The electric vehicle charging sector must rethink its approach to ensure motorists without driveways are aware of the vast range of solutions available to help them go electric.

Joel Teague, CEO of Co Charger

That’s according to Co Charger, which says the focus on public charging infrastructure is putting off non-driveway motorists from going electric. 

While the EV landscape has changed dramatically over the past four years and take-up of electric cars has soared, the charger sharing app says one statistic has remained constant throughout and that’s the huge number of drivers charging at home.

Zapmap research back in 2019 showed that 84% of EV owners charged at home and that’s still the case in 2023 (Zapmap EV Charging Survey).

And Joel Teague, CEO of Co Charger, has warned this statistic shows that the rise in public charge points alone makes no difference to EV adoption by motorists without driveways.

“Motorists who can’t charge at home are over five times less likely to switch to electric cars and the huge improvement in public charging over the years hasn’t changed that. There is a fundamental problem in how we view EV charging and we must address it,” he explained.

According to estimates, some 40-50% of UK motorists can’t access home charging because they live in flats, terraced houses or rental accommodation. And such drivers remain a small minority of EV buyers, despite the huge improvements in public charging, as they do not see public charging as a viable alternative to charging at home.

“There’s been an assumption by government and the EV industry of ‘build it and they will come’,” continued Teague. “For years we’ve seen, built into research, presentations, plans and projects, the premise that if you build enough public charge points, people without driveways will buy EVs. But the focus on public charging infrastructure is actually alienating people without driveways. They’re being repeatedly told that the increase in public chargers means they should switch. However most don’t want to spend their time finding an available, working public charger and then staying close to it for an hour or two while the vehicle is charging to avoid an overstay fine. Nor can they balance the extra price of the car if they have to pay public charging costs, which are far higher.”

Teague is calling for the industry to now rethink the whole picture, showing what options are available to reassure non-driveway owners that an EV can be viable for them, giving them the confidence to make the shift to electric in the first place.

“Motorists need to feel confident that they can have some form of convenient, affordable and dependable ‘base’ charging before they make the transition to electric. Only then – when they actually have the EV – will public charging become relevant to them for their longer journeys.”

‘Alternative base charging’ solutions available for motorists without driveways include:

1. Workplace charging
2. Home-connected on-street charging – devices such as gulleys, gantries or even buried cables with plug-in adapters are used to deliver power from private supplies to roadside parking locations
3. Mobile EV charging service – mobile services that charge cars when they are parked
4. Kerbside and lamp-post chargers – public chargers specifically designed and located for use by nearby residents
5. Charging hubs – purpose-built, off-street chargers set aside for residents near their homes
6. Community Charging – where owners of private chargers make them available for nearby residents as their ‘home’ charger on a bookable, paid basis, using a dedicated app, such as Co Charger.

Teague is forming a working group of companies that are collaborating to help motorists without driveways go electric by providing a cohesive package of charging solutions, rather than just focusing on public charging.

“While this may take a major pivot in how we think about, plan and deliver the EV transition, it’s good news for everyone if we acknowledge the size and shape of the problem and use our new understanding to accelerate that transition. I’m looking forward to working with colleagues throughout the industry and government to do just that.”