Residents with private charge points have also started sharing their facilities. Services such as Charger Co offers a kind of Airbnb for charging, where drivers can book a neighbor’s use’s facility.

Cables under pavements may also help more people access private plug-in points, especially in the UK’s many terraced streets, but they are not without their challenges. .

Chris Richmond, who paid nearly £2,000 to have the gully installed in his terraced house in Bounds Green, London, now has access to cheaper charging and doesn’t have to rely on nearby public facilities, which he says is often busy or broken. But using his private charger requires him to park directly outside his house. “If someone is parking in two work spaces outside your house, you’re stuffed,” he said.

There are grants available for some people who want to fit new chargers, such as those who live in apartments and landlords of residential and commercial properties, but this is due to the end. in March.

The new home plug-in points are also required to communicate in real time with energy suppliers, enabling companies to offer consumers cheaper prices when supplies are plentiful and encouraging motorists to avoid at peak times and reducing strain on the grid. “Our R&D is now more focused on how we can help customers optimize their usage time,” said Melanie Lane, chief executive of the home and business charger provider. Pod Point.

Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology is also being developed to enable vehicles to sell electricity back into the system. A trial by Ovo Energy in 2020 reported that drivers could earn £340 a year on average by doing this. Octopus Energy’s new V2G tariff guarantees free charging to drivers who plug in for about six hours a day, allowing the company to optimize their charging, as long as they stay below the limit of 333kWh per month – roughly 19,000km (12,000 miles) one year.

Despite the progress made in the past few years, many drivers still don’t feel confident making the switch. Recent surveys consistently show that motorists have concerns about pricing, charging and durability of batteries.

“The biggest thing that plays into this is just perspective,” said Ginny Buckley, founder of Electrifying.com, an EV marketplace. advice site.

According to a poll of gasoline and diesel drivers conducted for the non-profit Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit in April last year, more than half of respondents got only two or fewer answers correct in 10 statements about EVs.

More needs to be done to address these public misconceptions, says Max Warburton, chief financial officer for UK self-driving car startup Wayve. “It’s actually very compelling to buy an electric car, so we’re getting to the point where some of the apparent reluctance of consumers is almost absurd,” he said.