Best Cheap Public EV Charging Options in the UK

The average PAYG rapid charging rate in the UK was 79p per kWh in April 2026. That is the average; the cheapest accessible option on the rapid network is around 43p per kWh on IONITY’s annual plan, and standard chargers at supermarkets can be as low as 40p to 44p per kWh. The gap between the cheapest and most expensive public charging is almost 50p per kWh, nearly double the price. Understanding where the cheap options are and when to use them saves real money.

The cheapest rapid charging options by network

Network	Cheapest rate available	Conditions
IONITY Power plan	43p/kWh	Annual subscription (~£10.50/month)
Be.EV off-peak (members)	~39p/kWh	Off-peak hours, monthly membership
InstaVolt off-peak	55p/kWh	8pm–7am, free InstaVolt app required
Fastned Gold	~55p/kWh (est.)	30% off PAYG, £9.99/month
Tesla Supercharger (non-Tesla)	45–56p/kWh	No membership needed, CCS required
Osprey (app)	82p/kWh	Free app, no subscription
GRIDSERVE	~75p/kWh	PAYG contactless
IONITY (PAYG)	74p/kWh	No subscription needed
MFG EV Power	~79p/kWh	PAYG, no membership
BP Pulse (subscriber)	69p/kWh	£7.85/month subscription
BP Pulse (PAYG)	89p/kWh	Most expensive mainstream rapid
InstaVolt (peak PAYG)	92p/kWh	Most expensive mainstream rapid

The cheapest standard and standard-plus chargers

Slow and medium-speed chargers at supermarkets are often significantly cheaper than any rapid option. They are not suitable for a motorway stop, but they are ideal for topping up during errands, a gym session or a long supermarket shop.

Network / location	Typical rate	Speed	Notes
Tesco / Pod Point	44p–69p/kWh	7–22 kW	619 stores, most accept contactless
Lidl / Osprey	62p/kWh rapid, 40p/kWh AC	7–50 kW	Osprey and some third-party units
Connected Kerb (on-street)	From 35p/kWh	3–7 kW	On-street, mainly slow
Shell Recharge Ubitricity	52–85p/kWh	3–22 kW	Wide London and urban coverage
Pod Point (various retail)	44p+/kWh	7–22 kW	Broad retail park coverage

For context: home charging on a smart EV tariff like Octopus Intelligent costs around 7p to 9p per kWh overnight. Even the cheapest public standard charging at 35p per kWh is 4 to 5 times more expensive than home charging. But for drivers without off-street parking, or those topping up on a journey, 35p to 44p per kWh is genuinely reasonable.

How subscriptions reduce the cost of rapid charging

A subscription is a fixed monthly fee that unlocks a lower per-kWh rate on one network. The table below shows which subscription offers the best value at different usage levels.

Network	Monthly fee	Subscriber rapid rate	Break-even usage
IONITY Power (annual)	~£10.50	43p/kWh (vs 74p PAYG)	~33 kWh/month
Be.EV Mega	£9.99	~39p/kWh off-peak	~25 kWh/month
Fastned Gold	£9.99	~55p/kWh	~45 kWh/month
Shell Recharge	£9.99	~56p/kWh	~50 kWh/month
BP Pulse	£7.85	69p/kWh	~39 kWh/month

Break-even usage is calculated versus PAYG on the same network.

IONITY’s annual Power plan is the most compelling of these if you regularly use IONITY stations (at Extra motorway services and village hotels). At 43p per kWh versus 74p PAYG, a 40 kWh charge session saves £12.40. That means the plan pays for itself after fewer than one session per month for a typical EV.

Off-peak pricing: the most underused money-saver

InstaVolt introduced off-peak pricing in 2025 that dropped its app rate from 92p per kWh peak to 55p per kWh between 8pm and 7am. This is not a subscription, it requires only the free InstaVolt app and applies automatically during the off-peak window. On a 40 kWh charge, the difference is £14.80 versus £36.80: a saving of £22 for scheduling a session in the evening rather than the afternoon.

Be.EV similarly offers its cheapest rate (around 39p per kWh) during off-peak hours for members, which is competitive with home EV tariffs at the cheaper end. If your journey allows flexibility, charging in the evening hours rather than midday can halve your rapid charging cost on some networks.

Free charging: where it still exists

Free public EV charging is now rare. Zap-Map lists around 1,837 free chargepoints as of spring 2026, roughly 1.5% of the network. Most are slow (3 kW to 7 kW) and restricted to specific venues such as hotels for guests, car dealerships for customers or workplaces for employees.

The remaining free public chargers accessible without conditions include:

• A small number of Asda, Aldi and Sainsbury’s locations
• Some council-run on-street chargers in areas with free-to-charge schemes
• Selected leisure centre and library car parks
• Holiday Inn and some other hotel chains for registered guests

To find free chargers near you, filter Zap-Map by “Free to use” after installing the app. Always verify before arriving: free charger policies change frequently, and the Zap-Map listing may not reflect recent changes.

Salary sacrifice and employer benefits

For drivers who access public charging through an employer salary sacrifice scheme, effective per-kWh costs can be 20 to 50% below advertised prices due to the tax treatment of the charging credit. A higher-rate taxpayer using a 76p/kWh rapid charger via The Charge Scheme might pay an effective rate of around 44p per kWh after tax relief. This is one of the most significant but least-discussed ways to reduce public charging costs.

Roaming aggregators: one bill, competitive rates

Platforms such as Electroverse and Bonnet let you access multiple networks from one app and one invoice, sometimes at network-rate pricing rather than the higher PAYG contactless rate. For drivers who regularly use different networks, this can save both money and the complexity of managing multiple accounts.

Electroverse, for example, provides access to GRIDSERVE, BP Pulse, Osprey, Pod Point and many other networks, with prices displayed in one app. Some networks add a small per-session or per-kWh roaming fee through these platforms; others pass through the network’s own rate.

The cheapest way to charge publicly, ranked

1. Free chargers (where available and accessible without conditions)
2. Be.EV off-peak with membership (around 39p/kWh)
3. IONITY Power annual plan (43p/kWh)
4. Connected Kerb on-street slow charging (from 35p/kWh, very slow)
5. InstaVolt off-peak (55p/kWh, free app, no subscription)
6. Tesla Supercharger non-Tesla (45–56p/kWh, no membership needed where open)
7. Fastned Gold membership (roughly 55p/kWh effective)
8. Tesco Pod Point (44p+ per kWh, slow but free of rapid premium)

Where to find more

For a full overview of all major UK charging networks including reliability, see Best Public EV Charging Networks in the UK.

For the complete guide to how public charging works and what it costs, visit our Public Charging guide.