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How rising wholesale electricity prices will affect the switch to electric vehicles

(The Conversation, 23 Sep 2021) Europe is facing an energy crisis thanks to low wind-power generation, broken connections that allow electricity to be shared across nations and shrinking nuclear energy sources. The UK has responded by burning more gas to produce electricity – but gas prices are at a record high. The result is that wholesale electricity costs are at their highest levels in years, and this is having a knock-on effect for anything that uses electricity.

One benefit of owning an electric vehicle (often abbreviated to EV) is that they are usually cheaper to run, even if the cost of buying one is higher. Driving an EV 100 miles will, on average, cost around £4-6 (US$5.50-8), compared with £13-16 in a petrol or diesel car.

In the first half of the previous decade, nearly all public chargers in the UK were free to use. Back when I drove my first EV in 2013, I travelled between public charging stations, frustrated by the car’s paltry range of under 100 miles on a full battery. I stuck with it though, because not only was my sacrifice better for the environment, my fuel was free too. And even when it wasn’t free, it was still significantly cheaper than running my old diesel car.

While it is true that fossil-fuel prices are rising too, motorists need good reasons to dump their old vehicles and switch to electric. But as electricity prices rise – and with them, the running costs of the average EV – where does that leave electric-car owners and those contemplating becoming one?

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The Conversation, 23 Sep 2021: How rising wholesale electricity prices will affect the switch to electric vehicles