New research shows that electric vehicle drivers can pay as much as 3.5 times more to charge their cars by failing to shop around for the right tariff.
Ireland's best-selling EV this year is the Volkswagen iD.4, which has a 77kWh battery.
According to today's research from the AA, some EV drivers can pay up to €33.32 to fill the iD.4's battery. However, their neighbour could be paying as little as €9.74 to charge up if they are on a different tariff.
Around 14,000 Battery Electric Vehicles have been sold so far this year in Ireland, a jump of 83% compared to last year.
Meanwhile sales of petrol and diesel vehicles have fallen by 7.6% and 20.5% respectively.
With the Government continuing its support of EV sales by providing grants, the AA said that many car buyers are opting to go electric for the first time.
The AA said that savvy drivers can take advantage of a tariff like the "Night Boost" from Electric Ireland.
The rate between 2am and 4am will be priced at €0.1265.
This is the equivalent of paying €9.74 for a full charge, which is about 3.5 times less than the driver that failed to shop around, the AA added.
"With the average motorist in Ireland driving about 17,000km per year, choosing the right time to charge and which tariff to use could save them up to €1,000 per year in charging costs alone. As long as they are happy to "top up" by about 80km range per night, a year's worth of driving would cost them a mere €404.00," said Blake Boland from AA Ireland.
"With the average price of petrol at €1.84 and diesel at €1.94 according to our survey this month, we know that the same distance driven by your equivalent diesel will be about €1,900, and about €2,300 for the petrol version," Blake Boland said.
"Even paying the highest rate of domestic electricity from October 1, the same 17,000km is going to cost an EV driver €1,381, but this analysis shows that it could cost as little as €404," he added.
