EV motorists using public charging points are receiving as little as 37 per cent of the maximum charging speeds promised.
Electric car owners have been put on notice over “impossible to predict” charging speeds at public devices with the Labour Party government urged to act. EV motorists using public charging points are receiving as little as 37 per cent of the maximum charging speeds promised.
What Car? took a variety of cars to 15 EV charging stations – operated by five different networks – across England. At eight of the sites, chargers delivered power at less than two-thirds of the stated maximum rate, while just two achieved the advertised speed.
Claire Evans, consumer editor at What Car?, said: “Our results highlight the fact that it’s almost impossible to predict how fast a car will charge up at a public charging point.
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“The Government needs to make it mandatory for both the charging companies and car makers to provide EV owners with information on the charging speeds they should be getting.
“Charging companies should also be compelled to publish average charging speed data so EV owners can see which sites are providing charging at the expected rates.”
The poorest performance seen was at an InstaVolt charger in Twickenham, Middlesex. The advertised maximum charging rate was 125kW, but while the Renault Scenic test car is capable of accepting this much electricity when its battery is at 4% capacity, the charger delivered just 48kW – 37% of the figure stated.
A Peugeot e-208, which has a 98kW onboard charger, topped out at just 48kW (49%) at a Shell Recharge charge point in Tytherington, near Macclesfield, which had a stated maximum of 150kW.
Aan InstaVolt charger in Bromley, Kent, gave a Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer a top speed of 98kW. What Car? warned that fleet managers who schedule vehicle usage based on expected charging times may face disruptions when actual charging takes considerably longer than anticipated.
