A new survey has revealed that almost half of all electric car owners are not utilising cheaper, off-peak charging – potentially missing out on £1,000 worth of savings every year.

The research, conducted by Smart Home Charge, found that nearly half (46 per cent) of respondents did not take advantage of off-peak charging times.

All new home chargers sold after 30th June 2022 will legally have to have smart functionality, attempting to alleviate the burden of rising electricity costs and stress on the grid. Smart Home Charge is calling for education to improve awareness of the benefits.

To support this, Smart Home Charge has calculated that, using EDF’s GoElectric 35 tariff, charging a Nissan Leaf on the peak day rate of 45p per kWh will cost around £18 for a single charge versus just £1.80 when using the off-peak rate of 4.5p per kWh (between the hours of 12 midnight and 5am). Across 10,000 miles in one year, peak rate only charging would cost £1,071 versus £107 when using off-peak only charging – a saving of £964.

Smart charge points are proven to provide drivers more control over their home charging setup, such as setting up scheduled charging to coincide with cheaper electricity rates, as well as providing information on charging history so drivers can monitor their home charging costs.

Danny Morgan, Editor and Marketing Manager at Smart Home Charge said: “Educating new EV drivers is key to helping them save on their car charging costs. Traditionally, drivers have not had much choice when it comes to fuel costs other than searching for which petrol station has the lowest price – and even then the difference is pennies.

“However, EV drivers have much more control over the cost of their home EV charging, firstly by finding an energy supplier which offers an EV-friendly tariff with off-peak rates and secondly by making sure they set up a schedule on their smart home charge point that coincides with their off-peak window.”

Smart charging helps the grid and saves money