I own an EV – here’s why I’m dreading Christmas holidays, all electric car drivers will face a crisis
AN EV driver has said they are dreading the Christmas holidays and has predicted there is going to be chaos.
Moto boss Ken McMeikan has warned that the country’s motorway service stations don’t have enough grid connections to allow sufficient car charging points to be installed to meet the growing demand.
Due to this, he said there will “very angry and stressed” drivers on the roads and growing risk of “charge rage” as they desperately search for an available charger.
The 58-year-old, who drives an EV himself, said he had warned the government about the problem, telling ministers that public disorder incidents would grow.
He told The Telegraph: “I’ve been saying to them that the grid does not have sufficient capacity right now to deliver the power we need at the time we need it.
“If we don’t get that amount of power guaranteed, then in coming years every Christmas, every Easter, every summer holiday and peak bank holiday will be the equivalent of when we have a fuel crisis on petrol and diesel.”
He added: “People need to drive their EV cars around without range anxiety, without long queues and without public disorder but at peak seasonal times we are experiencing all this now.”
Moto, which runs 49 motorway service stations around the UK, has now introduced marshalls at Exeter, Rugby and Wetherby to manage EV queues and prevent conflicts during busy periods.
A Department for Transport (DfT) spokesperson said: “Around 96pc of motorway service areas already have charging available and we know the industry has plans to install hundreds more charge points in the coming months.
“The Government has put more than £2bn into the transition to electric vehicles, with the number of public charge points across the country increasing by 43pc since last year – putting us well on track to have 300,000 charge points by 2030.”
It comes after New data from the DfT has shown charging points are far from readily available, with some parts of the country having none at all.
Large areas of Somerset, Cumbria and Yorkshire are actually complete blackspots.
Moto believes one in three cars will be electric by 2030 – which will see “charge rage” soar.
Last month, Moto confirmed it will continue rolling out ultra-rapid electric vehicle chargers, despite Rishi Sunak‘s net zero changes.
Previously, the PM confirmed a hated ban on buying new petrol and diesel cars would be delayed by five years to 2035.
Eco zealots insisted the ban would discourage businesses from making transitioning to be more environmentally friendly.
Mr Sunak heaped praise on The Sun for pleading with ministers not to force unaffordable green transition costs on hard-up households.
Meanwhile, another EV driver has warned a lack of charging points is only the beginning of their problems.
A motor expert has also claimed there are at least 10 major problems with owning an EV.
A car park worker has revealed why they would never buy an electric car.