The leader in lamppost on street charging, Ubitricity, has introduced a peak pricing period between 4pm and 7pm to try and smooth out the demand on the grid.

Users who charge in these peak hours will now be charged 79p per kWh, compared to the previous flat fee of 49p per kWh. For the remaining 21 hours of the day, the cost falls to 45p.

Drivers who want to plug in and leave their car before the peak period starts can use the company’s website to schedule charging to begin after the peak has ended at 7pm.

This pricing update will affect direct access only (customers who scan the QR code at the point to start their charge). For users who access Ubitricity using a Shell Recharge app or card, there is no peak pricing, and instead a standard price increase to a flat rate of 55p per kWh to use the same points.

In a notice to customers, Ubitricity said: “Electricity isn’t one price throughout the day. Between 4-7pm the price we pay to supply our charge points with electricity more than doubles due to peak demand on the national grid.

“Rather than distribute this increased cost throughout our standard pricing. we’ve decided to limit this price increase to a peak window. This helps ensure we can offer the best value reduced rate to our customers for the majority of the day.

“Our own customer data has shown that over 77% of charging typically happens outside of this window, so by having a short three-hour peak window we hope to give our customers the option to avoid these higher charges and access a lower standard rate for the remaining 21 hours of the day.”

Dynamic pricing only applies to customers who scan the QR code to start a charge