Zapmap: rapid charging averages 77p/kWh as MFG keeps 59p app price

Public rapid charging in the UK averaged 77p per kWh in August 2026, according to Zapmap’s Price Index, against 54p on slower public chargers. In September the top 10 rapid networks charged anywhere from 59p to 92p. MFG EV Power’s 59p summer price ended on 30 September, but the company has kept 59p for drivers who pay through its app. For a driver adding 40kWh, the gap between the top and bottom of Zapmap’s range is £13.20 a session. For the rest of the week’s stories, see our weekly UK EV news round-up.

Zapmap’s index is a weighted average of pay-as-you-go prices, calculated from usage data covering around 75% of UK public chargers. It lands as home charging gets a tax break: VAT on household electricity in England, Scotland and Wales fell from 5% to 0% on 1 October and stays there until 31 March 2027, while public charging still carries 20%.

What does public charging cost right now?

The 40kWh column is an EV Compared calculation, roughly a 10 to 80% charge on a 57kWh battery.

Where you charge	Price per kWh	Cost to add 40kWh
Public rapid and ultra-rapid (50kW and above), Zapmap August average	77p	£30.80
Public Standard and Standard Plus (3kW to 49kW), Zapmap August average	54p	£21.60
Home, Ofgem price cap (1 October to 31 December 2026)	26.32p	£10.53
Home, smart EV tariff overnight	around 7p to 8p	£2.80 to £3.20

The 23p gap between slower and rapid public chargers means a rapid kWh costs about 43% more. Against the Ofgem cap rate the rapid average is nearly three times dearer, and against an overnight smart tariff it is roughly ten times. Our guide to public charging costs explains how each speed is priced.

Which rapid networks are cheapest and dearest?

Zapmap’s rapid price table covers the top 10 rapid networks, which account for around 64% of UK rapid and ultra-rapid chargers. In September, InstaVolt had the highest network-wide price at 92p/kWh. Zapmap named Tesla as the cheapest of the ten, with most of its open sites charging 69p/kWh in daytime hours.

Headline prices hide big discounts for app users and off-peak charging:

Network	Standard price	Cheaper option
InstaVolt	92p peak	55p in the app or with an RFID card, 8pm to 7am
MFG EV Power	79p by contactless or card	59p in the free MFG Connect app, at any time

Sources: InstaVolt, Forecourt Trader.

InstaVolt’s cheaper window runs for 11 hours a day, from 8pm to 7am. Shell Recharge’s Summer Midday Saver and Night Saver rates were 60p/kWh, or 42p for subscribers paying £9.99 a month (Forecourt Trader). They were launched as summer offers, so confirm in the Shell Recharge app that they still apply before you plan around them.

What happened to MFG’s 59p deal?

MFG cut its ultra-rapid price by 25%, from 79p to 59p/kWh, from 1 July to 30 September 2026, across nearly 600 locations including nearly 300 Morrisons supermarkets (Zapmap, electrive).

The summer offer has ended, but the 59p price has not. From 1 October MFG made 59p/kWh permanent at all bays on its network for drivers who pay through the free MFG Connect app, with no subscription or membership fee (Forecourt Trader). Drivers who pay by contactless or card at the charger pay the standard 79p/kWh. MFG says the 20p/kWh difference saves up to £6 on a typical 30kWh charge. On a 40kWh top-up, the app price comes to £23.60 against £31.60 by contactless, and the contactless price is 2p above Zapmap’s August rapid average.

Why does home charging matter more this winter?

Tax is now doing more of the work. With household electricity at 0% VAT and public charging at 20%, about 12.8p of a 77p public price is VAT (EV Compared calculation). ChargeUK says the annual VAT difference between a driver who charges 80% at home and 20% on rapids, and one who relies only on public charging, is now £200 (Fleet World). Our report on the public charging VAT gap covers the campaign to close it.

Home prices may rise in the new year. Cornwall Insight forecasts the cap rising 16% in January to £1,999 a year for a typical dual-fuel household. Cornwall Insight’s forecast January electricity unit rate of 30.28p/kWh would still be well under half the rapid average.

Are charging subscriptions worth it?

They can be, if you charge publicly every month. Our EV charging subscriptions guide compares the main plans; the key numbers are:

• Shell Recharge: £9.99 a month cut the summer saver rate from 60p to 42p. On that 18p saving, the fee is covered after about 56kWh of saver-rate charging a month.
• Be.EV: the Flexi Pass costs £13.99 a month for 39p/kWh at any time, and the new Go Pass gives 120kWh for £49 a month, about 40.8p/kWh if you use it all (Transport + Energy).
• Ionity: the annual Power 365 and Motion 365 plans bring its rate down to as little as 43p/kWh (Ionity).
• InstaVolt: the 55p overnight rate needs only the app or an RFID card, with no monthly fee.
• MFG EV Power: the 59p price needs only the free MFG Connect app, with no monthly fee.

What this means for you

If you charge at home, public prices mainly matter on long trips, so plan rapid stops for off-peak windows where you can. The bigger saving is on your driveway: a smart EV tariff at around 7p to 8p/kWh costs a fraction of the 26.32p cap rate.

If you rely on public charging, treat 77p as the number to beat. Anything under 60p is a good public price; anything over 85p is worth avoiding when there is an alternative nearby. Slower destination chargers averaged 54p in August, so use them when you are parked for hours anyway. If you use one network regularly, a subscription can pay: Shell’s covered its fee after about 56kWh of saver-rate charging a month while its summer rates ran. Our round-up of cheap public charging options lists where to start.

If you use MFG forecourts or Morrisons car parks, download the MFG Connect app before your next visit: paying by contactless or card at the charger costs 79p/kWh, 20p more than the app price. In our view, keeping 59p for app users leaves MFG with one of the simplest cheap options on the public network, a sub-60p price at any hour with no subscription, as long as you pay through the app rather than with a bank card.