Poor mobile phone signal at two in three public EV charging points means drivers struggle to activate them

The UK’s charging infrastructure is suffering from limited mobile phone connectivity, a new report claims.

Two-thirds of Type-2 public chargers do not have sufficient phone signal coverage from all four major network providers to ensure they can be activated 100 percent of the time, the RAC Foundation claims.

A patchy phone signal means drivers of electric vehicles (EVs) in thousands of locations could experience problems charging their car batteries.

As of early 2024, Department of Transportation data (based on ZapMap data) shows that there are at least 53,677 public chargers available to EV owners.

Of these, the vast majority (31,910) are Type-2 chargers.

These Type-2 public chargers can charge up to 8 kW – slow charging – and are not required to make contactless payments.

The vast majority require drivers to access these mobile apps and rely on the mobile phone network to provide sufficient signal.

Britain has four mobile network providers: EE, O2, Three and Vodafone, which other companies such as Giffgaff and Tesco Mobile can piggyback on.

Mobile phones are an everyday essential and are becoming increasingly important in the use and functionality of cars. Yet poor signal from all four network providers – EE, O2, Three and Vodafone – is affecting the functionality of tens of thousands of chargers in Britain

The problem for drivers looking to charge is that unless all four provide decent signal coverage, there is a risk that the user or the charger will not have the connection needed to unlock the flow of electricity to charge the EV.

And this risk is a very real problem, as the RAC Foundation findings show.

Across Britain (outside London), only a third (33.4 percent) of Type-2 chargers analyzed by the RAC Foundation are in locations where there is acceptable 4G coverage across the entire network.

In London the situation is slightly better, but not at the level you would expect in the capital, where the signal is almost perfect.

Even in London the phone signal wasn’t guaranteed to be good enough to ensure the chargers would always work properly. The risk is that the user or the charger does not have the connection necessary to unlock the electricity flow to charge the EV

Only 39.7 percent of slow public chargers analyzed in the city had sufficient signal.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, calls for better infrastructure integration from mobile to car to charger: ‘All these systems need to be designed with an eye laser-focused on real-world network coverage, which is often patchy. sometimes non-existent, and not about to get infinitely better.

‘If signal connectivity at a charging point is an issue, drivers could conclude that the charger is at fault, undermining the confidence we should be building in the reliability of public electric vehicle charging options.

‘In addition, the poor connectivity will not be picked up in the new mandatory reporting system that only applies to the fast charging network.’

This study comes as the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reports that the market share of new all-battery electric cars fell to 15.2 percent in March, compared to 16.2 percent in the same month last year.

There have been increasing calls recently for the government to step up its efforts on electric vehicles, in particular to reduce VAT on public charges to 5 percent

It also follows widespread criticism from industry leaders after the Chancellor failed to deliver one EV incentives for motorists in the spring budget.

Experts and manufacturers said the Chancellor has ‘missed a huge opportunity’ by refusing to respond to calls for ‘fair taxes for a fair transition’.

One of those taxes was reducing the VAT on public charging to 5 percent to bring the cost of public charging in line with energy rates for home charging and make it fairer for EV owners without access to home chargers.

The RAC Foundation suggests solutions could include roaming SIM cars that can connect to the mobile network that is most robust at the charging location, external and/or additional antennas for data, and mast sharing between network operators.

Gooding added: ‘To design reliable connected services that work for motorists, we need a better approach to assessing and reporting the suitability of on-road connectivity so that designers, including electric charging point providers, can select which of the directly available solutions could overcome the shortcomings of the mobile networks.’