The Garage 351

NEWS
Key Findings:
● The British government have identified a minimum charger
reliability rate of 99% for widespread EV adoption.
● Chargers from certain Charging Point Operators (CPOs) are
more likely to fail – many brands have been identified by EV
drivers as unreliable.
● Data from March 2023 shows that in Derry, Northern Ireland,
30% of EV chargers do not work.
● Worcester, Ipswich, Newcastle and York rounded off the top
five cities with the worst-functioning EV infrastructure.
● In 2021, Channel 4 show Dispatches found that 5.2% of the
country’s chargers were unusable.
● The number of EV charging points in the country increased by
35% between March 2022 and March 2023.
What is charge anxiety?
Not to be confused with range anxiety, charge anxiety has been
a common experience for early adopters of electric vehicles.
Range anxiety refers to electric vehicle drivers’ fear that they
will be unable to reach the nearest charging station on a single
charge. Thankfully, as the UK’s EV charging infrastructure has
expanded, range anxiety has become less of an issue in recent
years.
However, charge anxiety – the fear that you’ll be unable to
use the nearest charging point due to issues with the charger –
remains a very real problem, with many of the UK’s EV charging
points suffering from software and mechanical issues or
internet outage.
In fact, a Volkswagen study suggests that charge anxiety has
replaced range anxiety altogether – in the form of fears that
“current public charging infrastructure is not widespread,
accessible or reliable enough to alleviate driver uncertainties.”
Why is charge anxiety an issue?
With electric vehicles forming such a crucial aspect of the
British government’s Net Zero push, it’s surprising that broken
chargers remain such a common problem. In fact, the GOV.
UK website has identified the importance of maintaining and
managing EV infrastructure, citing a minimum of 99% reliability
across charging points. At present, this figure seems little more
than an aspirational goal.
Annoyingly for drivers, there are a multitude of reasons why
EV chargers can fail. There are a large number of charge point
operators (CPOs), meaning that variation between chargers is
common – with certain brands more likely to fail.
In many cases, however, electric chargers are rendered
unusable due to their inability to connect to the internet.
Most chargers require internet access to handle credit card,
contactless and app payments. If the wireless signal fails and
charger is unable to take payment, drivers are unable to charge
their car.
And, that’s just for customers. There’s also a huge number
of activities the CPOs need connectivity for, from carrying out
remote diagnostics to estimating demand on the grid.
Who is most likely to be affected by charge anxiety?
Charge anxiety is proving a significant barrier to nationwide
adoption because charger functionality is a largely regional issue.
Certain cities are more likely to be subject to outages – in Derry,
Northern Ireland, a staggering 30% of chargers don’t work.
Smaller cities tend to be lacking in functioning EV infrastructure
– Worcester, Ipswich, Newcastle and York rounded off the
top 5 cities with the least working chargers. There doesn’t seem
to be much of a north/south divide in terms of available charging,
though rural areas are most affected by charging failures due to
the lack of available back-ups.
If a charger is broken in central London, you can be sure to
find another. If your charger fails in the rural countryside, you’re
unlikely to find another close by, particularly if you’ve exhausted
your range getting to the chargers that’s down in the first place.
EV drivers have identified the unreliability of the charging
infrastructure as a serious issue, though it’s unclear exactly
what percentage of EV chargers can be relied upon to function
properly. In 2021, Channel 4’s show Dispatches found that more
than 1300 of the country’s chargers (5.2%) were unusable.
What’s next?
The first barrier to EV adoption – a lack of charging infrastructure
– is beginning to be tackled, thanks to large-scale installations
taking place across the country. For example, the numbers of
charging points in the country have increased by 35% between
March 2022 and March 2023. Though there’s still a way to go,
it’s becoming easier to be an EV owner – purely from an access
standpoint at least.
Kevin Latimer, Chief Executive Officer, Co-Founder (and EV
driver!) at Trench Networks, comments: “The majority of a
charger’s functionality relies on a durable internet connection, so
any downtime causes huge problems. Chargers must be resilient
enough to work at all times in order to meet the 99% uptime
target; implementing a more robust internet connection is the
first step to ensure EV enthusiasts across the country can be
confident in making to move the electric vehicle ownership.
If a charging point is supported by a robust and reliable
connection, then CPOs can guard against outages, and maximise
uptime, which results in increased charger revenue. In this event,
the user experience is improved, and the charging operator can
ensure the viability of their product for as long as possible.”
For more information visit: www.trenchnetworks.com
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BrakeCheck is DVSA approved for all classes of vehicle
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• Portable & easy to use
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• Print results to optional portable wireless printer
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• Records braking efficiency and percentage of braking imbalance
Bowmonk Ltd, Diamond Road, Norwich, NR6 6AW T: +44 (0)1603 485 153 E: info@bowmonk.com www.bowmonk.com
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