Written evidence from Mr Gordon Jackson (ELV0004)

Owning an EV – submission to Parliament investigation

Gordon Jackson

Plus points – Quiet, responsive, environmentally friendly.

Minus points

High initial cost

Range anxiety

Public charging is a nightmare

• It’s very expensive
• You need a smart mobile phone that can receive a signal anywhere. Patchy signals stop apps from downloading or working.
• If you can find a charging point, 40% do not work or start to charge then stop and you don’t find out until you return to your car. This is based on my own experience
• Of the remaining ones, many are already occupied.
• Reporting the points as non working to the providers has no effect. The following month, the point is still out of service.
• Different plugs, sockets and charging rates are normal.
• Downloading the different apps needed is very time consuming and doesn’t always work
• The apps crash occasionally for no reason and you have to start again
• You need to remember your passwords but sometimes the app forgets them and you have to re-register.
• The app loses the link to your credit/debit card and linking it again is fraught with security checks that take ages
• Standing in the cold and rain whilst trying to negotiate the maze of problems caused by the poor infrastructure is not conducive to using EVs.