A Dundee driver has sworn off electric cars after a road trip to the Highlands was “completely destroyed” by a patchy charging network.
John Kennedy and his wife were driving to Dornoch last month shortly after SWARCO eVolt took over running the country’s public network of electric vehicle (EV) chargers.
The patchy service forced them to charge overnight through an open window using a hotel’s electrics.
He had to rely on his BMW hybrid’s petrol settings to get home.
There and back again
Things started off poorly when they stopped at Tomatin to find a charger “out of action”.
When they reached Dornoch they managed to find a working charger, but it was restricted to 45 minutes — giving them about 40 miles.
The distance from Dundee to the Sutherland town is about 170 miles.
After the 45 minute charge he would have been charged £1 a minute to continue. The 61-year-old calculated that to be fully charged at the 20 kWh station would have cost him £120.
He had a similar experience in Brora.
Overstay charges are not set by ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) at all machines, however, as some are operated by private companies.
Also during the trip, John came across a struggling English couple at the Falls of Shin, near Lairg, who couldn’t use CPS stations because they did not have the right card.
“The system should have worked with a credit card, but did not and they left disappointed having to use their petrol engine only,” John added.
While getting ready to head home to Dundee, they topped up with another 45 minute charge in Dornoch.
But at the town’s Castle Hotel car park, the charger there was down.
Charging through an open window
As a result, John “resorted” to using a domestic three-pin socket through the ground-floor window where they were staying.
The BMW has a cable which allows connection in this way, but according to John it “takes all night”.
“Fortunately I put this adaptor in the car at the last minute.”
John, who has lived in Dundee for about 17 years, spoke to a Porsche EV driver who had to do the same thing the day before.
I will be taking the petrol car next time, which is really unfortunate.”
John Kennedy
They discussed the “shambles” of the network.
“He was also disgusted,” John said.
During the return journey they stopped at Pitlochry car park for a top-up and found a woman with a young daughter and a dog “struggling to get her car charged”.
“Both rapid chargers were not working and she was unable to get the 20 kWh charger working with her CPS card.
“I managed to get it working with mine. On returning with a coffee, she was still unable to get a charger operating.
“I disconnected ours and allowed her to use my card. However, I had to phone CPS to allow her to release her cable when she was finished. We had to continue our journey.
“She would have been there for hours to get enough charge to get home to Inverness.”
It is understood a fault at the Pitlochry machine is awaiting approval by the local authority before being repaired.
Has the experience left a sour taste?
John, a retired chartered building surveyor, describes the charge network as a “complete shambles”. It has put him off going electric.
The journey was only possible because his BWM i3 is a hybrid so they could use petrol.
He said: “We are keen to do our bit for climate change.
“I was considering replacing our petrol car with electric, but there is no chance of this now.
“We had similar problems on an earlier holiday to Fort Willian with the system being down and people left stranded.
“Thank goodness we have a back-up generator on the i3. However, the new version is not fitted with this.”
He originally became interested through working with Dundee City Council, who he said were “very keen” on EVs.
He described the holiday as being “completely destroyed” by worrying about getting the car charged.
“I will be taking the petrol car next time, which is really unfortunate.”
Potential to be ‘world-leading’
John Curtis, head of communications with CPS, said they are “working hard” to “rebuild the foundation of this network” since the takeover.
He added it has the potential to be “world-leading”.
“CPS is a collaboration of many different parties which brings with it many complexities.
“Between us there is much work to be done. We are committed to making right all the issues which compromise the network’s ability to provide the best driver experience.”