Not knowing where the next functioning EV charge point is located is perhaps one of the most frustrating things about owning an electric car. Long journeys can mean military style planning of routes, chargers and nearby food facilities, as the total cost of a 2 hour stop has to be factored in. Some motorway services have reportedly seen “charge age” incidents as people battle for cable time.
Well, new research from Leasing Options emphasises that queueing times for charge points as one of many barriers the UK faces on the road to switching to electric. To highlight the issue of a lack of charging infrastructure, Leasing Options’ study encompasses a hypothetical scenario in which every electric vehicle needs to use charge points at the same time. The data encompasses government data on licensed electric vehicles and number of EVs to reveal the number of electric vehicles for every rapid charger. Wait times for a charge point were calculated using the average time-to-charge of the UK’s 10 most popular EVs.
The research found Windsor and Maidenhead have the highest EV per charger ratio over 9,000 electric vehicles for every rapid charger. Though chances of every electric driver in the area turning up at every charge point is minimal, Leasing Options’ research found that drivers in the local authority would have to wait over 315 days for their turn at the charge point. At present most EV renters/owners have driveways, or use workplace charging facilities not open to the public. But assuming the 2035 diesel/petrol car ban happens, a huge number of non-working people are going to need charging points.
Let’s think ahead here. Many who live in apartments or terraced houses will not be able to own an EV car, since charging points would have to be rationed on a street basis, not per household. Imagine the social unrest and crime as those without cable access/credits live next door to the lucky winners of the EV charging lottery.
There are currently 91 EVs for every rapid charger in the UK
GOV data shows that just 17% of chargers are rapid, meaning that for every scenario where drivers turn up to unavailable charge points, they find themselves forced to use slow chargers which can take up to 12 hours for a full charge.
Windsor & Maidenhead have nearly 10,000 electric vehicles PER CHARGER
There are an astonishing 29,599 electric vehicles in Windsor and Maidenhead, yet just three rapid charge points. Yes, that’s right, THREE. As a result it means for every charger in the local area, there’s a 9,866 long queue of electric vehicles. As King Charles loves all things woke, green and WEF, maybe he could set up 20 charging points at Windsor Castle and another 100 chargers on the grounds of Windsor Park. It would be the right thing to do, surely?
Windsor and Maidenhead’s number of electric vehicles soared at the end of 2021, increasing over 151% in a matter of months. This, combined with the lack of rapid charge points in the local area, means wait times for a chargepoint Windsor and Maidenhead are the worst in the UK.
Over 10% of total cars in Stockport are electric, but only 35 rapid chargers which means they follow Windsor and Maidenhead as one of the busiest local authorities for number of EVs per charger. According to Leasing Options’ wait time, queueing for an available press release would take 94 days.
Swindon follows next with an astronomical 1,129 electric vehicles per rapid charger and a hypothetical queueing time of 47 days.
As you might expect a rural area like Ribble Valley in Lancashire, where people are generally poorer and have to cope with cold, wet winters, are more reluctant to rent or buy EV cars, with just 515 registered. However there is only one rapid charger available in public for that area, according to Leasing Options. On the upside there are 18 bays at the rapid charge point near Lancaster’s Park & Ride facility, which isn’t too far from the Ribble Valley area.
How Green is EV Charging?
Most EV cars in the UK are leased by public sector departments and companies, not privately owned, so many private parking areas, or fleet depots have EV charging points. Most charge points are connected to the National Grid, so when the wind does not blow, or short winter days limit the power available from solar panels, then electricity from any source; french nuclear, UK gas, oil or coal fired power stations must be used. In addition about 2% of UK electricity is generated via hydro-electric power stations mainly in Wales and Scotland.
The more power taken from the National Grid to charge electric cars, vans and buses, means that the risk of homes suffering power cuts, or other means of energy rationing, increase exponentially. That means the faster we switch from petrol and diesel to EV, the quicker our homes will become freezing cold and dark in the winter. The only viable solution to charging 20-25 million vehicles 2-3 times every week would be to increase capacity of the Grid by building say 10-15 nuclear power stations, plus 10 hydro, plus 200-300 windfarms.
That’s never going to happen. So yeah, buy a portable generator and start hoarding your cooking oil now.
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