UK Public rapid charging costs

Stuart Wright · Nov 4, 2023

As of November 4 2023

siteguru · Nov 4, 2023

I did a charge at an eVolt (ChargePlace Scotland) charger at Brodick harbour (ferry terminal), Arran the other day. It's currently showing in my CPS account as £0.00 unbilled usage.

BTW Applegreen at Gretna Green are £0.79 per unit - I don't know if that is their typical charge.

Rolfe · Nov 4, 2023

Most ChargePlace Scotland chargers cost money, but they vary a lot. Highland Council ones are 70p a unit. The one at the end of my road is 30p

Roldorf · Nov 5, 2023

If I had to pay those prices for charging here in Germany I would not have an EV, what a rip off.
Here in Germany I have two main charging cards ranging from 49 cents (42p) / Kwh for AC charging to 51 cents (44p) for up to 300 Kwh DC charging.

5teep · Nov 5, 2023

Chargeplace Scotland fees are set by the charger owner, CPS is just the umbrella organisation that links everything into one network.

siteguru · Nov 6, 2023

siteguru said:
I did a charge at an eVolt (ChargePlace Scotland) charger at Brodick harbour (ferry terminal), Arran the other day. It's currently showing in my CPS account as £0.00 unbilled usage.

It is still showing as £0.00 cost in my CPS account. Looking at the CPS app it shows this charge point as £0.00 cost, so it seems that it really is free! ?

Rolfe · Nov 6, 2023

There's a free one at Oban ferry terminal too, or it was free last time I looked.

alix · Nov 13, 2023

Funny enough I've recently put together a list of the public chargers I frequent or have nearby access to, and a £/kwh to £/mile conversion chart:

This doesn't account for e.g. conversion losses so the actual price is likely off, it's simply [£ per kWh] divided by [Miles per kWh].

I've yet to try the Tesla chargers but I will likely visit one later this month.

GJMG4 North · Mar 30, 2025

It's been a while since anyone posted on this issue but thought it might help those of us "up north" to know that Tesla have updated pricing at the Bamber Bridge (near Preston) site (open to non-tesla drivers), member pricing now 33p/kWh between 12am & 8:59am, it increases to 43p from 9am to 7:59pm and then 37p between 8pm & 11:59pm. If you're travelling north on the M6 it's located in the Holiday Inn Express which is about 500 yards off the motorway at Junction 29. (Don't forget to register for free parking at reception).

M44LCY · Mar 30, 2025

siteguru said:
It is still showing as £0.00 cost in my CPS account. Looking at the CPS app it shows this charge point as £0.00 cost, so it seems that it really is free! ?

I just had my bank account debited by CPS. I haven't used a public charger since last September so phoned them. The charge was for a session last August (a correct charge, but it took 7 months to be actioned)! So don't count your chickens …

Gomev · Mar 31, 2025

GJMG4 North said:
It's been a while since anyone posted on this issue but thought it might help those of us "up north" to know that Tesla have updated pricing at the Bamber Bridge (near Preston) site (open to non-tesla drivers), member pricing now 33p/kWh between 12am & 8:59am, it increases to 43p from 9am to 7:59pm and then 37p between 8pm & 11:59pm. If you're travelling north on the M6 it's located in the Holiday Inn Express which is about 500 yards off the motorway at Junction 29. (Don't forget to register for free parking at reception).

If that's Preston South (at the Holiday Inn), then non-member prices for those hours are: 44p / 56p / 48p.
..... and don't forget to register at reception for free parking or you may get done !!!

Gomev · Mar 31, 2025

Notice from Osprey today that they are increasing price from 1st April from 79p to 82p per kWh.

'We’ve held our pricing steady for as long as possible, but the costs associated with providing high-power public charging—particularly capacity charges and other grid costs—are increasing on 1st of April. These network costs are outside of our control and have risen by 77% since 2023.'

siteguru · Mar 31, 2025

M44LCY said:
I just had my bank account debited by CPS. I haven't used a public charger since last September so phoned them. The charge was for a session last August (a correctly charge, but it took 7 months to be actioned)! So don't count your chickens …

Bank rules state that any such debit now would be unlawful, given that is a year and 4 months ago.

GJMG4 North · Mar 31, 2025

Gomev said:
Notice from Osprey today that they are increasing price from 1st April from 79p to 82p per kWh.

'We’ve held our pricing steady for as long as possible, but the costs associated with providing high-power public charging—particularly capacity charges and other grid costs—are increasing on 1st of April. These network costs are outside of our control and have risen by 77% since 2023.'

Costs (for the consumer) will continue to increase so long as they continue to pay for that service. The solution is to stop using those CPO's that fail to compete with other operators providing a more attractive consumer proposition (Ionity & Tesla are examples) perhaps by offering memberships which significantly reduce the cost of charging, or have more attractive rates at quieter periods. If they cannot manage this type of pricing structure then their business model is too inflexible and is bound to fail in the long run.

5teep · Mar 31, 2025

M44LCY said:
I just had my bank account debited by CPS. I haven't used a public charger since last September so phoned them. The charge was for a session last August (a correct charge, but it took 7 months to be actioned)! So don't count your chickens …

I think the change from monthly billing to pay as you go got messed up royally, for a couple of months I was getting bills showing all my sessions at zero cost (still waiting to see if they try to bill me for them). Then the payg kicked in and it's been fine since, I much prefer it now.

Gomev · Apr 1, 2025

GJMG4 North said:
Costs (for the consumer) will continue to increase so long as they continue to pay for that service. The solution is to stop using those CPO's that fail to compete with other operators providing a more attractive consumer proposition (Ionity & Tesla are examples) perhaps by offering memberships which significantly reduce the cost of charging, or have more attractive rates at quieter periods. If they cannot manage this type of pricing structure then their business model is too inflexible and is bound to fail in the long run.

Unfortunately they are competing as they all charge these amounts other than Tesla and subscription based accounts. Not everyone can benefit from a subscription if they don't public charge often.
Sainsbury's if there is one near you is 'only' 75p, and Fastned 74p.

UK Public rapid charging costs

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