Reverse the Charge is an impact assessment calling for urgent action to reform the grid tax on EV charging in the UK.
The report was authored by Tom Riley, founder of the EV publication The Fast Charge (www.fastcharge.email), in partnership with the UK EV charging network Zest (www.zest.uk.com).
Reverse the Charge sourced the figures in the assessment from UK electricity network operators and compiled them. Distribution network charges are an average of the published tariffs in eight of Great Britain’s 14 distribution licence areas:
UK Power Networks: London Power Networks, South Eastern Power Networks and Eastern Power Networks
Northern Powergrid: Yorkshire and North East
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks: Southern Electric Power Distribution
Electricity North West
National Grid Electricity Distribution: West Midlands
Transmission network charges are taken from the National Energy System Operator’s (NESO) published Transmission Network Use of System tariff reports for 2019/20 to 2027/28. Figures for 2027 use NESO’s initial 2027/28 tariffs, which are subject to final confirmation.
Time-of-use distribution unit rates use London Power Networks’ schedules of charges as a representative area. Policy costs, supplier charges and wholesale electricity prices are estimates collated by reversethecharge.uk. Charger numbers and average prices are from Zapmap, July 2026.
How the figures are calculated
The modelled site is a single rapid charger with two 100kW connectors on an LV Site Specific Band 4 connection, with 232 kVA of agreed capacity. Many newer ultra-rapid chargers need larger connections, so the figures are conservative.
Years refer to charging years, which begin on 1 April. For example, 2026 refers to 2026/27.
Weekly and annual figures are the daily charge multiplied by seven and 365. A hub is six of these chargers.
Per-kWh figures assume a 31-day month.
Zapmap counted 29,246 rapid and ultra-rapid EV chargers in July 2026, meaning the number of vehicles that can charge at the same time. For the national estimate, these are treated as 14,623 two-connector chargers, each paying the modelled daily charge.
One-off grid connection costs are excluded throughout.
·Estimates with the Government’s Cost of Public Charging Review suggested operators’ standing charges rose by 83-283% between 2021 and 2026. That range covers local distribution charges only and uses estimated power ratings in place of connection capacity. This assessment also includes national transmission charges, which became fixed charges in April 2023, plus fixed policy and supplier costs, for a defined 232 kVA connection. This accounts for the higher figure.
All data sources and tables are available here.