The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Money
‘I can’t charge my car because of poor signal’
Electric car drivers are unable to recharge on one in 10 of Britain’s roads because of poor mobile signals, a study has found.
Drivers on 10.5pc of A and B roads are unable to use charging points because black spots mean they cannot download and access the right mobile applications.
The problem is starkest in the most remote areas of the county. On the Isles of Scilly, drivers are unable to reliably access apps on more than 77pc of roads. Two fifths of roads in the Shetland Islands are in areas where it is difficult or impossible to use mobile internet.
It threatens to undermine government plans to have 2.5 million electric vehicles on the road by 2030, when the sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned, the report from the research centre the RAC Foundation said.
Charging stations normally require drivers to download and log in to a mobile app on their smartphone to buy electricity. The app and payment methods can differ depending on the provider and the area. Some charging stations can be used only by the drivers of certain brands of vehicle. Phone reception also varies depending on the provider.
Large proportions of the road network are in areas of poor signal even in less remote areas of the country. Drivers in almost a quarter of roads in West Somerset and Taunton would be unable to use their phones, for example. In Sevenoaks in Kent more than 11pc of the road network has poor reception.
The report warned that the provision of services such as electric vehicle charging, parking and breakdown call out would worsen in these areas as traditional analogue parking meters and emergency call boxes were removed.
Boris Johnson announced in 2020 that he wanted Britain to be the fastest G7 member to “decarbonise” road transport. Almost 200,000 battery- powered cars were sold in Britain last year alone.
But Steve Gooding of the RAC Foundation said limitations in infrastructure had “undermined” drivers’ confidence in making the switch to electric. He said there were few things “more frustrating for drivers than turning up
to a charge point they can’t activate”. He added: “Two things need to happen. First, we need an accurate picture of mobile signal connectivity across the road network, so that charge point providers know in detail what’s available. Second, we need the charge points themselves to be kitted out appropriately so that they function wherever they’re located and whichever mobile network their users subscribe to.” Daily Telegraph readers Peter and Sylvia Welberry, 79 and 78, from Morecambe Bay, recently bought their first electric car but were forced to miss a day out at the rugby in Cardiff because they could not recharge their vehicle. “We had to make a stop in Ross- onWye where the map said there were four charging points. The supermarket one was out of action, the two others in the town centre required rebooting, and as the mobile signal was poor we lost touch constantly with the help
centre on the telephone trying to figure out how to work the machine,” Mrs Welberry said.
The couple said they were delayed by around six hours before they were rescued by a charging point technician. They missed their rugby match as a result.
Mrs Welberry added: “We have installed a charging point at home. But why does the Government not take control of the charging point issue? Why on earth are they not standardised, so you could use any point anywhere?”
The Government has said it is aware of the challenges and a dedicated EV Energy Taskforce, set up in 2018, last month laid out a string of vital “enabling conditions” for the electric vehicle rollout to be successful.
They included building 500,000 public charging points, up from the 30,000 that exist today, as well as mapping of poor mobile signal areas and tougher regulations to ensure providers are held to account for faulty charge points.