EV charging networks inconsistent across councils, research finds

Up to 25% of public electric vehicle (EV) chargers across some local authorities have been revealed to be out of service.

According to the freedom of information (FOI) requests sent by Close Brothers Motor Finance, 11 of the 17 respondent councils with public street chargers had confirmed that they had chargers in the network that were not operational or had been decommissioned.

It found that a data ‘black hole’ exists among the following local authorities: Lancashire, West Sussex, Nottinghamshire, and Essex, with the research highlighting that private charge point operators sometimes retain operational reliability data rather than councils.

Discrepancies were also unveiled between the operational efficiency of councils’ charging networks – such as Northumberland (97% uptime) and Surrey County Council (downtime below 3%), versus Hampshire, where roughly 25% of the network’s chargers were reported unavailable, and 27 chargers were ‘deliberately left unmaintained due to low use’.

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John Cassidy, managing director, reportedly told FleetWorld.co.uk: ‘Our findings show that confidence isn’t just about having more chargers on the map – it’s about knowing they’ll be working when you arrive. The fact that some councils can monitor faults in real time while others don’t even hold reliability data creates an inconsistent experience for motorists depending on where they live.

‘If the UK is to accelerate EV adoption, improving reliability, transparency and accountability across the public charging network will be just as important as expanding its size. Drivers need confidence that charging will be straightforward wherever they travel.’

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: ‘EV drivers should be able to rely on public chargepoints, which is why 99% reliability requirements are already in place for all rapid charging networks.

‘More widely, we expect local authorities to work with their suppliers to ensure good reliability of local charging, and have supported them with guidance and funding to do so.’

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Photo: © Markus Spiske.