A leading expert has said drivers should change their habits to suit electric cars.
CEO of 3ti, the UK’s leading installer of Solar car parks, Tim Evans, spoke to Express.co.uk about what is contributing to the UK’s slow rollout of charging points.
Mr Evans said there was a lack of understanding about electric cars and drivers had to change too.
The location of chargers at workplaces matters a lot as well, the CEO added.
He added that the UK should be inspired by neighbours France who were committing to installing solar panels on all car parks by 2027.
Mr Evans told the Express: “It is time we stop asking how many rapid and ultra-rapid EV charge points are required across the UK’s transport network and focus instead on how to best service the needs of EV drivers.
“There isn’t a lack of power in the UK, but there’s a lack of understanding about EVs and when it comes to EV charging, we need a fundamental shift in the decades-old habits of drivers.
“They need to switch from stopping to charge (fill-up), to charging when they stop.”
Mr Evans said that some charging points currently failed “to meet user’s needs and expectations”.
Mr Evans said: “We would never claim that EV charge points are fitted as a box-ticking exercise, but the fashionable ‘up to 7kW’ infrastructure installed on many city streets frequently fails to meet users’ needs and expectations.
“When dwell times are long, 7kW charging is sufficient, delivering a range of 25 to 30 miles for every hour of charge. However, the commonly installed infrastructure only offers ‘up to 7kW’. In other words, frequently less.
“Very few of us drive over 250 miles a day, the average range of an EV, so most journeys shouldn’t require an inconvenient stop to refuel at a high-priced, carbon-intensive rapid or ultra-rapid EV charge point.”
Mr Evans explained that charging in solar car parks would be the next best option when so many people don’t have the luxury of installing their own charging port.
He explained: “For those who are fortunate enough to be able to, charging an EV at home will usually be the lowest cost, lowest carbon way to do it.
“However, around 50 percent of us don’t have that option. If we live in a flat, a terraced house or in rented accommodation, we simply can’t charge at home.
“Workplace and destination charging in a solar car park is, therefore, the next-best option. It also ensures that drivers are using renewable energy, the lowest carbon content electricity to charge as well.”
Mr Evans added that the UK could take advantage of its thousands of car parks and use those to charge electric cars.
He said: “The UK has around 30,000 car parks with some 13 million parking spaces across a range of locations, including shopping centres, train stations, offices, sports venues and factories.
“Of course, not all parking spaces can be covered by a solar canopy, but even if just 20 percent were converted to solar car parks, annual solar generation would be around seven Terawatt hours of electricity, sufficient to replace the UK’s remaining coal-fired power stations.”
Mr Evan’s comments come as debate grows about whether electric cars are the best way forward for the British motorist.
In recent months, there has been speculation that the UK could push back its ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars until 2035, putting it in line with the European Union.
