Recommendation 10

We asked what the Departments were planning to do about the higher cost of charging on the public network compared to home charging.18 A National Audit Office analysis of public data suggests that charging at home can cost between 59% and 78% less than charging on the public network.19 The Department for Transport told us it expects there to be more competition in the market and innovation which may benefit consumers in terms of the price paid for electricity. It also suggested that electric cars might, for example, act as energy stores when plugged in at home to feed back to the grid at peak time and recharge at times were there is lower demand and cost. It thinks rapid charging in public, however, will always be more expensive than charging overnight at home.20