It’s time; we’re at a fork in the road and decisions need to be made. I think we all appreciate there’s a need to move away from petrol and diesel, and while some still question if EV is the way to go, given how precarious the climate situation is, there isn’t a viable alternative that can be ready in time.

So we need to act. Now. Yes, EVs and hybrids are much more accessible than they have been, and even the used market is becoming more suited to lower budgets… but charging remains an issue. I know most (all?) people who buy an EV will install a home charger, but a recent experience with public chargers made me question just how ready we are.

A good real-world test for a full EV

I recently drove the Toyota BZ4X (a name Marketing clearly had little to do with) and given I had a weekend in London planned, it seemed a good real-world test for a full EV.

The plan involved parking overnight on a public charger, so the range on Sunday would be more than ample to get home. Sadly, reality was not so smooth.

As one of three drivers struggling with the chargers at our chosen location, this was not an isolated incident. It took 30 minutes to get the charge to initiate, including a call to the technical support number. Eventually though, the charge started and the app confirmed this, so off we went.

Next day, on returning to the car (which the app assured me was still charging) we discovered that the charge had not, in fact, happened and we didn’t have enough range to get home, necessitating a quick (and expensive) charge at the M4 services.

This, for me, sums up that we still need investment in the UK’s charging infrastructure and this needs to happen faster than it currently is.

But back to the car, with limited space to review it now!

Spacious and practical

Ultimately, the BZ4X is a good-looking car – spacious and practical with a useable 240 mile range. Personally, I think if I were choosing a car, having 300+ miles of realistic range would be much more comfortable, but that really comes down to a personal need/preference.

Inside, the appearance is good – well laid out with some quality materials, but at the same time, there are elements that aren’t quite up to par. The surround around the driver display was loose and just didn’t quite match up to the feel of the materials. And while the driver aids were brilliant – lane keeping, adaptive cruise etc. – I think the interior quality let it down slightly. This was a £53k car, in the spec in front of me, and for me at least, it didn’t quite measure up.

Charging infrastructure in the UK is not where it needs to be

In fairness, I think my experience of the Toyota was soured by the charging issue, which lays firmly at someone else’s door and had nothing to do with the actual car. I’m therefore possibly being a little harsh in my judgement, but ultimately the conclusion of this piece is that the charging infrastructure in the UK is not where it needs to be to hit our targets, and we (as a country) need to do more.

In the ever-immortal words of the great jedi sage, Yoda, “Do or do not. There is no try.”