Vauxhall Combo Life 52kWh 2024: Public charging review

Mrsscroggs2 shares her experience of public charging with her Vauxhall Combo Life 52kWh.

What do you think of the UK public charging network?

I find most of the time public charging to be a nightmare, admittedly, I didn’t get my car until November when we had cold weather. I used the Pod Point chargers in Tesco, these were easy to use but often in use. When I could plug in, all was good apart from having to wait for a minimum of 4 hours. There’s only so much shopping 1 person needs although the café staff let me sit there as long as necessary.

My electricity consumption is often very high as I’m disabled and use a mobility scooter. The weight of my scooter adds to the amount of power used and for 4 weeks I was attending hospital 5 days a week so the need to charge was very high!

I’ve used fast chargers on several occasions but they constantly breaks down. I’ve tried the fast chargers at Lidl and IKEA but their hoses didn’t fit my car so I had to use my own at the normal charge rate. I have since had a home charger installed and life is now great!

What and where are your favourite UK public chargers?

I’ve found the best availability at Tesco Heanor and Langley Mill, Derbyshire. At Tesco Heanor there are several charge points and once registered it was easy to access.

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

The cinema car park in Ilkeston, Derbyshire has a fast charger. WHEN it works, it takes just over 35 minutes to charge the car up to 80% and I have seen ambulances and trade vans charging here. It is expensive, over £24 for 1 charge (never below 30%) but it is fast and available 24 hours.

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

The fast charger in Ilkeston often breaks down. I rang the helpline number and the agent said she would reboot from her end. Ten minutes later I tried again, this time the machine wouldn’t recognise my card although the machine said the card was recognised?! Also, it only accepts credit cards NOT debit cards, again I rang the agent who tried to do something her end but 1 hour later I was no further forward. So I gave up trying and had to go home as the Pod Point chargers weren’t working either. The next afternoon I returned to fast charge to find it still not working, nightmare!

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

More fast charge points are required and they need to be easily accessible, not like some where you need to register to get a ‘key’ to be able to use it. Prices for fast charging need to be cheaper too. As electric cars are becoming more popular, outlets have to have more than 4 chargers, especially in big shopping car parks and also have 24-hour availability, ideally.

*Manufacturer image used