EV charging hidden costs in the UK: what drivers face to 2028

EV charging hidden costs in the UK are less about surprise line items on a receipt than about charges that stack up around the price of the electricity itself. Be.EV, a major charging network, has warned that the “cumulative cost of policies” could put people off switching from petrol and diesel, according to Chronicle Live and the Daily Express. The reports do not describe networks adding unadvertised fees at the pump, so this article sets out what is documented and what it could mean for a household budget.

The comments come as the company launches a monthly charging pass that it says removes the need to track changing rates.

Unexpected EV charging costs: the change in plain English

Two separate charges now sit on top of what drivers pay to charge. From April 2025, electric cars stopped being exempt from vehicle excise duty, commonly known as road tax. From April 2028, a new pay-per-mile charge will apply: 3p a mile for battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, and 1.5p a mile for plug-in hybrids.

The Government has said the rate will be uprated from 2029 to 2030 and in later years in line with Consumer Prices Index inflation, according to the Daily Express, so that the tax keeps its real-terms value. Be.EV did not dispute the principle. It said: “We recognise that as more people switch to electric vehicles, the Government needs to think about how it replaces the revenue currently generated through fuel duty. That’s a reasonable conversation to have.”

Its concern is timing. The company said the next wave of customers are “ordinary motorists making practical decisions about what car to buy, how much it costs to run and whether it fits their lifestyle”, and that price “is going to play a huge part in that decision”.

Who pays more and who pays less

Every electric car owner already pays road tax. From 2028, the mileage charge means heavier users pay more, and a plug-in hybrid driver pays half the rate of a battery electric driver for the same distance.

Where you charge matters as much as how far you drive. Greendawn, a charging installer writing for businesses, said workplace tariffs can be as low as 15p to 20p per kWh, while public rapid charging often ranges from 50p to 85p per kWh. Fleet Evolution said home charging is usually the cheapest option, that public prices vary widely, and that drivers can pay premiums for rapid charging at motorway services.

Fleet Evolution also said new regulations are pushing clearer pricing so drivers are not hit with surprise costs at a connector. It did not say which rules or when they apply. It added that rural and remote areas tend to have fewer points per head and less rapid coverage, which may leave drivers there with less choice over where and at what price they charge.

A worked example with real numbers

To show how these figures interact, take a driver who covers 8,000 miles a year. That mileage is our assumption, not a figure from the sources. We use Be.EV’s own conversion of 120kWh to around 400 miles, or roughly 3.3 miles per kWh, and apply it to every route so the comparison is like for like.

On top of any of these, the 2028 charge adds £240 a year for a battery electric car at 3p a mile, or £120 for a plug-in hybrid at 1.5p. For a driver on the Go Pass rate, that is roughly a quarter more on the energy bill. The pass figures assume the full allowance is used each month, and Be.EV’s passes work across its own network, so they suit people who can rely on it.

What to do now

Start with your own mileage. Multiply your annual miles by 3p, or 1.5p for a plug-in hybrid, to see what the 2028 charge would cost you, and remember that the rate is due to rise with inflation after that. The timeline is short: road tax already applies, the mileage charge starts in April 2028, and the first inflation-linked uprating follows in 2029 to 2030.

Next, look at how you charge. If most of your charging happens on public rapid chargers, the gap between 50p and 85p per kWh is far larger than the new tax, so checking tariffs before a long journey is worth the few minutes it takes. If you charge mostly at home or work, your exposure to public pricing is smaller.

If a subscription appeals, compare the monthly price with what you actually use. A driver who needs 60kWh a month would pay £49 for a 120kWh allowance, so the pass only makes sense with steady use. Employers weighing workplace charging can note that Greendawn says the Workplace Charging Scheme offers up to £350 per socket, with a maximum of 40 per site.

Your questions answered

How much does it cost to charge an electric car in the UK?

There is no single price. Greendawn put workplace charging at 15p to 20p per kWh and public rapid charging at 50p to 85p per kWh, and Fleet Evolution said home charging is usually cheapest, especially overnight on an economy tariff or with a smart meter. Be.EV’s passes work out at about 41p per kWh for the Go Pass and about 36p for the Go Further Pass, by our calculation.

What charging infrastructure exists now?

It is a fast-growing mix of home, workplace and public charging. Fleet Evolution said that as of January 2026 there were over 87,000 public charging points across more than 44,000 locations, with over 121,000 connectors. Speeds range from 1.4kW from a three-pin plug to as much as 350kW at ultra-rapid sites, and the company said rapid chargers still make up a smaller share of the total.

Why do some areas have fewer chargers?

Be.EV said grid connections can be a long way from a site, and that the civil engineering needed to bring power in can make otherwise promising locations commercially unviable. It said busy motorway services and major retail sites are naturally attractive to operators, while rural and remote communities are harder to serve because there may not yet be enough EV drivers to generate a return.