The concern: EV’s take a long time to charge don’t they?

When I meet someone new to electric vehicles, the first two questions about them are usually “How far can EVs go?” quickly followed by “How long does it take to charge?” The response most want to hear is “1000 miles” and “Blink and it’s done”.

Concerns with charging time are the product of a mind-set that comes from driving cars with internal combustion engines; you drive around until near empty, de-tour to a petrol station, swiftly slake your vehicle’s unyielding thirst for explosive hydrocarbon and continue onwards. It’s because of this that people can be a little sceptical when it comes to matters of re-charging. To make my point I usually offer the sceptic the worst case scenario; “a Nissan LEAF has a real world range of about 80 miles and could take up to 10 hours to charge from a 13A socket” and watch them fall about laughing. For a bit anyway…

When trying to convince a sceptic some might try and point out that faster charge times are possible with rapid chargers but not only is this still not as fast and thus “good” as a petrol pump, it is fighting the wrong fight.

Why it doesn’t matter: Your car can charge when it’s stopped, which is most of the time.

Read more: Pod-Point