Six out of 10 motorists (61%) say there aren’t enough electric car chargers in places where they want to drive, new research shows.

Six in 10 drivers aren’t confident there are enough chargers where they make regular journeys

The study by Startline Motor Finance also found 36% say there is a shortage of chargers near where they live and 28% on longer journeys where they drive regularly, while 23% wouldn’t buy an electric car because of poor charger availability.

However, 23% say charger availability close to their home is adequate and 16% think there are enough chargers on longer routes they drive.

Recent research from the National Audit Office found public charge point installations are on track for the Government’s 2030 target but there is a southern bias to new EV charger installations.

Paul Burgess, CEO at Startline Motor Finance, said: “Our results support this picture with a majority of people simply not feeling that there are enough public chargers on the routes they regularly cover for them to adopt an electric car.

“This is a problem. Unless people – especially those who live in terraced houses or apartments and don’t have the space for an off-street charger – can see low-cost, easy-access public charging near their home or on the roads they use, they’re unlikely to feel it is viable for them to buy an electric car. A greater number of visible chargers are needed now.”

The Startline research also shows that 10% of those surveyed already own an electric car and experience few issues with charger availability, but 2% of electric car drivers say they do have problems.

Burgess added: “These figures are positive for the electric car market with the results suggesting that most drivers of these vehicles access charging quite easily. However, our assumption is that most of these have their chargers installed on their drives, which completely changes the dynamic of electric car ownership.”

The research was used for the Startline Used Car Tracker monthly sound bite on industry trends. Carried out by APD Global Research, it questioned 302 consumers and 58 dealers for the latest findings.