The first time I stopped charging, I realized that driving an electric car from London to Glasgow might not be as easy as I thought.
It wasn’t just the broken charger. Not even the queue for those who worked. But it was the warning from more experienced ones electric Driver that this was not unusual.
I started in Westminster and was optimistic about my challenge.
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The drive from London to Glasgow would take 400 miles, which meant the Kia e-Niro had to be recharged twice
I drove a Kia e-Niro, a family SUV with a range of about 275 miles. With the card that tells me it’s 400 miles to go COP26 Climate summit in Glasgow city center, I thought, two charges should get me through.
Sales of electric cars are picking up speed – every tenth new vehicle this year has so far been powered by a battery.
Many will have bought an electric car because of the climatic conditions.
Cars produce the equivalent of 68 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in the UK every year, around 13% of the country’s total emissions.
So moving away from fossil fuel cars is a critical step towards net zero.
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Philippa Oldham, director and engineer at the Advanced Propulsion Center UK, said the introduction of electric cars requires a change in behavior for drivers
Whatever the reason for buying an electric car, it’s great to drive. Quiet too.
The drive to my first stop at Norton Crane Services on the M6 Toll was child’s play.
This is where reality hit. Only three of the four fast charging points worked – nowhere near enough for the number of electric cars that wanted to charge.
Some people gave up, but I made it through. Even when I got to the front of the queue, it took several tries for the car and charger to communicate with each other and for the electrons to flow.
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When the M6 stopped charging for the first time, only three of the four charging points worked
Sorosh told me to get used to it.
He had an electric car for three months and rated his experience at 50:50. He loved his car, but not the charging infrastructure.
“There’s a lot of work to do if they scrap all diesel cars by 2030. It’s far from finished,” he said.
“There are two charging points here if you need at least 10.”
Dion agreed. “It’s the future,” he said. “It’s better for the environment. But with all the stress and headache, I might as well buy a gasoline or diesel car because then I know that there is fuel at the gas station.”
Part of my trip with me was Philippa Oldham, a director and engineer at the Advanced Propulsion Center UK.
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Sorosh (right) and Dion both recently bought electric cars and say unreliable charging points are a regular occurrence
She said cars have become a serious proposition for motorists, many of whom can now travel well over 200 miles, about three times the range of the best-selling electric car just eight years ago.
Charge times also decrease as battery technology evolves to use more power.
But my car could still take almost an hour to charge – much longer than I would normally spend at a gas station.
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With 70 miles of juice left, Thomas Moore stopped at a charging station only to find it wasn’t working
“It’s been a long time,” Philippa agreed. “But is this time for a lunch break to make a few phone calls and check e-mails?
“It’s a change in behavior, but there is also a change in technology. There’s an organization called Sprint Power that is researching whether you can charge a battery in 12 minutes, which is exactly the time it takes to stop at a gas station. go to the bathroom, get a coffee and off you go.
“Within five years we will see this technology in vehicles.”
But the extra up-front cost of buying electrical appliances is still a huge deterrent for many people.
“It’s still often the second car and a lot of people can’t afford two cars, so cutting costs and making it accessible to everyone is a huge challenge.
“We need growth in the used car market and that is starting to happen.”
My next charging station was Tebay Services. But once again I stalled.
Two fast charging points were out of order. Another wouldn’t work because the machine would already charge another car.
It was annoying. It was 8:30 p.m., I had 270 miles to go and only 70 miles on the battery.
That wasn’t enough of fear. That was charger fear. If I drive on to the next gas station, will I find a working machine or do I have to call a breakdown vehicle?
I gambled and won. At Southwaite Services, south of Carlisle, I had four chargers to myself that all worked. It was a tremendous relief.
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The electric vehicle made it all the way to Glasgow, but not without a few bumps in the road
There are just over 26,600 chargers in the UK, according to Zap Map. But a report from the Competition and Market Inspectorate this summer found that, on average, one in 25 of them is not working at some point. For quick chargers like the ones I’ve used, it’s one in 10.
Gridserve, which runs all of the machines I used on my trip north, said it is expanding and upgrading its network of high-speed chargers to charge two cars at the same time.
In a statement it says: “We are waiting for a software version from the manufacturer due shortly that will enable this function.
“The chargers can now only charge one vehicle at a time.”
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The difficulty in charging can be caused by the car or problems with the cable connection as well as the charging machine.
Made it to Glasgow at midnight after a stressful drive.
The government has made more money available for modernizing the charging network. But you have to ask yourself whether this can be done quickly enough for all drivers who are now doing the right thing and buying electric cars.
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