Shell Recharge ups prices due to VAT !

[Gomev]

Received an email from Shell announcing price increases stating VAT and simplifying charges as the reason.

Old charge 40p new 45p, not sure how that is simpler, and also thought Instavolt was the only one that was charging VAT at 5% instead of 20%.

Anyone else get this ?

 

[jamesie]

Yes, I've had the same email.

It stinks. On the one hand they want to come across as pro EV and then they put their prices up by 12.5%.

 

[Dodger]

Yes, I've had the same email.

It stinks. On the one hand they want to come across as pro EV and then they put their prices up by 12.5%.

Shell are not pocketing the increase, HMRC are.

 

[Gomev]

Shell are not pocketing the increase, HMRC are.

That would depend on whether they were previously charging 5 or 20 percent VAT.

I was under the impression that it was only Instavolt that were using 5% and had to increase their prices due to that.

 

[jamesie]

Shell are not pocketing the increase, HMRC are.

Don't believe this. Show me the maths that the extra 15% VAT equals 5p! Tried it myself and it doesn't compute.

Agree with @Gomev this is nothing to do with VAT. More to do with Shell not wanting to see EV drivers getting cheaper "fuel" than their petrol and diesel customers.

 

[ZSDave]

If the old charge was 40p including VAT at 5% the the price without VAT was 38.0952381 (40/105 x 100). So if VAT is added at 20% (38.0952381 x 1.2) you get a new price of 45.71428571. So still a bargain.

Dave

 

[Gomev]

If the old charge was 40p including VAT at 5% the the price without VAT was 38.0952381 (40/105 x 100). So if VAT is added at 20% (38.0952381 x 1.2) you get a new price of 45.71428571. So still a bargain.

Dave

Not so much a bargain, somewhere between 40 and 45p is the balance point between petrol/diesel and electric.
See this for a bit of 'man maths'

 

[Kithmo]

Have you seen the price of petrol now, I was shocked, driving past my local Shell and Esso stations, £1.36 a litre, that's £6.19 a gallon.
Even in my old Prius, at 55 mpg real world average, that would have been just over 11p a mile.
My ZS at my currently low average of 3.6 m/kWh would be about the same at 40p/kWh.

 

[ZSDave]

Not so much a bargain, somewhere between 40 and 45p is the balance point between petrol/diesel and electric.
See this for a bit of 'man maths'

Let me make clear what I meant by a bargain. If Shell was charging 40p including VAT at 5% then the price with VAT at 20% would come in at slightly over the 45p that the new charge is. I am not comparing the cost of running an ICE car with that of running an EV.

Dave

 

[Rabtmac]

Let me make clear what I meant by a bargain. If Shell was charging 40p including VAT at 5% then the price with VAT at 20% would come in at slightly over the 45p that the new charge is. I am not comparing the cost of running an ICE car with that of running an EV.

Dave

 

[Rabtmac]

Looks like another supplier pricing themselves out of the majority of customers considerations.
No excuse simply being greedy, when suppliers like Genie can do it for 25/30p and still make a profit.
Think I'll try to stay with home charging where at the highest it's only 16p during the day

 

[Lovemyev]

There are ALL at it !.
They are just like sheep, one does it and the others follow.
A soon as Shell announced they where starting to install chargers in there fuel stations, I knew they where jumping on the band wagon.
Promoting the big idea they are helping out with the transition to electric cars.
Get them installed, then hammer up the price to match the fuel they sell.
The writing was clearly on the wall.

 

[Kithmo]

There are ALL at it !.
They are just like sheep, one does it and the others follow.
A soon as Shell announced they where starting to install chargers in there fuel stations, I knew they where jumping on the band wagon.
Promoting the big idea they are helping out with the transition to electric cars.
Get them installed, then hammer up the price to match the fuel they sell.
The writing was clearly on the wall.

I don't know if they've taken into account that they're going to price out all the locals, who currently use their petrol stations with their ICE vehicles, when they switch to EVs as many will have the option of charging at home for just over a third of the cost.

 

[Dodger]

No free charging at my local Asda stores since BP started operating the chargers.

 

[JodyS21]

As much as I think they're taking to P charging so much per kWh for a DC charge, when I'm paying 5p per kWh at home on Octopus, if petrol stations don't then their current business model doesn't work.

How much does a commercial 50+kWh DC charging station cost to buy/install etc?
How often do they currently get used on average to recoup the cost? Say the average charge is 30mins, you can realistically only get 1 car per hour doing a charge.
I'm guessing here but say it's £10k and you average 10 cars per day, to recoup that fixed cost over 1 year they would need to charge each car £2.74. Add in some profit after their overheads/real electric cost/taxes, I can see why it's around 40p per kWh.

Chargers in car parks etc where there is zero additional overheads, those are the ones that I think shouldn't be charging so much. Any profit they generate is new/additional profit so they do not need to make much (if any) profit - indeed it increases footfall/spending in their current shops.

Most petrol stations are clearly going to end up closing as they will not be viable, I feel a bit sorry for them in a way lol, they'll go the way of video rental stores. Other than at motorway service stations etc - where they'll remain expensive.

I'll be charging at home 99.9% of the time and only pay to DC charge very very occasionally in my short range ZS when it's totally necessary when doing a long journey (at which times I will still be complaining to myself about the kWh price!!!)

 

[Kithmo]

Imagine when the petrol stations start closing down the search for a charger situation we're in now will be reversed. For the remaining ICE owners it'll be, search for a petrol station.
I wonder if all the pumps will be working and how they will pay for their petrol/diesel ?

 

[JodyS21]

Imagine when the petrol stations start closing down the search for a charger situation we're in now will be reversed. For the remaining ICE owners it'll be, search for a petrol station.
I wonder if all the pumps will be working and how they will pay for their petrol/diesel ?

I read a fascinating article about the predicted accelerated rate of migration from ice to ev and alongside the matching decline in petrol stations, one is both a cause and impact on the other.

Marginally profitable petrol stations close soon due to declining numbers of ice cars. Less petrol stations causes lesser competition equals higher fuel prices, makes there less petrol stations and higher prices to ice owners, so more switch quicker...never ending spiral until there’s very few petrol stations left - the ones that are left are expensive and rely on shops etc next to them for profit & not the fuel (service stations & supermarket forecourts maybe)