UK government plans £100m cut to local public EV charging costs
The measure is planned for spring 2027 and targets drivers who rely on lower-powered public chargers near home. The government estimates average savings of £150 a year.
The UK government announced on 28 October that it plans to spend £100 million over two years from spring 2027 to reduce prices at lower-powered public electric vehicle chargers across Britain. According to HM Treasury, drivers who rely on those chargers could save around £150 a year on average, an estimate rather than a saving already realised.
The measure is aimed at motorists who use chargers near their homes, particularly those without a driveway. These lower-powered charge points are typically found on residential streets, where a car can be left charging for several hours or overnight. The government says they account for around a third of the public charging network.
Why drivers without driveways face higher charging costs
Around a third of UK households lack off-street parking or a driveway, according to the government. That can leave EV drivers dependent on public charging instead of charging at home. Electrifying.com reported that slower residential chargers are especially important to drivers without driveways and described the new funding as a plan to subsidise local plugs.
The announcement follows an independent review of public EV charging costs that the government announced at the 2025 Budget. HM Treasury said the review found that, since 2021, average prices had risen in real terms by 69% at lower-powered chargers and 94% at higher-powered chargers. The government puts the UK public network at more than 124,000 charge points, up 7.4% year on year.
How the £100 million charging plan would work
The government has not specified how it will reduce prices, which charge points will qualify or the exact start date within spring 2027. It said the Department for Transport would provide further details. Electrifying.com also noted that the announcement gave limited detail on how the two-year scheme would operate. The £150 annual figure therefore remains the government’s estimate for drivers who rely on the covered chargers.
A separate proposal could eventually let drivers use a cheaper domestic electricity tariff at certain public chargers. The government said it would establish an industry-led taskforce to explore that approach, known as tariff porting; it has not announced an implementation date. Electrifying.com said the logistics would require further work.
Electrifying.com pointed out that the announcement did not cut VAT on public charging, which it put at 20%, while domestic electricity had been charged at 5% before a reduction to zero until July 2027. Separately, the government said that, from 21 October, drivers no longer need planning permission to install cross-pavement chargers running beneath the pavement from their homes to their cars.
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Sources and context
- Cutting electric vehicle charging costsHM Treasury, GOV.UK
- Public EV charging costs to fall by £150 a yearElectrifying.com (reporting by Sam Burnett)
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.