UK has almost 1M EV chargers, with new public one installed every 25 minutes

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Charger numbers & reliability

  • UK reportedly has ~930k chargers, but only ~65k are public; speeds and uptime aren’t broken down.
  • Several commenters argue raw “installed” counts are misleading because many public chargers are broken for months.
  • Subsidies often reward installation, not operation; once uptime is tied to subsidies, maintenance improves.
  • Concern that some firms are essentially “in the business of installing chargers” rather than running them well.

Home vs public charging behavior

  • Consensus: if you have a driveway/garage, EV ownership is easy; you mostly charge at home overnight.
  • Many real-world examples of using slow/destination charging at work, hotels, supermarkets, and neighborhood posts.
  • Level 1 (120V) is adequate for many US drivers; Level 2 or 230V sockets in Europe/UK give full overnight charges.
  • Detached/old garages or long cable runs can make home upgrades costly, but incentives can offset.

Gas stations & oil companies

  • Debate why there aren’t more DC fast (L3) chargers at gas stations.
  • Arguments: people don’t want to “hang out” at stations for 20–40 minutes; better to charge where they shop or work.
  • Practical issues: grid capacity, trenching costs, loss of parking/turnover for convenience stores.
  • Some countries (e.g., Germany, UK examples) are already mandating or rolling out high‑power chargers at stations.

Economics & incentives

  • Home charging can be dramatically cheaper per mile than petrol; public fast charging can be 4–5× home rates.
  • High electricity tariffs in some regions (e.g., parts of California, UK public chargers) erode the cost advantage.
  • For low‑mileage drivers, depreciation, higher insurance, and charger install costs can make ICE or hybrids cheaper.

Adoption patterns UK vs Europe

  • Some see the UK as lagging “Europe” despite good fundamentals; others note similar new‑sales shares to Germany.
  • Proposed reasons: organized anti‑green politics, high share of on‑street parking, low average annual mileage, high power prices, and lingering fears about battery replacement.
  • Data cited that ~65% of GB households have or could have off‑street parking, but only a small fraction have chargers.

User experiences: positive & negative

  • Positive: several report painless multi‑summer EV road trips across UK/Western Europe, helped by dense DC networks (Ionity, Fastned) and multi‑network cards.
  • London and some affluent UK suburbs are described as having reached a “tipping point” with abundant chargers (streetlights, 22kW posts, 250kW hubs).
  • Negative: one UK household running a Polestar 2 without a home charger found it a “nightmare” due to slow home‑socket charging, expensive/broken public chargers, and winter range; returned to ICE.
  • Non‑Tesla long‑distance travel is often portrayed as stressful: app juggling, broken chargers, and backup plans, versus Tesla’s integrated routing.

Battery longevity & charging speeds

  • Multiple anecdotes of high‑mileage Teslas with modest degradation even with heavy supercharger use; fast charging is seen as less harmful than many fear.
  • Some still speculate about long‑term costs for used EVs, especially older models with weaker thermal management.

Payment, access & anonymity

  • Strong dislike for proprietary apps and “secret club” networks; calls for universal contactless card payment on all chargers.
  • Complaints that parking/payment systems are fragmented and often more expensive via phone.
  • On anonymity: commenters argue you’re already tracked via pervasive ANPR/CCTV at petrol stations; only basic outlets offer any real anonymity.