Electric car owners say public charging still isn’t up to scratch

The rollout of public charge points may be intensifying, but our latest survey* shows not everyone is happy with the UK’s current charging infrastructure.

We asked Which? members who own electric (EV) or plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicles to describe their experiences of the UK’s public and home charger network over the past 12 months, along with the reasons why they chose to buy their car.

Of those who had used public chargers, the majority (69%) said they were unhappy with the current infrastructure. That’s slightly less than the 74% figure in a similar survey we ran in 2022, but still very high – and a clear sign that the network needs improving if more people are to be persuaded to go electric.

Other key findings from our survey include:

• Only 17% said that charge points are reasonably priced
• 96% charged their EV or PHEV at home at least some of the time, compared to 38% for public chargers
• 49% of EV owners said they use public chargers every few months or less often
• 60% of public charger users experienced a payment issue at least once
• 73% of respondents bought their EV for environmental reasons.

*Which? survey comprising 1,004 members who own at least one EV or PHEV (fieldwork carried out in November 2023)

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Pricing and availability woes

The price of public chargers is clearly a concern for many owners.

Only 17% agreed that charge points are priced reasonably, while a quarter of respondents who used public chargers in the past told us that cost is why they’ve now stopped using them. Pricing transparency is another highlighted by our survey, with 63% of owners telling us that they found it difficult to compare prices between charge point operators.

Our survey also found that 40% of public charger users were unhappy with the availability of public chargers. A similar percentage said that their nearest public charger was more than a 20-minute walk from their home.

The reliability of charge points was also brought into question – most of those who had used the public charging network (73%) told us they’d found at least one charger that wasn't working in the past 12 months. 60% of public charger users told us they had faced a payment issue at least once.

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Environmental reasons convince people to go electric

Our survey also asked people to tell us the main reasons they bought an EV.

While environmental reasons were mentioned by most (73%), the ability to charge conveniently from home was cited by 48%, and 42% said lower running costs.

Just 7% said they bought an EV due to the upcoming ban on new petrol and diesel cars.

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Commenting on the results of our survey, Sue Davies, Which? head of consumer protection policy, said: 'We know that people want to make more sustainable choices and switch to an electric vehicle, but many drivers have a lack of confidence in the public charging infrastructure – and this also risks alienating people who aren’t able to charge their EVs at home.

'It is positive that the government passed new rules that should see improvements in consumers' experiences of the public charging network. The government and charge point operators must continue working together to ensure the UK’s charging infrastructure is up to scratch. Charging must be easy and reliable to support more people to make the move to an electric car.'

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