We recently pulled in to a services area on m5. 6 elec charging points. All occupied. I stayed in our petrol car while my wife went in to buy a couple of takeout coffees.
I watched a continual stream of electric cars pull up, look sadly at the full chargers and park opposite to sit and stare until one became free. Their faces clearly displayed their anxiety. Clearly it's not just the time to recharge but that time plus the wait for the blooe in front to charge first! Then the fight to get the space as there were at least three waiting when one car unplugged and went on it's way. No obvious queue, just 3 or 4 cars all converging on the space from various directions.
Nick
Loads of silly thoughts.
2. There could be an opportunity to add value by the motorway services here - they could "invent" an app that manages the queue through location identity, you would of course have to pay for this....
(we could also use it to report duff chargers loudly as well)
Not silly at all - during lockdown, when the number of shoppers indoors was controlled, there was a proliferation of supermarket queueing apps
https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/superma...ology-can-do-so-much-more/647036.article... but for charging services to introduce that they'd first have to admit there's a problem. And I guess that's the last thing they'd want to do.
Zap Map does show whether chargers are occupied or not, and if they're reported broken. Again though I guess people wanting to promote the shiny new better way of driving don't want to highlight the less robust bits of the ecosystem.
Setting aside all the emotional pulls of actual engine dynamics, my barrier to EV is charging anxiety. My hybrid fills with petrol in 5 minutes, and charges while parked & I'm eating/sleeping or working. Any other attempt to charge on the move is likely to add more stress and anxiety than range.
How long before we see newspaper headlines about bust ups between EV owners over plugging in? Range Rage?!
Will
