The Times - UK (2022-04-09)

the times | Saturday April 9 2022 25

News

The UK needs to invest in more high-
speed electric car chargers to avert an
infrastructure crisis, experts warned.
Motoring groups are worried that
electric car sales are going to signifi-
cantly outpace investment in charging,
leaving Britons with “range anxiety”
about when they’ll be able to top-up.
There are concerns that too much
emphasis is being put on installing
“slow” and “fast” chargers, which can
take between four and twelve hours to
charge compared to “rapid” and “ultra
rapid” devices which can take 20 min-
utes to an hour.
“Unfortunately the number of public
chargers isn’t keeping pace with the vol-
ume of new electric cars coming onto
the road, and only a minority of devices
being installed are rapid or ultra-rapid,”
said Simon Williams, the electric
vehicle spokesman at RAC.
“This creates a real problem for mo-
torists who rely on the public network
because they can’t charge at home. And
while slow chargers are fine for some-
body who leaves their car at an office
while they’re at work, they’re less help-
ful in other places like supermarkets.”
Data from Zap-Map showed that of
30,412 public EV chargers in the UK,
more than 23,000 are slow or fast char-
gers ranging from 3-6kW hour and 7
-24kW hour compared with about
5,000 25-99kW rapid or 100kW ultra
fast devices. Last month was a record
for electric car registrations with 1 in 5
new vehicles having a battery.
Last month the Department for
Transport said the UK would increase
the number of public chargepoints
from 30,000 to 300,000 by 2030 as part
of the government’s electric vehicle
infrastructure strategy.
Some £500 million will be invested in
public chargepoints across the UK.
Support will be focused on helping driv-
ers without access to off-street parking,
as well as on fast charging for longer
journeys. The existing £950 million
rapid charging fund will fund the roll-
out of 6,000 super-fast chargepoints
across England’s motorways by 2035.
The department has also proposed
annual targets that manufacturers will
be forced to meet before 2035, when the
sale of hybrid or petrol vehicles will be
banned. Under the plans, manufactur-
ers would be forced to sell at least 22 per

cent electric cars in 2024, rising to 58

per cent in 2028 and 80 per cent in 2030.

However, Auto Trader, the online

marketplace, said that with one charger

for every 16 plug-in vehicles, the UK

lagged behind other countries.

Many energy firms now have special

tariffs for people who own electric cars

and can charge them at home. These

rates are cheaper than using a rapid

point at a motorway service station, for

example, which costs on average £30 to

£55 for a full charge of a vehicle with a

100kW battery like a Tesla model S.

Infrastructure needs radical

improvement, leading article, page 31

Bright sparks

6 Rapid, fast and slow are the three

main types of electric car charging.

The power is measured in kilowatts.

6 Rapid chargers are often found at

motorway services or close to

arterial routes. Depending on the

model, some EVs can be recharged

to 80 per cent in 20 minutes.

However, an average new electric

car will take about an hour on a

standard 50kW rapid charge point.

6 Ultra-rapid chargers provide

power at 100kW, 150kW or 350kW.

For cars capable of accepting

100kW or more, they can be

charged in 20-40 minutes.

6 Fast chargers are typically either

7kW or 22kW. A 7kW charger will

recharge an EV with a 40kWh

battery in 4-6 hours and a 22kW

charger in 1-2 hours.

6 Slow chargers are typically rated

about 3kW. A full charge on a 3kW

unit will typically take 6-12 hours.

Source: zap-map.com

Push for speedy

car chargers has

to step up a gear

Ben Clatworthy
Transport Correspondent
Ben Webster

New chargers

By power rating

Source: Zap-Map

Slow chargers (3-6kw)

Fast chargers (7-24kw)

Rapid chargers (25-99kw)

Ultra-rapid chargers (100kw+)

Q1 2022

End 2021

7,247

708 (+9.1%)

16,047

910 (+5.7%)

3,874

189 (+4.9%)

1,290

144 (+11.2%)

A

Greek

helicopter

pilot

suffocated his

young British

wife in front of their

baby daughter before

strangling their puppy

and staging a burglary

to cover up his crimes,

an Athens court was told

yesterday (Anthee

Carassava writes).

Haralambos

Anagnostopoulos, 33, is

charged with the pre-

meditated murder of his

wife, Caroline Crouch,

20, at their home in the

Greek capital in May

last year, killing their

five-month-old husky

and lying to police.

His appearance in

court was the first in

public since his arrest

last June after police

became suspicious of his

claims that three

burglars broke into his

home and murdered

Crouch, originally from

Liverpool, and stole

€15,000 in cash and

valuables. He later

confessed to smothering

his wife after she

threatened to leave.

Anagnostopoulos’s

lawyer said earlier he

had acted in a fit of rage

over her “mistreatment”

of their 11-month-old

child, Lydia. He

contested the charge of

pre-meditated murder,

which carries a life

sentence, and said the

defence would seek a

lesser sentence.

Prosecutors told the

court Anagnostopoulos

had suffocated Crouch

“in a calm and coherent

state”. Crouch’s parents

did not attend the court.

Anagnostopoulos also

faces strict new charges

over animal abuse for

killing his dog.

The couple’s daughter

is in the care of Crouch’s

parents on the Greek

island of Alonissos. The

hearing was adjourned

until Tuesday.

Greek pilot

‘killed wife

then staged

a burglary’

The accused, Haralambos

Anagnostopoulos, claims

he killed Caroline Crouch

in anger over their child