Only one in four electric vehicle chargers installed last year allows for ‘rapid’ charging within half an hour, latest figures have revealed.
Analysis by the RAC showed that 75 per cent of new chargers are classed as non-rapid, meaning they can take an hour or more for cars to get a decent charge from them.
The motoring organisation warned that installing a high proportion of slower chargers could lead to queues becoming “a common sight” on British roads in the future.
The Government responded saying the UK now has the largest network of rapid chargers in Europe. Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, has previously pledged to make the charging of electric vehicles as easy as filling up at a petrol station.
RAC analysis of government figures on new chargers showed that over the first three quarters of 2021 4,109 non-rapid chargers were installed compared with 1,043 rapid and ultra-rapid chargers.
The newly installed chargers mean that of the total 25,927 chargers operating in the UK fewer than one in five, 4,923, is rapid or ultra-rapid.
Rapid chargers are classed as those operating at 43 kilowatts (kW) or more. Rapid connections can give cars a decent level of charge in as little as 10 minutes depending on the model, whereas non-rapid chargers usually take more than 30 minutes or can take a couple of hours depending on the wattage and size of the car’s battery.
The RAC said that having access to rapid public chargers was “vital” to convincing people to switch over to electric vehicles.
Hundreds of thousands of new electric car drivers are expected to take to the roads in 2022. Figures released last week by the green transport consultancy, New AutoMotive, forecast there will be 300,000 new electric cars sold over the coming year, more than twice the number of diesel vehicles expected to be sold in the same time.
Sarah Winward-Kotecha, the RAC’s director of electric vehicles, said: “The number of public chargers isn’t yet keeping pace with the volume of new electric cars coming onto the road, and most devices being installed are still slower ones.
“While this is fine for somebody who leaves their car at an office while they’re at work, they’re pretty unhelpful in other places like shopping centres and supermarkets where a driver’s vehicle will be parked for a shorter period.
“Neither are slow chargers ideal for motorists who rely on the public network because they can’t charge at home. What we don’t want to see are queues for charge points becoming a common sight as the electric revolution gathers pace.”
