Would you pay for a bay?

September 4, 2023 EV Powered

A new study has found that 67 per cent of EV drivers in the UK are prepared to pay a premium to reserve a public charging bay.

A study of over 1,000 UK EV drivers by SMS explores the current customer experience of using, and relying on, public EV charge points. Despite an almost ubiquitous love of their EV (94 per cent), 67 per cent of UK EV drivers wish they’d known more about public EV charging availability before they’d transitioned to electric.

It found that over a quarter (27 per cent) are willing to part with up to £10, and 33 per cent up to £5. A further 7 per cent would even be prepared to go higher at over £10, all to avoid ‘charge anxiety’.

It uncovers that although we’re seeing an exponential growth in the home EV charging market, a mere 5 per cent of respondents rely solely on this option to power their vehicle. In reality, a fifth (20 per cent) of EV drivers surveyed remain completely reliant on public EV charging due to having no charge points available to them at home or at work. A further 33 per cent use public EV charge points a lot, with 31 per cent only sometimes, and only 15 per cent stated ‘rarely’.

Surprisingly, 70 per cent of EV drivers still have limited public charging options in their area. This leads to a staggering 81 per cent of EV drivers having to wait for a public charge point, with a third spending 30 mins to an hour (30 per cent), and 27 per cent between one to two hours before they could charge.

Mark Winn, Head of EV Strategy at SMS explained: “Home EV charging may be on the rise, but it’s critical that the UK’s growing number of EV drivers have adequate access to fully functioning public EV charge points while they are on the move. However, in the race to meet EV charging expectations, targets and market share, companies have deployed – and continue to install – the wrong type of chargers, in the wrong location. Added to this, the payment options are either substandard or created to monopolise the market, and infrastructure maintenance seems to be firmly off the ‘to-do’ list. This is creating a ‘perfect storm’ of customer dissatisfaction, frustration and charge anxiety for EV drivers, and the future of electric motoring in the UK is coming under unfair scrutiny as a result. We simply must do more.”

What else did SMS’ study uncover?

Over three-quarters (77 per cent) have been unable or unwilling to access a public EV charge point. 36 per cent stated that this was because they are out of order / broken, and for 27 per cent it was simply that they weren’t available.

An additional 18 per cent of EV drivers found the EV charge points were not compatible with their vehicle, and for 15 per cent they didn’t have their preferred payment option.