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Which? calls for major overhaul of electric vehicle charging infrastructure
Which? is calling for a major upgrade to the UK’s electric car public charging system infrastructure. In a report called Building an Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure that is Fit for the Future, the consumer champion has identified a failure to meet disabled drivers’ needs, limited interoperability between multiple payment systems, and poor chargepoint reliability, while if something goes wrong there is not a clear redress system in place.
Which? has also carried out research that reveals that only 13% of electric and plug-in hybrid car charging currently happens via public chargers. The organisation’s annual car survey suggests that most of today’s electric vehicle (EV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) drivers are not solely dependent on using public chargers, but that will change in the future.
For those who need a car, switching to an electric vehicle at the right time is an important step in reducing carbon emissions, and will contribute significantly towards meeting the UK’s target to reach net zero by 2050. However, the consumer body says significant work is needed to address consumers’ concerns about switching to EVs and ensure that user-friendly infrastructure is in place to support them when they do decide.
The consumer champion says that the roll-out of public charging infrastructure is not happening quickly enough, with provision varying significantly across the UK. Those who are unable to charge from home due to a lack of off-street parking face having to pay higher prices on the public network, and some aspects of the public chargepoint network simply are not working well for consumers.
The Competition and Market Authority (CMA) estimates there will be eight million drivers across the UK who do not have the ability to charge an EV from home. As the UK approaches the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars in 2030 and drivers switch to electric, the number of people who will be completely reliant on public charging will rise starkly. This is why Which? believes it is vital that access to the public charging network is improved, as well as the experience of using it.
Sue Davies, Which? head of consumer protection policy, said: “Our research shows that few electric vehicle owners currently rely on the public charging network, but this will have to change if millions of people are going to switch from petrol and diesel vehicles in the next decade.
“Improving the UK’s flawed charging infrastructure will support more motorists to make the switch to a zeroemission vehicle. The current confusing and complex system needs to be quickly overhauled if the network is going to be ready for the ban on new fossil fuel cars in 2030.
“Charging must be easy, accessible and affordable if people are going to make the move to an electric car. To that end, we are publishing our first electric vehicle charging policy paper that sets out our recommendations for the future of public charging infrastructure across the UK nations.”
Building an Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure that is Fit for the Future www.which.co.uk
The research
The annual Which? car survey shows the vast majority (93%) of EV and PHEV drivers have the ability to charge their car at home using either a wall charging unit or standard threepin socket. It also shows that 15% of EV charging and 5% of PHEV charging happens using the public car charging infrastructure, or 13% overall.
The figures relating to the amount of charging using public infrastructure and percentage of those who charge at home come from the 2021 Which? Car survey; a UK survey in field from April to July 2021. 48,034 respondents told Which? about 56,853 cars they own and drive, including 2,184 EV/BEV owners and 923 PHEV owners.
Consumers’ advice
The Which? EV infrastructure report sets out a series of strategies that it recommends the UK government and devolved administrations should adopt. These include:
• Setting out a plan to expand on-street charging options. Plans should be set out to work with local authorities and chargepoint companies to ensure that on-street public charging is readily available for those who need it. • Setting out a plan to expand the en-route charging network, coordinating with the other governments where appropriate. In England, the Rapid Charging Fund (RCF) should be rolled out quickly and used to address cold spots in rural and remote areas as well as to support expansion on motorways and major roads. • Moving forward with proposals to ensure effective competition between chargepoint operators (CPOs) at motorway service areas (MSAs), in line with the recent Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) market study recommendations. • Clarifying the responsibilities of local authorities and ensuring comprehensive guidance and support are provided. • Ensuring funding is targeted at areas where the market is not delivering. Strategies should set out the UK and devolved governments’ plans to work with providers to identify suitable financing, for areas where the market is not delivering chargepoints at a sufficient pace to meet current and future demand. • Moving forward with government plans to mandate accessibility standards for public chargepoints. • Moving forward with plans to require CPOs at certain sites to offer open access charging (as opposed to chargers restricted to users of a certain car brand, for example), and these requirements should be extended to all public chargepoints.
Which? calls on the UK and devolved governments to monitor the availability of charging plugs and, if the industry coalesces around a single standard, that this does not unreasonably constrain the ability of users of other types of plug to charge. It urges the simplification and standardisation of charging systems, calling on the UK government to regulate for more and simpler payment interoperability.
Barriers to EV adoption
Which? research shows that three of the five most significant barriers to consumers buying an electric car relate to anxiety about charging: • 33%: lack of chargepoints on long journeys • 29%: concerns about a lack of chargepoints close to their home • 28%: how long it takes to recharge an electric vehicle.
These were findings of a Which? survey of consumers’ attitudes towards electric carried out online by Yonder and data has been weighted to be representative of the UK population (aged 18+). On-street charging should be readily available
Rocio Concha
The customer journey
At Which?, we have made a commitment to bringing sustainability into everything we do, from our work representing consumers through advocacy, to our in-depth investigations and rigorous product testing and advice. We’ve been testing electric vehicles (EVs) for over a decade, and it is clear to us that as well as being vital to tackling the climate crisis and helping us to reach net zero, the transition to EVs is also an opportunity to transform the consumer experience for those who need to own a car.
Our vision of the EV future would see drivers being able to easily find an available, working charger somewhere nearby, park up, and pay using their bank card or via one app/RFID card (radio-frequency identification card, a type of identification card used to pay at chargepoints). Pricing should be simple and fair. Disabled drivers should be both catered for with suitable chargepoints and the means to easily locate them.
Chargepoints should be reliable, but if something should go wrong, adequate support should be on hand and a suitable system of redress for any experience that requires it.
Right now, that’s not the case. It’s a confusing maze of 60 networks with limited interoperability, little consideration for disabled drivers’ needs – and we don’t even know where all chargepoints are located.
There is a lot of great work happening in EV infrastructure being spearheaded by some fantastic companies, and guided by UK and devolved governments. But more needs to be done, and as EV numbers continue to rise and the public charging infrastructure becomes integral to everyday life, the more significant these issues will become.
It is vital that we act now to build the right foundations so that consumers can transition to an EV with confidence and look forward to a seamless, positive and convenient driving experience. To this end, Which? is publishing a report to highlight the weaknesses of the public charging infrastructure as it stands, propose tangible solutions and, ultimately, help get the public charging infrastructure to a place where consumers can truly reap the benefits of a net zero future.
Rocio Concha is director of policy and advocacy at Which?
