Interventions should be made in the areas of payments, roaming, making data available, pricing transparency and reliability, a survey of over 1,000 drivers conducted by the Electric Vehicle Association (EVA) has revealed.
The survey by EVA showed that the average satisfaction rating among drivers in England with the current state of public charging infrastructure is 2.16 out of 5.
Drivers would welcome a contactless credit or debit card payment method, the adoption of a pence/kWh payment metric, and the ability to use one charge card or smartphone app across all chargepoint metrics.
EVA England wrote that they ‘see this as an important step in identifying consumer concerns, improving confidence in public EV charging and paving the road for mass adoption of electric vehicles’.
Based on the results of the survey, EVA England has made the following recommendations to Government:
- Chargepoints should offer a choice between three standardised payment methods: 1) A contactless credit or debit card 2) A ‘universal’ charge (RFID) card 3) A smartphone app
- The Government should mandate that Charge Point Operators enable roaming and allow for drivers to use one app or RFID card on all networks.
- Government should mandate a minimum amount of data that must be made open in a standardised format to EV drivers to better equip drivers to plan their charges along the public charging network.
- All prices for electricity sold at EV charging sites should be stated in pence/kWh.
- Government should work with the EV chargepoint industry to establish a roadmap to mandate 99% reliability and 24/7 helpline availability within agreed timescales.
- Standardised signage should be increased in terms of both number and visibility both at the site of the chargepoint as well as on a range of approach roads.
Gill Nowell, media spokesperson and a Director at EVA England comments: ‘There are many benefits of making the electric switch, from the pleasure of driving to improving local air quality. With automotive manufacturers, fleets and businesses all now choosing to go electric, we need to improve the consumer experience at public chargepoints to take EV adoption mainstream.
‘Based on the outputs of this survey, paving the road for the mass adoption of EVs looks like contactless card payments, roaming, consistent chargepoint reliability, simplified billing, and easy access to information about what chargers are where.
‘We recognise that the pace of chargepoint deployment is increasing and that the infrastructure going in the ground today is greatly improved from that which was being installed even five years ago. However, we encourage Government to intervene now in order to ensure that all charging infrastructure is reliable, safe and user-friendly, across all driver groups.’
