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Comment by BryantD | Hacker News Reader

The graph and the article are inconsistent. The graph shows "per kilowatt home charging costs vs petrol" but the article refers to "rapid charge points used by motorists topping up on long drives."

This doesn't mean that the assertion is wrong, but the data provided seems less relevant than one might hope.

I'll also note that as an EV owner, when I bought a home charger I didn't even consider a rapid charger, because I don't need it -- charging at medium speed is just fine. In retrospect I could have done OK with a standard outlet and slow charge, but the thousand or so it cost me for the charger and installation was worth it for convenience. I think I'm the norm. That would mean the graph showing high prices for rapid charge at home is not terribly important -- the key metrics will always be standard charge vs. petrol for at home charging.

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I discussed this with an Uber driver with a rented Tesla. I asked him how much it cost to charge at home. He said he doesn't, he only uses pay chargers $10-$20 per day.

Some people don't charge at home, even if it would save them money long term

He also has a defined usage case where time charging is money lost; it's worth $10-20 a day to get him back on the road as fast as he can, and it's likely that he doesn't live anywhere close enough to the "active uber areas" to make it worthwhile to even install a charger.

The Telegraph article is a bit of a mess. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/new-peak-...

"Topping up the e-Corsa’s charge by 80pc on a slow charger at peak times results in a cost of 16.18p per mile.

"The AA said: “A continued fall in the pump price of petrol now places the running costs [of a petrol Corsa] at around 14.45 pence per mile, meaning that a petrol combustion engine vehicle is cheaper to run per mile than an EV.”"

Some more info here (https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63029226) from 2022.

"The RAC said its research showed the cost to charge an electric car on a pay-as-you-go basis at a publicly accessible rapid charger had increased by 42% since May to an average of 63.29p per kWh.

"The hike in price means drivers who only use the public network to charge vehicles pay around 18p per mile for electricity.

"That is just 1p less per mile for a petrol car, based on someone driving at an average of 40 miles to the gallon, the motoring group said.

"The cost per mile for charging electric vehicles at home is around 9p per mile for the average-sized car. The BBC has been told most EV drivers charge at home overnight."

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