New research from mobility payments solution provider Paythru has revealed that as many as 80% of UK motorists may not want to drive an electric vehicle (EV) due to bad experiences with a chargepoint.
The company’s new report, named Taming the EV Charging ‘Wild West’, reportedly involved a survey of 2,042 Brits, of which 1,975 were not EV drivers.
One of the chief concerns among those surveyed was the availability of chargepoints, with more than half (54%) saying this would deter them from buying an EV, with 26% saying it could be a potential deterrent. In total, 80% suggested it would be a concern.
More than half also pointed to having to download multiple apps to access chargepoints as a disincentive that would (31%) or might (23%) stop them from switching to an EV.
According to Paythru, a similar number said the challenge of understanding and comparing different payment tariffs for charging EVs would (25%) or might (31%) put them off.
What’s more, some of the additional regulations and costs associated with EVs was an irritation that would (27%) or might (27%) deter potential buyers.
Last on the list of potential disincentives was the use of automation and a lack of human customer support. Some 38% said it would concern them to not have a person available if there was an issue with a charger or payment, which put them off choosing an EV, with another 31% saying it might dissuade them.
James O’Neill, CEO of Paythru, said: “Taken together, this paints a picture of a population in which around 10-20% are not concerned about these challenges and will probably get an EV when the time is right.
“For the rest, around a third see at least one aspect of user experience as a major disincentive to buying an EV and another third are at least somewhat deterred by them.
“To date, EV charging and payment infrastructure have been built around scale rather than user experience.
“Our research clearly demonstrates that once we move beyond early adopters, the UK public will need a much better user experience at the charge point before they are willing to take the plunge.
“Paythru does not have all the answers to these problems. What we offer is a cloud-based payment platform that handles the behind-the-scenes complexity of multi-party payments, so the user gets a single transaction.
“We are keen to work with CPOs, landowners and fleet managers to collaboratively improve the user experience of new and legacy infrastructure”.
To improve the public’s experience with EV chargepoints, Paythru suggests that tariffs and fees should be simplified and transparent, that multi-party fares and transactions should be combined, that membership schemes should improve interoperability between CPOs and that more payment options should be made available.
