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EV & Sustainability

Spotlight: Charging in the wrong direction?

Is there too much focus on public EV charging?

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2509 AndersenCharge

It is becoming increasingly difficult for the business motorist to ignore the advantages of going electric; even acknowledged petrolheads will struggle to argue against the cost savings of a plug-in car – if they take a good and proper look at them.

Yes, electric vehicles (EVs) now pay road tax like any other car, but they still attract benefit-in-kind (BIK) tax at levels way below that of a petrol or diesel alternative – 3% tax this year is a lot less than the 28% plus you’ll pay if your car has an engine. Even by 2029 EV BIK is set to be just 9% compared to 30% plus if you choose the no doubt by then rather more limited selection of petrol vehicles.

So does the price of an EV put people off? Possibly, but this too is steadily becoming less of an issue. There are more and more cheaper EVs now entering the market, and though the Government’s electric vehicle grant has been tortuous in its roll-out, it is now offering some savings, while many manufacturers have slashed the prices of their electric cars anyway.

No as ever, if one sees past the ill-informed tabloid media scare stories of EVs collapsing car parks and catching fire every five minutes, the hesitancy to switch generally comes down to range and the fear of not being able to recharge one’s car when the battery goes flat mid journey.

And this is perhaps where the greatest misinformation lies. Firstly, the public network is relentlessly improving – according to charger location service ZapMap, there are now around 83,000 public charge points in the UK, a number which grew by close to 20,000 in 2024 and shows no sign of slowing – currently running at well over a thousand a month.

Yet what few of the hesitant switchers realise is that for many, probably the majority, of EV drivers, using public chargers will hardly if ever be a concern, and that includes business motorists. Of those who have their car provided by their employer, not that many use it to cover hundreds of miles on a daily basis – in fact by far the majority do a lot less.

Well within range

According to Government data, the average annual mileage of business users in 2024 was a remarkably low 400 miles. Commuting came out at 2,200 miles a year, which equates to a mere 42 miles a week, while the Government’s figures also showed the average annual mileage of EVs to be 8,900 miles – 171 miles a week.

Most of today’s EVs routinely offer ranges of 200 miles or more between charges and some in excess of 300. Which can only lead to the conclusion that there is really too much emphasis on public charging and we should be really be focusing first on home charging.

David Martell knows all about public chargers. Now CEO of Andersen EV, a UK home charger installer regarded as being at the premium end of the market and renowned for its design-led chargers, Martell previously created public provider Chargemaster, today owned and promoted by fuel supplier BP.

Speaking exclusively to Business Motoring, Martell said he had to work for BP for about a year; “Their mindset was that everybody would charge their car at a filling station or another hub. I said no you charge at home where it’s convenient.

“I average 17,000 to 18,000 EV miles a year and I think I’ve used the public network twice in the past year – I charge at home or at work. When people ask me how long it takes to recharge my car, I say three minutes – I get home, plug it in, have my dinner and go to bed. When I come out in the morning it’s fully charged and ready for me.”

2509 David Martell Andersen EV CEO
David Martell: “People who drive EVs seldom look back…”

Martell believes that the emphasis on public charging tends to overshadow the benefits of home charging, not least the cost. “Several of the energy suppliers allow you to charge at around 7p per kilowatt hour off-peak and a lot of the charging systems work out automatically when that is – the Andersen unit for example is smart and calculates it, charging accordingly.

“Most of the public charging, meanwhile is up in the 70 to 80p bracket – it’s a huge difference, nine or 10 times more expensive to charge publicly and I don’t think there is enough focus on the benefits of charging at home.”

Putting this into understandable language for the non EV owner, an overnight charge can provide 200 miles or more of motoring for around £13 to £15. For a petrol car averaging around 40 miles per gallon you’d be looking at a cost of £30 or more – half-price motoring anyone?

Of course one does have to factor in the cost of having a home installation, which can be anything from around £500 to the £1500 or more one pays for an Andersen unit. “Some people will go for a premium quality product, some will go for cheap and cheerful, just like if you buy something like a dishwasher or a TV – there will be a similar choice in home chargers,” Martell explains.

Look for the deals

Yet this cost shouldn’t be a deal breaker, because in many cases you won’t have to pay it. Many manufacturers have signed agreements with charger providers and as a result buying an EV can open the door to a charger installation at either a major discount or free. Reflecting its upmarket status, Andersen has such agreements with the likes of Porsche, Rolls-Royce and Jaguar Land Rover, but has also recently signed with the Renault Group and most recently with new-to-the-UK Chinese brand Geely.

So as long as you can park your car at home somewhere close to a point where you can site a charger, then considering the whole picture makes EVs all the more more compelling, particularly as the market is travelling in only one direction, towards electric.

Despite some of the tabloid headlines, Martell firmly subscribes to the view that the switch to electric is going to continue and increase in pace. “In my experience once people drive an EV they don’t look back, particularly the younger generation – my kids both drive EVs and they wouldn’t think of anything else.

“I don’t think anything will change the view of most people that in the next 10 years just about all new cars will be EVs. It won’t be the 80% that the Government is putting forward for 2030, more likely 55 to 70%, but by 2035, which is the day the EU has set (for its combustion engine ban), I expect there will be very few new combustion engine car sales – just a few specialist ones, Aston Martins, Ferraris and such.”

So many business motorists will be running out of reasons not to go EV. Charge anxiety is not really a thing, despite what the tabloid nay-sayers might tell you. The public network is improving all the time, but that doesn’t really matter – get a home charger, and you’ll hardly ever, if ever, use a public one, while you’ll also save a whole lot of money in both tax and fuel costs. You could say it’s a no brainer…

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