Action stations

What are EV charging sites really like? Clean, reliable and easy to use or simply a nightmare? JOHN EVANS visits stations from 10 providers to see

- By JOHN EVANS, PHOTOGRAPHY JACK HARRISON

There are more than 17,000 rapid and ultra-rapid EV chargers in the UK, across more than 6500 locations. Capable of delivering up to 400kW of power, they're key to the uptake of electric cars, but what are they like to use? To find out, I visited 10 charging stations – a mix of large 'hubs' near major routes and one or two smaller ones, whose operators tend to favour more local sites. I wanted to know how easy the chargers were to use, how suitable the locations were, how easy they were to find – and what state the toilets were in. There were surprises and disappointments...

INSTAVOLT

Test location Stroud Park, Banbury, Oxfordshire Charging speed 160kW Cost 87p/kWh

Instavolt's special summer tariff of 54p/kWh (50p for subscribers) was available at 10 locations but unfortunately not this one. Still, that felt immaterial when my selected charger wouldn't recognise my credit or debit cards. A fellow user suggested I do a chip and PIN purchase to 'reset' one of them. At the nearby Costa, I bought some water with the credit card and was back in business. My Kia EV9 was at 79% so I just gave it a top-up to 81%, which took five minutes. A 'how to charge' info board made the process pain-free.

The site was well signed from the access road but hard to miss anyway, being essentially a large car park with 32 rapid chargers in bright white. It was EV driver Keith Kelsey's first time there. "I saw the other chap helping you," he said. "We EV drivers stick together at times of crisis. Contactless doesn't always work."

We like Easy to find and to use We don't like Missed out on the summer tariff

TESLA

Test location Brookfield Shopping Centre, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire Charging speed 250kW Cost 55p/kWh