Electric car owners in Cardiff say there aren’t enough charge points in the city.
Craig Macdonald has owned an electric car for three years and says ”drivers of combustion powered vehicles are either flat out ignorant of the needs of electric car drivers or in some cases actually obstinate towards users of electric cars.”
Electric car owners are particularly concerned about the lack of what are known rapid charge points, which take twenty minutes rather than around four hours. There’s one rapid charge point at IKEA, about a fifteen minute drive from the city centre. The next rapid charge point for people who live in Cardiff is on the M4.
There are nine standard charging points across the city in car parks, garages and housing areas. Some drivers say they struggle to access charging points in car parks as the spaces are sometimes used as parking spaces by drivers of regular cars.
Professor Peter Wells is an expert on the global automotive industry says “the public chargers often aren’t available when people need them to be. Either because they’re broken or because somebody’s parked there when they’re not charging.” Professor Wells says infrastructure needs to be developed before more people will be willing to buy electric cars.
Not everyone thinks there’s a problem with charging points in Cardiff. Raj Aggerwal is a pharmacist who uses electric cars for deliveries, he says ”it’s all a question of planning and working out the logistics” of your journey.
The Welsh Government are responsible for policy making for electric vehicles. Policies are then implemented by local councils. The Welsh Government says “we are committed to exploring opportunities to reduce emissions from transport and maximise the low carbon vehicle sector’s opportunities for growth and jobs in Wales” and Cardiff City Council says ”the City Council is making best use of the resources and money that is available to us.”
