A MUM’s drive to work took three times longer than usual because she couldn’t find anywhere to charge her electric car.
Sophie Preston-Hall spent 12 hours travelling from Essex to Blackpool as there were almost no available plug-in points on the way.
AlamyThere are about 35,000 public electric vehicle charging points across the UK[/caption]
The hold-up delayed her so much she had to get changed in a Tesco toilet and ask a stranger to zip up her dress.
The businesswoman, 49, who was driving to an awards ceremony, told MailOnline: “I’ve made the journey lots of times.
“It should have taken about four and a half hours. Instead it took almost 12.”
Sophie set off for Lancashire knowing that she would have to stop to re-charge her all-electric BMW i3 at some point on the 270-mile route.
The car is advertised as having a 180-mile range, but the mum-of-one reckons it’s more like 150, or even less if you put the heating on or try to de-mist your windows.
But what Sophie didn’t anticipate was not being able to find anywhere without a big queue.
She arrived at her carefully planned stop-off at a service station in the Midlands to find all the electric chargers were either in use or broken.
She went in search of alternatives and made three further stops, but still didn’t have any luck.
With only two miles left on the clock, she finally located an available plug-in point at a garage in Birmingham.
But she ended up being an hour and a half late for the work event, and had to get changed for it in a Tesco toilet.
Sophie, who runs recruitment agency Catering Elite, described the lack of available charging points across the UK as “an absolute joke”.
She added: “It has happened to me again and again – you find a place with a charger and you have to queue.
“I’m British, I don’t mind queueing, but when you finally get your turn to use the charger, all too often it doesn’t work.
“The infrastructure to support electric cars just isn’t here in this country yet.”
There are about 35,000 public electric vehicle charging points across the UK, of which 6,395 are “rapid” devices and 19,746 are “fast”.
The government vowed to install 300,000 new ones by 2030, when the sale of new pure petrol or diesel cars will be banned.
Figures from Zap Map show that 8,700 public charging devices were fitted in the last 12 months.
That’s a 30 per cent increase on the previous year, but slower than the 38 per cent annual growth in electric car sales.
It means ministers may miss their target unless annual installations more than double by 2025 and accelerate from there.