Reduced public charging prices could boost EV sales

New experimental polling indicates bringing public charging below petrol prices could push EV sales beyond the government target

New YouGov polling, commissioned by EV charging industry association ChargeUK, has revealed that making public EV charging cheaper than petrol could boost demand for electric vehicles by nearly 50 per cent.

The polling shows that the proportion of people likely to buy an EV jumps from 25% to 37% if public charging is cheaper than petrol — a 48% increase. Under these experimental conditions, this figure is above the government's headline target requirement for 33% of new car sales in 2026 to be electric — which is effectively lower when the flexibilities available to manufacturers are taken into account — and is just shy of the 38% target for 2027.

The findings challenge the case being made for weakening the targets, indicating that government has a significant policy lever still to pull in cutting public EV charging prices. ChargeUK is urging government to take action through its cost of public EV charging review to address the policies pushing charging prices up before it considers weakening EV sales targets.

ChargeUK commissioned YouGov to conduct the nationally representative experimental poll of 2,130 people, asking half of the sample if they were to purchase a new vehicle in the next year how likely it would be to be an EV and the other half the same but with the assumption that public charging prices are lower than petrol. 

The results provide insight for the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government, showing that those who voted for Labour in the 2024 General Election are most likely to consider electric if they were to purchase a vehicle in the next year — whether public charging is cheaper than petrol (47 per cent) or not (33 per cent). 

They come as Burnham’s first policy in government promises to further lower EV charging costs for those who can charge at home, through the removal of VAT on electricity bills. But in doing so further expands the ‘pavement tax’— the difference in VAT between public charging versus home — from 15 to 20 per cent on those who cannot charge at home. 

2024 Reform UK voters are most likely to be sensitive to public charging prices, with likelihood of EV purchase increasing by 62 per cent, albeit from a low base of 13 per cent to 21.

Younger people are both most likely to be likely to purchase an EV and among the most likely to be sensitive to public charging prices. A baseline of 29 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds would be likely to go electric, doubling to a majority of 57 per cent if charging was cheaper than fuel.

In April ChargeUK published analysis that public EV charging prices were below petrol for most people due to the rises in fuel costs caused by the conflict in Iran, urging that government should secure cheaper charging for the long-term. This followed the publication of its report ‘Delivering Affordable Charging for All’ in September 2025 which highlighted the policy decisions responsible for driving public EV charging prices up by 38 per cent since 2025. 

Whilst charging an EV at home is considerably cheaper than fuelling a petrol car, for those without access to home charging the calculations are less straightforward. Charging an electric vehicle on a standard public charger remains cheaper than petrol whilst charging on an ultra-rapid — the most analogous charging method to a fuel forecourt — remains more expensive. However, a typical 80 to 20 per cent charging split between standard and rapid is now almost exactly equal with petrol, and more expensive than diesel, as fuel prices have dropped since the April high*. 

Jarrod Birch, head of policy and public affairs, ChargeUK said: 

“The case for weakening sales targets rests on the claim that drivers will not buy electric cars. These results, combined with a post-Iran sales boom, blow a hole in that argument. They show that government has a huge demand lever left to pull, one that they already have a hand on through the public cost of EV charging review. 

“Reducing the policy driven cost burden on charging networks and thus driver prices would be a quadruple win. Infrastructure investment unleashed in every postcode, cost of living reduced for millions, energy security strengthened and an auto industry able to comfortably meet its EV targets. Action must be taken before any regressive move is taken to roll them back.”

Vicky Edmonds, chief executive office, EVA England said: 

“These findings show so clearly that cheaper public charging could unlock significant demand for EVs. The network has grown enormously, but price, reliability and accessibility are absolutely key to persuading more drivers to switch to electric. And most importantly, drivers without a driveway should not have to pay considerably more or receive a worse experience simply because they cannot charge at home. The Government’s current cost of public charging review must put drivers first and make public charging fair, affordable and easier to trust.”

Ian Plummer, chief customer officer at Autotrader, commented: 

“The electric transition has always been exceptionally cost sensitive - when more affordable new electric models entered the market, drivers flocked to them and similarly when used electric cars reached price parity with petrol equivalents, they became incredibly popular.  And conversely, when petrol prices soared, interest in electric cars on our platform rocketed - clearly highlighting that upfront and running costs benefits are essential to persuading consumers to make the switch. 

“Soon, our society will face an inbuilt inequality between those who have access to cheaper motoring, because they have at-home electricity tariffs, and those who do not. This data from ChargeUK shows the additional electric demand we could unlock by tackling this inequality, and the cost of public charging review is the best chance for the government to address this, so we must hope they don’t miss their chance.” 

ENDS

Notes to editors

Methodology

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.  Total sample size was 2,130 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 21st - 22nd July 2026.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).

Poll results

		Vote in 2024 GE					Age
	Total	Con	Lab	Lib Dem	Reform UK	Green	18-24	25-49	50-64	65+
Weighted Sample	2130	371	528	192	224	116	224	875	528	503
Unweighted Sample	2130	348	536	191	254	112	163	744	644	579
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
If you were to purchase a vehicle in the next year, how likely would you be to purchase an electric vehicle? [Shown to half of the sample; n=1087]
Very likely	10	8	9	10	7	14	12	11	9	9
Somewhat likely	15	10	24	20	6	18	17	18	13	10
TOTAL LIKELY	25	18	33	30	13	32	29	29	22	19
Somewhat unlikely	17	18	16	22	12	15	11	21	18	13
Very unlikely	49	58	41	43	68	37	49	39	53	59
TOTAL UNLIKELY	66	76	57	65	80	52	60	60	71	72
Don’t know	9	6	10	5	7	17	11	11	7	9
Assume that public electric vehicle charging is cheaper than petrol. If you were to purchase a vehicle in the next year, how likely would you be to purchase an electric vehicle? [Shown to half of the sample; n=1043]
Very likely	13	10	16	9	7	14	17	17	10	5
Somewhat likely	24	16	31	31	14	29	40	26	16	19
TOTAL LIKELY	37	26	47	40	21	43	57	43	26	24
% uplift versus baseline	48	44	42	33	62	34	97	48	18	26
Somewhat unlikely	17	22	14	19	10	24	17	14	18	19
Very unlikely	37	45	27	32	61	19	14	31	44	50
TOTAL UNLIKELY	54	67	41	51	71	43	31	45	62	69
Don’t know	10	7	12	8	8	14	12	11	11	7

*Updated petrol and diesel price comparison 

	Pence per unit (kWh and litres)	Efficiency (miles per kWh or litre)	Pence per mile	Cost over 7100 miles	Savings vs petrol	Per mile difference to petrol
Home off peak	8	3.59	2.23	£158	£1,016	-14.30
Home price cap	26.11	3.59	7.27	£516	£657	-9.26
Average rapid/ultra rapid	79.00	3.59	22.01	£1,562	-£389	5.47
Average standard/standard plus	54.00	3.59	15.04	£1,068	£106	-1.49
80% / 20% standard/rapid	59.00	3.59	16.43	£1,167	£7	-0.10
80% / 20% off peak home/rapid	22.20	3.59	6.18	£439	£735	-10.35
Average petrol	155.57	9.41	16.53	£1,174	-	-
Average diesel	172.14	10.91	15.78	£1,120	-	-
Average petrol - motorway services	171.67	9.41	18.24	£1,295	-	-
Average diesel - motorway services	187.24	10.91	17.16	£1,219	-	-

Sources

Vehicle efficiency from Government advisory rates
Electric	3.59 miles per kWh
Petrol (1401-2000cc)	9.41 miles per litre
Diesel (1601-2000cc)	10.91 mile per litre
Source:	https://www.gov.uk/guidance/advisory-fuel-rates
Electric vehicle current prices	Zapmap Price Index - June 2026
Petrol and diesel current prices	RAC Fuel Watch - 23 July 2026