GeniePoint hikes electric car charging prices by 54%

The cost of charging an electric car at a charge point owned by GeniePoint rose by up to 54% as of 11:00am today (14 April).

GeniePoint is the fourth-largest provider of rapid charge points in the UK, with 8.5% of all rapid chargers are owned by the company according to statistics published by Zap Map.

Rapid (or ultra-rapid) chargers are the fastest and most expensive way for electric vehicle (EV) owners to charge their cars.  

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GeniePoint price rise in detail

GeniePoint uses its 'GenieFlex' tariff across all its own chargers, which has both peak and off-peak rates. So those starting a charge between 8:00am and 19:59pm will pay 98p per kWh from today, an increase from 75p per kWh.

The new rates make it up to seven times more expensive than charging at home, or over twice as expensive per mile compared to the same sized petrol or diesel car (fuel costs only, ignores car tax and maintenance).  

GeniePoint says the rise follows the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) coming to an end on the 31 March, and the cost of electricity therefore significantly increasing.

What the new rates mean for EV drivers

Looking at class-average fuel efficiency from independent Which? tests, we've worked out the average price per mile for different classes of car for the various rates you can pay as an EV owner so you can see how GeniePoint's new rates compare.

We've also included the petrol and diesel equivalent price per mile comparison:

n/a = not enough diesel-powered small cars to create an average.Petrol and diesel fuel costs from RAC Fuel Watch, all fuel efficiency figures from Which? tests.

Looking at the figures above, you can see that:

Compared to those fueling petrol and diesel cars:Compared to those charging at home on a domestic off-peak tariff:Compared to those charging at home on a standard tariff:

This is particularly significant for those who cannot charge at home and access the cheaper charging rates, or those who travel long distances and therefore more reliant on rapid chargers such as the ones GeniePoint provides (GeniePoint also has a small number of non-rapid chargers).

GeniePoint is also one of the networks that uses fees to stop consumers from overstaying at chargers. Consumers are currently charged £10 after 90 minutes, and another £10 every 90 minutes. 

We have contacted GeniePoint and will update this news story once we have a response.

Will more networks raise their prices?

GeniePoint is the first major network to raise their rates this month that we are aware of, we will continue to monitor rates from other networks.

source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/geniepoint-hikes-electric-car-charging-prices-by-54-alA475m2YA3e