Nearly 75% of EV owners are ‘dissatisfied’ as watchdog blasts Government

HALF of drivers with electric cars are struggling to find working electric car chargers according to a major survey.

Leading consumer watchdog Which? asked 1500 of its members how they were getting on with their EV and a staggering 74% said they were dissatisfied with the charging experience.

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Meanwhile, 40% reported that they have experienced a non-working charger and 43% have faced ‘technical issues’ with charging points.

Which?’s research also exposed difficulties around payment at public charge points – with 61% having experienced an issue making payments. 

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The lack of payment options available to electric car drivers was another aspect frustrating Which? members.

Some 18% who no longer use public chargers were put off by the lack of convenient payment options, while 84% who currently use public chargers want to be able to pay via contactless bank card to avoid the hassle of paying via multiple apps.

As it stands, very few charge-point operators offer contactless payment as an option.

Which? asked EV drivers to estimate how far the nearest public on-street charging point was from their homes and nearly half (45%) estimated that the nearest was more than a 20-minute walk away.

Sue Davies, Which? head of consumer protection policy, said: “Our research shows that the public EV charging infrastructure is falling short as many drivers struggle to find reliable charging points.”

“The government must move quickly to implement its plans to improve the consumer experience of using the public charging networks.”

Tanya Sinclair, senior director, policy, Europe at ChargePoint said: “We welcome the calls to improve, modernise and standardise the UK’s EV infrastructure.

“The government is making strides to do this however they must look to ensure charging networks across the UK are fully open, enabling drivers to use any membership card, charging app or contactless card to pay for charging on any network.

“ChargePoint is a global sector leader, giving private and fleet drivers as much choice as possible using whatever app, RFID card or way of paying that is most convenient for them.

“We join Which? in calling for the industry to adopt these payment methods in the interests of not only improving the driver experience, but also encouraging more people to choose an EV sooner.”