EV drivers have a lack of confidence in the public charging infrastructure that is currently available.
An investigation by Close Brothers Motor Finance (CBMF) revealed that 52% of drivers surveyed never use public charging points, due to concerns surrounding cost, availability and reliability.
Among this, 13% said charging was too expensive or pricing was unclear and 10% said chargers were often busy or unavailable. A further 8% said the infrastructure was unreliable or frequently out of service.
John Cassidy, Managing Director at CBMF, said: “If the UK is to accelerate EV adoption, improving reliability, transparency and accountability across the public charging network will be just as important as expanding its size.
“Drivers need confidence that charging will be straightforward wherever they travel.”
The research received responses from 17 English county councils that show some authorities monitor charger performance and respond to faults but others pass the responsibility of data collection to private firms.
Northumberland County Council monitors all of its public chargers every hour through a digital management platform.
In contrast, Lancashire, West Sussex, Nottinghamshire and Essex all confirmed they do not hold operational fault or reliability data for public charging infrastructure because networks are managed by third-party operators.
CBMF say the findings point to an inconsistent oversight at a time when confidence in EV infrastructure remains one of the key barriers to purchasing hybrid or electric cars.
