ANGRY drivers have blasted the UK’s electric vehicle fiasco after queuing for hours in the rain to charge their cars or travel miles to find charging points taped off.
Fuming motorists told The Sun Online of excessive prices, poor service and long waiting times as the infrastructure that services electric cars struggles to keep up with demand.
Steve FinnEV drivers were fuming at 24 charging points were left out of action at Medway Services in Kent[/caption]
Jon RowleyDisabled driver George and his partner Miriam ended up having to wait almost three hours to charge their Peugeot at Leigh Delamere Services in Wiltshire[/caption]
Jon RowleyThey were stuck in a long queue as the Wiltshire service station only had one charging point[/caption]
At Leigh Delamere Services in Wiltshire, disabled couple George and Miriam waited in the pouring rain to charge their Peugeot.
The pair said their 220-mile trip from Okehampton, Devon, up to London was the “most stressful” they’ve ever undertaken thanks to charging woes.
With a 200-mile range and roadworks forcing a 40-mile detour just to get to the charging station, they were almost on empty when they found themselves stuck in a queue for the services’ single charging point.
With a stack of cars, including a £150,000 Porsche Taycan and £70,000 BMW i4, ahead of them, they faced a two-hour wait just to start recharging.
George, 28, said: “It was causing me so much anxiety I thought I’d be sick.
“And now we’re here, we’ll have to wait about two hours before we can plug in, then another 45 minutes to give us enough power to complete the journey to London.
“It’s an absolute joke.
“Motorists were promised an electric car revolution and what have we got..? A single power point with a long queue of angry motorists.”
He added that there should be a bank of charging points at motorway services to keep EV drivers on the road.
However, new data from the Department for Transport showed that charging points are far from readily available, with some parts of the country having none at all.
Large areas of Somerset, Cumbria and Yorkshire are actually complete blackspots.
And a study from manufacturer Vauxhall found that the majority of UK councils have no roadside charging points at all in their areas.
At the same services, Russel Rich said: “I had it all planned and I thought we’d be straight into charging mode, but instead we could be waiting for hours.
“It’s just not good enough, frankly.
“We tried the services at Gordano near Bristol first and there were two universal chargers there, but only one of them was working.
“Yet Tesla have installed around 20 charging points there, but none of them can be used by cars other than Teslas. And all of them were empty.”
And fellow driver James, 52, said he felt “mugged off” by the lack of charging availability.
WATT A JOKE
Then again, even when enough points are built the problem may not be solved.
Drivers at Moto Medway services near Gillingham, Kent, were left outraged when they arrived to charge their electric cars, only to find 24 recently installed charging points taped off.
They were informed by staff that a lack of power meant that the chargers could not be brought online while a further 20, planned for later this year, have been delayed.
The power loss was caused by a lack of capacity in the network, which Moto CEO Ken McMeikan has himself called a “major, major problem“.
This apparently left seven available for use, but when The Sun Online visited on August 31 only two were working.
EV owner Chris Dorney, 53, said: “I’ve come in here a couple of times thinking I’d be able to charge up, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen them up-and-running.
“The roll-out of more charging points hasn’t been brilliant. The infrastructure is just not there at the moment.
“I’m fortunate that I can charge my car at home, but even that has its problems – because my neighbours regularly park across my drive so I can’t get to it.”
He even said that he would have preferred a diesel car but his leasing scheme doesn’t offer them anymore and that rising prices meant there was “no incentive” to buy electric anymore.
The dad-of-two shared his issues with his electric Vauxhall, saying: “This car only has a 200-mile range and the moment I go up a hill or turn the heating on, the battery percentage drops. It’s so inconvenient.
“You have to change the way you drive with an electric car and you have to plan ahead.”
Likewise, Delia Alvarez slammed the availability of charges as “embarrassing” and called on the Government to boost spending on infrastructure before asking drivers to make the transition.
And fellow driver Allen Missen added: “They’ve knocked down five of the original charging points here – only leaving two in operation.
“There’s not enough of them around as it is.
“It’s very inconvenient.”
Even Freya Stone, who works at Moto Medway, said that she wouldn’t want an electric car until the infrastructure improves, especially after seeing frustrated customers for months.
Given that sales of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned from 2030, the lack of charging capacity is a concern for many.
Thousands have already back The Sun’s Give Us A Brake campaign urging ministers to delay the ban until the technology develops sufficiently to make the transition away from fossil fuels.
And all that is before you even get to actually charging up, which is becoming more expensive by the day.
EV drivers in South Wales have raged about the eye-watering prices at their local charging station, which is the UK’s most expensive.
EV owners are having to cough up 76p per kWh near Bridgend.
While that might not sound much to petrolheads, that’s compared to just 44p per kWh last May.
The skyrocketing prices now bring EVs largely inline with prices of petrol or diesel, taking away one of their key appeals.
Health worker Lucy Fyfe is now paying £30 to fully charge her Peugeot E 2008 to a range of 210 miles.
She accused the manufacturer of “ripping her off” and said that the company has “got her over a barrel” as she does not have a home charger.
Given that her daily commute is over 160 miles, she has to charge up every day, making it a real drain on her finances.
It comes after a motors expert listed the worst electric cars to invest in as second-hand prices hit the floor.
Meanwhile, locals of a small Gloucestershire village claimed that posh EVs are killing off their local garages as mechanics in the area don’t have the fancy tech or extensive training needed to deal with them.
Chris Dorney was dismayed to find only two of the seven operational chargers at his local services in Kent actually workingSteve Finn
Steve FinnEV charging points installed this year are still yet to be brought online due to a lack of power capacity at Medway[/caption]
Steve FinnTwenty EV charge points that were scheduled for later this year have been delayed at Medway[/caption]
Delia Alvarez slammed the lack of availability as ’embarrassing’Steve Finn
Lucy Fyfe complained of being ‘ripped off’ as charging prices have shot up in the past yearAthena