Despite their investment in EV infrastructure, UK councils are neglecting to monitor whether chargers are working or not.
The news comes from Schneider Electric, which surveyed 67 councils across England, Scotland and Wales using Freedom of Information data. It found that only 15% of councils could report that 100% of their EV chargers were operational. Over half (53.7%) were unable to monitor whether chargers were working or not. The lowest reported fully operational charger percentage was 2.8% working in the last six months.
David Hall, Schneider Electric UK & Ireland’s VP power systems, says: “While 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.”
