Electric car charging

In a fast-moving world the ability to charge an electric vehicle (EV), particularly for those who do not have a home or office facility, is a major factor in a next vehicle acquisition.

New to the scene is Co Charger claimed to be the only purpose-built Community Charging app demonstrating that people are very willing to share their charge points, having come from zero to over 9,000 users and 3,200 available charge points in 18 months. Co Charger is now the third largest and fastest-growing UK charging network, bigger than BP Pulse (3,052), Tesla (Destination and Supercharger 2,040) and ChargePlace Scotland (1,915) (source Zap-Map May 2022).

The Society of Motor Manufacturers (SMMT), the Government and environmental organisations have all expressed serious concerns about whether the public charging network can keep up with demand. Currently most electric vehicle owners are charging at home. But for the UK to reach Net Zero by 2050 it is essential for the estimated 14m motorists living in flats, terraced houses, and rented homes to be able to charge easily and affordably.

Despite the increasing popularity of electric vehicles, the charging infrastructure has not kept pace. The SMMT report 'Plugging the Gap' states that the ratio for plug-in cars per public charger has dropped by half in the last 12 months. There is now one charge point for every 32 plug-in vehicles compared to one for every 16 in 2021.

“The transition to electric vehicles isn't going to work by focusing on public charging alone”, says Joel Teague, CEO of Co Charger. “We can't have a two-tier system in which charger 'haves' can top up easily and affordably whilst the 'have-nots' are faced with the prospect of tracking down a public charger that's available, not broken and with a reasonable tariff. And with public charger installation not keeping pace with EV uptake the pressure on available chargers is only going to get worse. Public chargers are expensive to install and maintain, costing up to £8,000 or more and in many rural areas they won't be commercially viable. Community Charging is a hugely significant part of the EV charging 'jigsaw'. There are currently just over 30,000 public chargers available but over 400,000 home chargers. If even 10% of charger owners share them with their neighbours we can double the number of available chargers overnight – without a single hole being drilled or a penny of public money spent”.

https://co-charger.com

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