Purple Zoe runs a Renault Zoe Play 2020 electric car and shares their experiences to-date on public charging.

What do you think of the UK public charging network in general?

Rubbish basically. Getting better with contactless but still too many apps. Pumps on the motorways have been ‘upgraded’ for faster charging and contactless payment, which is good but now each pump only takes one car instead of 2. We had issues with queuing in May. Too many out of service or just not working properly. Supermarkets often don’t have type 2 charge points. Too many public charge points are only 7kW, fine for home charging but too slow on a journey.

What and where are your favourite UK public chargers driving your Renault Zoe?

ChargePlace Scotland – all you need is the card. If they’re not working the helpline always gets them functioning in my experience. There are CPS chargers in most towns and large villages in Scotland.

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What’s been your best experience with a UK public charger?

Anything that is available, fast and functional!

What’s been your worst experience with a UK public charger?

Apart from fruitlessly waiting half an hour for a charger in use and giving up, the worse was at Southwaite services, southbound on the M6. We only have a type 2 charger and it seemed the upgraded charger did not have a socket. Just by chance we spotted a tiny insignificant post, which had 2 x type 2 sockets. No dedicated parking bays. No signage. Left side the contactless facility didn’t work and it took me awhile to realise that was what the problem was. The right side one was OK and got a slow charge.

What’s got to change about public charging in the UK to get more people driving electric cars?

A lot more charging points. So frustrating to see an unused bank of Tesla chargers on the motorway and all the other ordinary ones in use. Dedicated stations like petrol stations with chargers, shops, toilets and cafes please!

See other public charging reports here