Fleet electric vehicle (EV) payment specialist Rightcharge has published data revealing driver behaviour is the single biggest factor dictating a fleet’s operational EV costs.
The findings come from the company’s The state of fleet charging report: H1 2026, based on more than 1.5 million kWh of energy consumed by fleets on the Rightcharge platform between January and June 2026.
It found home charging was the cheapest way to charge an EV, averaging 23.8p/kWh, down from 24.5p/kWh across 2025. Public charging averaged 80.9p/kWh, down from 81.5p/kWh in 2025.
But the blended unit rate for fleet charging increased from 40.5p/kWh to 46.9p/kWh, due to more charging on the public network. Its share of the energy fleets consumed grew from 28% to 41%, making up for 70% of total fleet charging spend.
On average, public charging costs 3.5x more than home sessions, with those using the busiest rapid chargers on the road facing rates up to 91.5p/kWh, up to 15x higher than off-peak home tariffs.
Rightcharge noted that the decision often lands with the driver on where and when to charge, with fleets needing to “educate drivers before rollout, provide visibility of individual charging costs and encourage the use of more affordable or slower chargers when time allows”.
As an example, different charging costs on the rapid network can range from £16.50 and £27.45 for identical energy. High-speed charging is essential for drivers needing to stay on the road, but costs increase when it becomes the default for vehicles parked for long periods, it said.
Rightcharge’s Gold Card bolt-on offers fleets fixed rates on public networks with 49p/kWh for fast charging and 59p/kWh for rapid and ultra-rapid sessions. This applies across four partner networks, including Sainsbury’s Smart Charge, Ionity, BP Pulse and Be.EV. Four additional charging networks are joining the Gold Card card next month to offer fixed rates, it said.
While three-quarters of sessions occurred during periods of low-to-moderate carbon intensity, around a quarter still happen when the grid is at its dirtiest.
Freddie Winterbotham, Head of Strategic Partnerships said:
“The savings from electrification are real, but they’re the reward for managing charging well, not something that happens automatically.
“They slip away when nobody is watching the numbers. Win buy-in and the cheaper charging choice starts to look like the easier one.”
