Rise in electric car drivers stranded by flat batteries

THE number of electric cars being stranded by flat batteries has surged, according to breakdown organisations.

The AA says it is on track to rescue more than 600 electrical vehicles in two years – an average of one a day.

And the RAC has also reported that incidents in which drivers have run out of charge have doubled this year.

The increase comes despite there only being 164,100 electric-only cars on UK roads at the end of September.

The problem has grown so much that the RAC has developed a mobile EVcharger to give stranded vehicles a boost to get them to a charge point.

Members of the AA must wait for a flatbed truck to take their vehicle to a charger.

But Harold Dermott, a specialist consultant in EV technology, told The Sunday Times that unfamiliarity with the technology could be the problem.

“You will get perhaps about quarter of a per cent of people who don’t read the instructions on the box and get caught out,” he said.

“Those people who were rescued, I doubt very much if they do it twice. I’ve been driving EVS since 2012, when they only did about 80 miles, and I’ve never once needed a flatbed.”

Last week’s announcement that new petrol and diesel cars would be banned within a decade is likely to make stranded EVS a more common sight.

The AA calculates that flat batteries account for 4 per cent of all call-outs by owners of electric cars, while empty fuel tanks represent only 0.6 per cent of call-outs for petrol and diesel vehicles.