Smart charging consultancy Versinetic has revealed the results of a poll uncovering issues EV owners continue to face – from faulty chargers to the need for membership of multiple charging networks. 

11% of respondents said that half the public chargers they tried to access were faulty

Published to mark the forthcoming World EV Day (9 September), the research finds more than four-fifths (81%) of EV drivers have experienced faulty public EV chargers. And 11% said that half the public chargers they tried to access were faulty; from connectivity issues, damaged plugs, sluggish screens, to payment systems failures.

Potential reasons why so many drivers are experiencing broken chargers include a lack of standards, according to Versinetic, coupled with a lack of EV charging technicians.

In November 2021, Channel 4’s investigative programme Dispatches found that over 5.2% of the 26,000 public EV chargers they investigated were broken.

Non-EV drivers reported that access to fuel was a lot more reliable. A total of 62% stated that less than 10% of petrol pumps they accessed were faulty, while almost a quarter (24%) never encountered issues with refuelling.

The survey also looked at faster DC charging and asked respondents how often they use it; 37% said weekly, 33% fortnightly, 13% monthly while 15% benefited rarely/occasionally and 2% never used one.

Drivers on the whole also tend to use multiple charging networks to cover all bases. A total of 57% of people in Versinetic’s poll reported that they were members of two or more charging networks, enabling them to find working chargers easier.

EV drivers were also asked about solar panel integration feature on home chargers; 50% of EV drivers who charge regularly (i.e., weekly or fortnightly) would like this, although Versinetic noted that drivers may not reap the full benefit from solar charging unless an additional battery is installed in the home to store the energy generated. A domestic solar PV system combined with a solar-compatible EV charger enables users to charge an electric vehicle completely from sunlight.

Finally, the Versinetic team also polled non-EV drivers to understand the reasons for not making the switch and found cost remains the main barrier to adoption, with 62% of drivers stating it as the top reason. A total of 10% cited the lack of chargers and a further 10% found that home charging was not practical, while 7% were concerned about battery range.

Asked when they anticipated making the switch to an EV, 41% said in over five years’ time, while just over a third of respondents said it would be in the next 3-4 years, 14% in 1-2 years, 7% in the next year and 3% never.