Poor charging network is slowing ev green drive

Apartment blocks, rows of terrace houses and flats over shops in urban centres are struggling to get connected.

He said, “When it comes to EV adoption, there is a direct link between easy availability of charging and the overall likelihood that consumers will make the switch to electrification.

“These are decisions that tend to be made on a local basis. Motorists can see whether chargers in their area are around in large numbers and make an assessment about how easy it is likely to be to use an EV.

“In places where most homes have drives, the problem is much less acute because people will tend to have their own charger fitted but in other locations – especially cities – where apartments and terraced houses are the norm, it is a genuine issue.

“While many dealers now have a much-enlarged customer footprint thanks to digital retailing, most will still make the majority of their sales to customers within a radius of a few miles. If you are trying to sell new and used EVs in places where there are few visible chargers, it is proving to be an issue to a perhaps surprisingly large degree.”

Philip said that the remarketing sector was carefully monitoring government plans to increase the charging infrastructure across the UK for this reason.

Nearly half of those surveyed (47%) also said that the purchase cost of the vehicles was deterring them.

With the current high levels of inflation and a squeeze on the cost-of-living, household budgets are under even more financial pressure this year to warrant the financial step to electric car ownership.

“Buying an electric car is a major financial investment and given the current economic climate affordability appears to be a major concern”, explained Ron Santiago, Managing Director, Europcar Mobility Group UK.

“Whether buying and running a conventional fuelled car or an electric, car ownership costs have increased over the past 18 months, with increased fuel costs at the pump and electric costs at the plug.”

It’s not just the purchase cost, living with an electric vehicle is completely different to a conventional fuelled car. Adjusting to uncertainties such as battery range, where to charge if not at home, length of time it will take to charge, all these issues have been cited in our research.