EV charge point maintenance specialist Safer Charging is warning private chargers most drivers rely on are increasingly being left with no one to maintain them.
The organisation said that the lack of maintenance contrasts with public operators, who must keep their rapid networks working 99% of the time under the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023.
The private chargers run by everyone else have no such rules, and their upkeep is usually one job among many for someone without charging expertise.
Safer Charging highlighted three specific issues: when unmaintained chargers break down, it forces fleets and drivers onto the public network, neglected chargers can fall out of compliance creating liability for the site owner, and fire risk assessments to show insurers evidence and preparation.
It also called for site owners to consider three questions: who is responsible for maintaining and charger, when was the charger last inspected and is there a record, and who would fix them if the installer or manufacturer disappeared tomorrow.
Safer Charging audits the whole estate, then maintains, inspects and repairs chargers from any manufacturer. It works with businesses and public sector bodies across the UK, including Kent and Essex Police, where it has delivered EV fire risk assessments and specialist maintenance reviews, and has worked with organisations that together manage around 1.5 million chargers.
Chris Cheetham, founder and CEO of Safer Charging, said:
“Businesses, landlords and public bodies have invested hundreds of thousands of pounds in charging, yet in many cases there’s no one really owning the long-term interests of looking after it properly.
“The first and second waves of chargers are now ageing: warranties are running out, installers may have gone bust and taken their maintenance contracts with them, and some manufacturers have left the UK altogether, leaving orphaned chargers with nobody to fix them.
“Public networks get all the attention because the regulations force them to, while this missing middle of private networks doesn’t get the attention it deserves. If people can’t rely on the chargers where they work and live, Britain’s switch to electric will stall.”
Image courtesy of Safer Charging
