Super-affordable electricity makes UK motoring cheaper than it’s been in 50 years

In 1972 Don McLean was singing about driving big block Chevys, the VW Beetle overtook the Ford Model T as the all-time best selling car, and Brits could fuel their cars for just a penny a mile.

For gasoline or diesel powered vehicles, fuel has never been as cheap as it was back then. However, thanks to a new specialist energy tariff, electric car drivers in the UK can charge their EVs and drive them for the equivalent of about 1.3 pence per mile, Motoring Research reports.

EDF’s EV-specific tariff, called GoElectric 35, costs users just 4.5p per kWh off-peak. This means that charging the average long-range EV from 0 to 100% overnight at home would cost about £4 (about $6).

A comparable gasoline car would cost more than four times that amount to fill up from empty.

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While EVs are still a little more expensive to buy than comparable gasoline cars, with such a cheap energy tariff that cost difference would be clawed back quickly.

What’s more, EDF says energy used on the plan comes from 100% zero carbon renewable sources like wind and solar. Sounds like a win-win, but there are a few things that should be noted.

Off-peak hours are between 12AM and 5AM each night, that’s 35 hours of off-peak energy each week. I guess that’s where the name comes from.

Also, it’s worth noting EDF’s GoElectric 35 tariff costs 17 pence per kWh during peak hours, which isn’t the best price.

EDF needs you to have a compatible smart meter to monitor how much electricity you’re using. Most people in the UK should be able to get access to the tariff, but use EDF’s postcode checker just to be sure.

If you have an EV and regularly charge it up overnight, switching to this kind of plan could give you an overall net gain and save you quite a bit of cash. Nice.

Do EVs excite your electrons? Do ebikes get your wheels spinning? Do self-driving cars get you all charged up? 

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