Q&A: Zap Map’s Ben Lane on EV charging
There’s very little Ben Lane, the co-founder of Zap Map, doesn’t know about electric vehicle charging. His company has been tracking the roll-out of charging points in the UK since the early days, and logging them on a user-friendly map that is available online and as an app for your phone. Zap Map will also tell you what sort of chargers are nearby and if they’re working, plus you can use it to plan journeys with charging stops, and even pay for your charging. The company’s mission is to make charging simple (because life is complicated enough), so here Ben answers your most frequently asked questions about charging an electric car.
Will the charging network hold me back if I buy an EV in the UK?
For the vast majority of car or van buyers, choosing an EV does not have any drawbacks and the UK’s charging infrastructure is currently developed enough to meet their needs. If you do an average or slightly-above-average mileage per year, you won’t face any particular issues. However, if you do significantly more than the average mileage [the annual UK average during 2021 was 5,300 miles, according to Department for Transport statistics] then you might want to consider a plug-in hybrid instead of a purely electric vehicle.
How many chargers are there and what capacities do they offer?
As of October 2022, there are 57,600 publicly available connectors in the UK, with 34,800 devices at more than 20,800 locations. From 2020 to 2021, there was an uptick of about 30 per cent, and this year we are on track to increase by the same amount again. In terms of power type, the UK network breaks down as follows: around 8,500 slow chargers (less than 7kW), 20,000 fast chargers (7-22kW), 4,300 rapid chargers (50-100kW) and then just over 2,000 ultra-rapid chargers (100kW+).
The UK is one of the leading EV nations in Europe, and is well-served with charging points overall"
Is it worth doing some homework before you commit to an EV?
As with any major purchase, it is essential to do your homework before buying an EV. First, you need to research the different EVs that are available and their range, including fully electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. Then you need to familiarise yourself with the different high-power connector types available (CCS or CHAdeMO) – although that is getting simpler over time. You also need to think about the kind of trips you typically make, and what your longest trips might be, as well as how often you might do them and how many charging stops you might need on a long journey – these can coincide with rest stops. If you are buying an electric van, consider if it will be suitable for all the jobs you’ll need it to do. Then, finally, use Zap Map to check how many chargers there are in your local area – especially if you’re not able to install a charging point at home.
How long will it take to charge my car?
The time it takes to charge an electric vehicle depends on three factors: the size of your EV’s battery, the power of the charging point you are using, and your car’s maximum charging rate. Typically at an ultra-rapid charging station (100kW+) the new Volkswagen ID. Buzz will charge from 5-80 per cent in under 30 minutes. However, if you are using a low-power charger – for example, when you’re charging at home – it can take considerably longer and additional factors such as current state of charge, temperature of battery, ambient outside temperature can also impact charging times.
Do I need a special payment card to charge my electric car?
Not necessarily. There are a number of different charging-point operators in the UK that offer a variety of different access and payment methods. Many of the original charging operators offered an RFID card, which can make things complicated when using several different networks. Now the trend is to simplify things, with most new operators offering contactless payment or an app. Plug & Charge is also a popular development, where specific models of EV simply need to be plugged in and payment happens automatically.
Does the multitude of charging-point owners/operators make charging more complicated for users?
First the good news. There are more than 40 charging-point operators currently active in the UK, which demonstrates the high level of investment from companies developing UK infrastructure. As a consumer, however, this can add to the complexity of charging as these different operators have different access and payment methods. These could be an RFID card, an app, contactless or Plug & Charge. Zap Map makes this easier by allowing you to pay across a number of different services through the app itself – it’s called Zap-Pay.
Are there any EV-charging black spots?
While the UK is particularly well-served in EV charging points overall, and is one of the leading EV nations in Europe, there are still a few areas where there aren’t quite as many chargers as needed. In particular, mid- Wales, remote parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland are poorly served. There are also high-traffic areas, such as the M25 around London, where there are issues at certain times of the day when the chargers are more congested and you may have to queue for a charging spot. But these are the exception rather than the rule.
Do we still need more public EV charging points?
First it is worth remembering that most EVs are charged at home, overnight on a private driveway. That said, for the amount of EVs on the road today, there are currently enough public EV charging locations to satisfy average demand, but as more people choose electric, the charging infrastructure will need to grow significantly to keep up. By 2030, we will need around 10 times the number we have now for the country to go fully electric, so an increase from around 20,000 locations to 200,000. There is still a lot of work to do, and the reliability of all those units also needs to reach 99 per cent across the whole network to deliver a seamless customer experience.
Will the energy crisis affect charging an EV?
Unfortunately, the high electricity prices we have been seeing lately have temporarily reduced the big energy cost advantages that EVs used to offer over cars powered by fossil fuels. That said, renewables are already cheaper to generate than oil- and gas-sourced electricity, so we could reasonably expect prices to return to pre-crisis levels once the energy market has calmed down. However, there are still a number of other money-saving advantages of using EVs: Benefit-in-Kind rates are only 2 per cent for all fully electric cars compared to at least 20 per cent for the most efficient internal combustion engine models; on average electric cars cost less than half the amount to maintain year on year; and various government grants are currently still available.
