How the charging point providers were rated

For the ratings given by readers and those for the charging points we visited, we set down guidelines on factors that ought to be taken into consideration

ACCESSIBILITY AND LOCATION

For a provider to score well for location, its users shouldn’t have to travel too far to reach the facility and there should be plenty of space to position their cars for easy plugging in.the best charging facilities are well lit and have a canopy to protect customers from the elements.

An important factor is whether there are dedicated bays for EVS and if there’s a penalty for users who leave fully charged cars in the spaces. Charging points at the side of the road can be blocked by other cars, and so can those on petrol station forecourts. If there are any restrictions on charging, this will affect the rating.

Some charging points are in restaurant or hotel car parks and are only for use by customers. Others are in private car parks, and these, too, might not be available for everyone to use.

CHARGING SPEED

As demand for the public charging network expands and battery capacities increase, many EV owners will want to use the fastest chargers that can add 60 miles of range in as little as five minutes. In our scoring, the fastest chargers gain the highest score, while those that don’t charge up much more quickly than a household plug gain the lowest rating.

EASE OF USE

When the first public charging points were introduced, users would need a radio frequency identification (RFID) card for each network to activate its chargers, and they would often be required to pay for these. However, some modern networks don’t require casual users to register and allow them to pay with a contactless bank card. Others require users to access the network via an app or website.

While contactless chargers are the easiest to use, customers can get a cheaper tariff by registering with certain providers, and in these instances the signup process needs to be simple and easy enough to do on a mobile phone.

RELIABILITY

If the charging points of a certain provider are often out of order and not repaired swiftly, users are unlikely to be impressed with the network and we’d expect it to score poorly. However, it could redeem itself partly if the payment facilities are broken but the device gives a free topup (which happens at times) or if there’s another charger at the site that works.

VALUE FOR MONEY

Although many chargers are free to use, most of the faster ones will incur a fee. While this could be as little as 12p per kilowatt hour (kwh) for subscribers to a particular network, the cost for pay-as-yougo users could be up to 69p/kwh.that said, it’s important to weigh up the cost of charging with the convenience that the fastest chargers provide, so if a charger is expensive and slow to charge, it should gain the lowest score.