Homes with electric vehicles consume far more energy than average

In this week's Gossage Gossip, our columnist explores recent research which suggests that homes with electric vehicles are consuming far more electricity than the average household.

University College London’s Smart Energy Laboratory has just published some truly unique research. It is monitoring in detail, and with their permission, the precise energy use habits of some 13,000 households. They have just published the details of their first-year analysis, and one of the most remarkable findings is to reveal precisely how much more electricity is consumed each year in a home where an electric vehicle (EV) is charged up, as opposed to one where the family car is fuelled by petrol or diesel.  

The Lab has monitored that plugging in an EV regularly increases the average annual electricity bill by more than 70%. That amounts to around 2,000 kWh more consumed. That is a far higher differential than most observers had expected.

However, digging a little deeper, it seems as though homes with EVs do also burn a bit more natural gas than average (around 22% above the median). This consumption is likely to be largely for central heating and hot water, rather than for gas lighting. Which factoid might possibly suggest that those who run EVs are either far more generally energy profligate, or more charitably, simply live in a bigger home than the average person.