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Charging EVs away from home: is queuing a problem?

(104 Posts)
granfromafar Wed 19-Apr-23 20:18:45

We have had an electric car for a month and we're really enjoying driving it. We mostly use our home charger which we had installed in the garage. We are going on our longish journey to date soon (around 200 miles) so will need to recharge en route. I have looked up possible places to stop and will most likely use a motorway service station which has 6 charging points. My main concern is what if they are all in use and we have to wait for a while? I have heard that there isn't really a queuing system in place for chargers. If you can't park nearby, how can you work out who is next in line when one becomes free? Don't want there to be fisticuffs involved!

Mamie Wed 31-May-23 06:35:24

That is good news, because North Yorkshire had seemed to be a tricky area from some reports.
This week France has a new factory in the Pas de Calais for manufacturing batteries for electric cars. It is the length of six football pitches!

NotAGran55 Wed 31-May-23 06:41:45

On bank holiday Monday we collected an EV in Yorkshire and waited 10 minutes to get onto the charger at the first services on the M1 and had no wait at all the next one.
Someone at the first station was in a panic because they needed to get a flight and tried to get people to move , but other than that it was all good.
We had expected to wait a lot longer on the BH after all the stuff in the media at Christmas and New Year but it was fine.

Grantanow Sat 22-Jul-23 18:01:02

People who early buy EVs are guinea pigs for an untried technology. Too many stories about lack of charging points, problems if charging at home if you're a flat dweller or have no private parking space, and lack of adequate range.