny Buckley, says the move will be a “blow to electric car owners across the country.”

However, she points out that the price for using a 7kW connector in a Tesco car park will still be lower than charging at home, with the Energy Price Guarantee meaning the average household pays 34p per kWh for electricity.

It means the annual charging bill for an average family’s electric car will be £615 with the cheapest Tesco appliances, compared to £747 a year using a home charger and a domestic tariff.

“While Tesco is leading the way in providing convenient location charging, we need to ensure that the right infrastructure is in place – and at the right price – so that everyone can make the switch with confidence,” Buckley said.

“I would also like to see energy suppliers introduce cheaper nightly rates at public charging stations to balance the grid and benefit those who don’t have access to off-street parking.”

The news of fluctuating public charging costs comes as new data released this week by the Department of Transportation shows how far behind the country’s charging infrastructure target is.

With now 34,637 public charging stations in the UK, EV drivers installed 875 additional devices each month between July and October.

However, if the government is to achieve its target of 300,000 public charging stations by 2030, the average number of installations will need to rise to 3,015 per month – a 245 percent increase from the existing number of new devices.

But there are even greater concerns about growing disparities in availability across regions.

This comes after figures show there are more charging stations in London’s Westminster than in Birmingham, Liverpool and Greater Manchester combined, a fact experts have described as ‘shocking’.