The lack of a reliable network of electric car charging points in the UK is discouraging future electrical vehicle owners. The government has plans to expand the current infrastructure. Meanwhile, the RAC auto club bemoans the fact more than a third of local authorities have ten or fewer locations for electric cars.
Open source Open Charge Map lays all bare on its crowd-sourced website. The average distance between points may only be a few miles. However, the reality is that depends where you are.
Unevenly Distributed UK Electric Car Charging Points
Major urban hubs Milton Keynes and Westminster may have 138 and 131 charge points respectively, and popular County Cornwall 115. However the BBC only spotted one each in Caerphilly, North Dorset, and Hinckley and Bosworth on the Open Charge Map.
The open source data set may not be 100% accurate. However, at least it is doing better than the government, which has done nothing. The Department of Transport seems to want to play the story down by pointing out “80% of charging is done at home”. This is simply not good enough! We don’t want EV drivers breaking ranks with gasoline vehicles when they go on holiday!
Things Obviously Get More Complicated Then
Take the case of Alex Banks from Exeter for example. He has owned a Nissan Leaf for six months but cannot charge at home for an undisclosed reason. “I think my biggest issue is if we’re going away from Exeter then things obviously get a bit more complicated,” he says.
“The main problem I’ve found is that it seems like charge companies are kind of regionalized in some way.”
He discovered this when he drove 80 miles to Bristol and needed a recharge. That’s because he was unable to register with any of the charging networks because the app wouldn’t work.
He had to leave earlier and navigate via one of the electric car charging points he was able to use. Nicholas Lyes, RAC head of roads policy, said: “Despite the Government’s ambitions to accelerate the take-up of cleaner vehicles, charging infrastructure is presently something of a postcode lottery.”
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Preview Image: Charging Station in London’s Berkeley Square
