Consumer reviews platform Which? has called for a major upgrade to the UK’s EV charging infrastructure after new research from the organisation found that only 13% of charging happens via the public network.
Which?’s annual car survey highlighted low usage of the public network, with only 15% of EV charging and 5% of PHEV charging currently happening at public charge points.
According to the organisation, improving access to the public charging network and the experience of using it is vital to accommodating the predicted growth in EV use. It would also give drivers who travel long distances or don’t have access to charging at home the confidence to switch to an EV, added Which?.
Sue Davies, head of consumer protection policy, Which?, said: “Our research shows that few electric vehicle owners currently rely on the public charging network, but this will have to change if millions of people are going to switch from petrol and diesel vehicles in the next decade.
“Improving the UK’s flawed charging infrastructure will support more motorists to make the switch to a zero-emission vehicle. The current confusing and complex system needs to be quickly overhauled if the network is going to be ready for the ban on new fossil fuel cars in 2030.
“Charging must be easy, accessible and affordable if people are going to make the move to an electric car.”
A recent nationally representative Which? survey showed that three of the five most significant barriers to consumers buying an EV related to anxiety about charging. A third (33%) of those surveyed pointed to the lack of availability of chargepoints on long journeys and three in 10 (29%) raised concerns about a lack of chargepoints close to their home.
In a new report: ‘Building an Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure that is Fit for the Future’, Which? stated that the current availability of public chargepoints is inadequate in some areas and the expansion of the charging network is happening too slowly.
According to Which?, there are also significant national and regional disparities, with four times as many public chargers per 100,000 people in London as in the North West of England; while in Scotland there are 52 public chargepoints per 100,000 people, compared with just 18 in Northern Ireland.
With a UK government EV Infrastructure Strategy expected imminently, Which? has recommended a number of actions that the UK and devolved governments, local authorities, car manufacturers and chargepoint companies can take to improve the public charging network.
It has called for a significant increase in the number of charging stations both on-street and at service stations – particularly in areas where they are scarce – as well as requiring chargepoints that are currently restricted to specific brands to be available to all EVs.
Which? has also called for simplification of a system that it claimed currently has around 60 different charging networks, many of which need a specific app or radio frequency identification (RFID) card.
Which? said it believes that drivers using chargepoints should be able to pay with their bank card where possible, or use a single app/RFID card that is accepted by all networks.
And with some public chargepoints costing nearly 80% more than charging at home, Which? also recommended that those who have to use the public charging network should be able to charge at a comparable rate to charging at home.
