Infrastructure has been a key issue with the adoption of EVs, and a growing number of trained electricians are now up to the task of supplying homeowners with suitable charging stations. That is, as long as they have a driveway.
As of 1st October 2026, the VAT on household electricity bills has been reduced to zero, which means that charging an electric car at home has possibly never been cheaper for homeowners.
With a smart tariff and dedicated wallbox, motorists can charge their car for less than 2p a mile, orders of magnitude lower than topping up a diesel or petrol car.
However, there is a major issue with this is that it is not available to everyone, but fixing what has become known as the “driveway divide” not only benefits motorists but could provide a golden opportunity for electricians trained to install charging stations.
To understand why, it is important to explain the driveway divide and how it came to pass in the first place.
What Is The Driveway Divide?
The “driveway divide” is how EV drivers describe the significant savings homeowners who have a house with a driveway and off-street parking will enjoy compared to homeowners who do not.
Whilst the average cost per mile for homeowners is between 2p and 17p depending on their electricity rate, the cost for drivers dependent on public chargers is between 11p and 25p per mile.
The latter, whilst still cheaper than petrol or diesel, is far closer in cost and, with the higher cost of entry compared to a used ICE, could be particularly expensive.
This has made a wallbox all but essential for EV owners, but this is not an option available to people who park on the street in a way that some EV charging suppliers and campaigners believe is not only unfair but unlawful.
Why Is There A Driveway Divide?
There are several reasons, but the biggest of these is a disparity in how public charging stations have been taxed, one that has since become the subject of a lawsuit and subsequent appeal by HMRC.
Home electricity was charged at a reduced value-added tax rate of five per cent, since reduced to zero, but public chargers are, as of October 2026, charged at the standard VAT rate of 20 per cent.
This meant that, according to plaintiff Charge My Street, public chargers were charging significantly more for electricity than they should have been even within existing law, to say nothing of the benefits of changing this law.
The additional costs could equate to hundreds of pounds a year for homeowners who feasibly or legally cannot charge their vehicle at home due to a lack of their own driveway.
How Could Fixing The Driveway Divide Help Electricians
On-street and public charging infrastructure has become the final barrier to entry for many prospective EV drivers, and if the costs are reduced to be closer in line with home charging, the demand would increase exponentially.
This would be of significant benefit to electricians with the skills to install and maintain these charging stations, as they would be provided with near-limitless amounts of work.