Charging Anxiety
Despite the major improvements in battery performance over recent years and the development of hybrids and plug in hybrids to solve the problem of range anxiety, the market penetration of electric vehicles remains stubbornly low. Even though the fuel costs of EVs are much lower than the alternatives the high price of EV batteries is one of the problems which still deters buyers. Though less publicised, the other major impediment to sales is charging anxiety. The concerns may be encapsulated in the following questions.
¥ Where can I charge my battery?
¥ Will my connector fit the charging station?
¥ How long will charging take?
¥ Will my car register on the network?
¥ Will quick charging be available?.
¥ Will there be a queue?
There may be solutions to some of these problems but up to now the obsession with range has masked the very real problems of the availability of charging facilities. These issues are explored in the following paragraphs.