Just 31% of people willing to walk 10-plus minutes home from EV charger – poll

Less than a third (31%) of people would be willing to walk more than 10 minutes home after using a public electric vehicle (EV) charger, a new survey suggests.

But researchers also found the average walking time to a public charger for UK households is 11 minutes and 56 seconds.

Many EV drivers without off-road parking at home rely on using public chargers, often overnight.

There are large variations in the average walking time from public chargers across regions, ranging from 15 minutes and 18 seconds in the East of England to three minutes and eight seconds in London.

Charging infrastructure

Gaps in local charging infrastructure risk discouraging many drivers from making the transition to electric motoring, according to the analysis by Motability Operations, which provides cars to disabled people.

The Government has pledged to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030.

Some 51% of EV drivers surveyed believe there are enough public chargers across the UK but this falls to 24% among EV drivers who are Motability customers.

‘Disconnect’

This highlights a “clear disconnect” between the infrastructure roll-out and the “real-world needs” of drivers with additional mobility requirements, according to Motability Operations.

Andrew Miller, the company’s chief executive, said: “Too many drivers don’t trust that they’ll be able to charge easily, locally or reliably.

“If we’re serious about meeting the 2030 ban on petrol and diesel sales, chargepoints need to be where people live, easy to use, and designed with everyone in mind.

“Until this happens, we risk leaving thousands of drivers behind.”

The surveys of 2,243 members of the public and 1,495 Motability customers were conducted by research company Ipsos in August.

The average walking time to public chargers was calculated by consultancy Field Dynamics in partnership with charger locator service Zapmap.