UK councils are increasing investment in EV infrastructure by as much as 42% year-on-year, according to Freedom of Information (FOI) data released by Schneider Electric.
The findings by the energy management and automation firm found though that despite the growth, focus wasn’t being placed on monitoring charger performance and reliability. As a result, EV owners are met with chargers that were out of service.
Also according to the FOI data, which surveyed 67 councils across England, Scotland and Wales, only 15% of councils could report that 100% of their EV chargers were operational.
More than half (53.7%) were unable to monitor whether chargers are working or not. The lowest reported fully operational charger percentage was 2.8% working in the last six months.
Positive news from the survey included a 140% increase in public infrastructure between 2022 and 2023. But only 2% were ultra-rapid.
The highest 5-year investment amount was £8,000,000 by a single council. 40% of councils, however, have either spent nothing in that same time period, or were unable to provide the figure.
Schneider Electric highlighted that a mix of chargers and medium and low voltage infrastructure was needed, while a “balanced mix of charging speed and the right infrastructure to support the EVs on site is essential”.
David Hall, Schneider Electric UK & Ireland’s VP Power Systems, said:
“Whilst there’s a positive story that councils are investing in their EV charger infrastructure to meet the growing demand, it is clear that many councils could greatly benefit from the ability to track EV charger performance, detect faults or outages, and even enable remote repairs. Without it, reliability is called into question, potentially leaving EV drivers in their areas stranded.”
“Increasing awareness and education around remote monitoring systems would support local councils and EV charging providers, particularly at high-demand locations like motorway services or city/town centres, where usage will surge as EV adoption grows.
“Ideally, greater collaboration between charging providers and their suppliers—across both the public and private sectors—will help ensure a more reliable and seamless charging experience – both before install and after. Making sure councils have the right plan in place to plot the EV charging infrastructure will be essential for long term success.”
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