The availability and accessibility of public charging is a source of frustration for UK EV drivers as demand for EV’s is outstripping the the number of charging points available. Add to this, reports from EV owners of poorly maintained infrastructure and problems with payment options, it is not surprising that 67% of respondents to a survey of over 1000 EV drivers are prepared to pay a premium to reserve a public charging bay to ensure they can power up their vehicles. Just over a quarter (27 percent) are willing to part with up to £10, and 33 percent up to £5. A further 7 percent would even be prepared to go higher at over £10, all to avoid ‘charge anxiety’.
Despite unanimous appreciation of their EV (94 percent), 67 percent of UK EV drivers wish they had been more informed about public EV charging availability before they purchased their EV. The survey uncovers that although there is an exponential growth in the home EV charging market, a mere 5 percent of respondents rely solely on this option to power their vehicle.
A fifth (20 percent) of EV drivers surveyed remain completely reliant on public EV charging due to having no charge points available to them at home or at work. A further 33 percent use public EV charge points a lot, with 31 percent only sometimes, and only 15 percent stated ‘rarely’.
Emphasising the progress that is needed for charging infrastructure to catch up with EV ownership, 70 percent of EV drivers still have limited public charging options in their area and 81 percent of EV drivers report having to wait for a public charge point, with a third spending 30 mins to an hour (30 percent), and 27 percent between one to two hours before they could access a much needed recharge.
Source: Fleetpoint
