Analysis of government and regulator data shows that soaring oil and pump prices have made electric vehicles dramatically cheaper to drive in the UK: diesel now costs about 21p per mile and petrol about 20.1p, while off-peak home charging costs roughly 2.3p per mile and charging at the household price cap about 7p per mile - making EVs up to nine times cheaper per mile than diesel. Pump prices have jumped sharply since February (diesel +38% to £1.96/l, petrol +31% to £1.72/l) as oil topped $100/barrel amid Middle East tensions and attacks on refineries; these movements pushed wholesale and retail fuel costs to record levels.
Those gaps translate into real savings: roughly £80 per typical full-tank equivalent and annual fuel-cost savings for EV drivers rising from around £1,100 to about £1,200. Petrol still dominates the fleet (55% of ~35 million cars) while battery EVs are 6% of cars and plug-in hybrids 3%, but EVs are gaining share in new sales (~30% in August versus 26.5% a year earlier). Public chargers remain more expensive, though about 90% of charging happens at home. Even with a small October electricity price-cap rise, an expected larger wholesale-driven rise in 2027, and a planned 3p-per-mile EV road charge from April 2028, EVs would remain substantially cheaper per mile.
Summary generated by AI from the linked article. hn.today is not affiliated with Hacker News or Y Combinator.
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A rogue Wikipedia editor, Jagged_85, falsely credited Muslims with numerous inventions during the Islamic Golden Age, spreading exaggerated and fraudulent claims. These inaccuracies have been widely propagated, influencing both popular media and scholarly literature. (cremieux.xyz)
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