ev charging – Pulpaddict

One in three councils failing to provide accessible EV charging

Disabled Vauxhall EV driver

More than a third of UK councils do not provide any on-street electric vehicle charging suitable for disabled drivers, according to new Freedom of Information research by Vauxhall.

Just 111 of the 289 councils who responded said they have no on-street charge points that have either been specifically adapted for disabled drivers, or any that follow the British Standards Institution’s PAS 1899:2022 – a national accessible charging standard co-sponsored by the Motability Foundation and UK Government.

The new research is part of the brand’s ongoing Electric Streets of Britain initiative, which aims to support the 40% of UK households without off-street parking.

“Limited access to public charging is known to be a barrier for Britain’s disabled motorists wishing to switch to EVs – particularly those who have no home charging capability,” said Steve Catlin, Managing Director, Vauxhall.

“The number of councils who do not provide charging provisions specifically for those with disabilities, as highlighted in our new research, is concerning – we need to ensure that all drivers, wherever they are, can easily find and access charge points if we are hoping to bring all drivers on the UK’s electrification journey.”

Through Electric Streets of Britain, a national database has been established so UK motorists who want to have on-street residential EV chargers installed near them can register their interest. So far, over 12,000 streets have been logged as needing on-street charging across the country.

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Major EV milestone reached by Osprey Charging

Gareth Herincx

2 days ago
Auto News

Osprey Charging now has more than 1,000 live public EV chargers available for use by the UK’s EV drivers.

Osprey’s network, which according to ZapMap is the third largest in terms of the number of public rapid and ultra-rapid chargers, has grown by more than 150% over the past year.

Flagship hubs have opened in key locations such as Devon, Cumbria, Essex, Dunbartonshire, Carmarthenshire and Nottinghamshire.

“With over 1,000 public rapid EV chargers now available on the Osprey network, we are providing the essential infrastructure that drivers and industry are calling for to support the electric vehicle revolution,” said Ian Johnston, Osprey Charging CEO.

“The rate of growth is matched by the highest standards of service offered to our drivers, through a reliable and easy to use nationwide network.”

With hundreds of locations spread across both rural and urban locations throughout the UK, Osprey chargers have an outstanding reliability rate of 99%, while its straightforward charging experience has seen Osprey recognised as a ‘Driver Recommended Network’ by Zap Map for a fourth time.

At the 2023 Transport and Energy awards, Osprey was named Best EV Charging Network, shortly followed by winning Chargepoint Network of the Year at the 2023 Electric Vehicle Innovation and Excellence Awards (EVIEs).

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Play your cards right with cinchCharge

We test the “faff-free” app and card that makes charging an EV much easier…

The great switch to electric vehicles is not without its issues. The high upfront cost of EVs, range anxiety and finding a public charger, to name but a few.

Then there’s the multitude of different companies providing chargers, each requiring registration, meaning some EV drivers have phones packed with apps or wallets loaded with (RFID) cards.

Anything that can smooth things along helps, which is why car marketplace, cinch, is on to a winner with cinchCharge.

Marketed as “faff-free EV charging”, cinchCharge is a payment card and app which gives cinch EV buyers access to more than 30,000 public chargepoint connectors across over 18 networks.

In one fell swoop, electric car drivers who’ve bought via cinch can pay for charging using the cinchCharge card or app without having to shuffle cards and flick through different apps.

We’ve been testing out cinchCharge for ourselves over the last couple of months and we’re impressed.

The cinchCharge app helps you find and filter accessible public chargers by availability, speed and distance from your location.

What’s more, the cinchCharge app is free to download, there’s no monthly subscription and no fees.

When you stop at the charger, simply tap the cinchCharge card or use the app to start charging. Then you end your charging session and payment is taken from your linked debit or credit card, so you only pay for what you use.

The cinchCharge card worked perfectly on every public charger we used, including Gridserve, Motor Fuel Group, Osprey and Ionity.

Typically, there were also a couple of occasions where we were miffed because we weren’t able to use fast chargers on the Instavolt and BP Pulse networks, because they are not cinchCharge providers, but on the whole, the coverage is impressive.

The app is fine, though perhaps not the slickest out there, but it is integrated with Google Maps, Waze and Apple Maps, meaning you can easily get directions to chargers, once you have located them.

What’s more, the interactive map within cinchCharge shows you whether the chargepoint is available, compatible, the speed it will charge your car, as well as highlighting the price.

Our only suggestion is that would be a great bonus if the kWh prices were discounted a little for cinch owners.

So, overall cinchCharge works and certainly alleviates one of the key “faffs” of owning an electric vehicle (ie registering with various suppliers and needing multiple cards).

It’s just a shame that all EV drivers can’t benefit from cinchCharge and you have to buy a car via cinch in order to be able to access it!

The Italian Job: Kia EV6 GT finishes 1000 Miglia Green in style

The Kia EV6 GT has completed the 1000 Miglia Green 2023, dubbed the “most beautiful race in the world”.

Finishing as the highest-ranking performance electric vehicle entered and sixth overall, the 1000 Miglia is a true test of endurance for both car, driver and navigator, requiring performance, precision and skill in order to score well throughout the race.

The 1000 Miglia Green is a sub-category of the historic Italian event, open only to fully electric cars.

The 2023 event was the longest in the race’s near 100-year history, spanning five days and more than 2,000 kilometres.

Not only was the Kia EV6 GT the first Korean car to ever compete in the 1000 Miglia Green, but the pro rally driver pairing of Jade Paveley and Ross Leach was the only team to represent Great Britain in the race.

In addition, the event marked the first time that an EV6 GT has been entered into a competitive, FIA-approved motor race.

Designed from the outset as a true GT car, the EV6 GT offers blistering performance from its twin electric motor setup that together deliver 577bhp and 740Nm of torque through all four wheels.

That power translates into a 0-62mph time of just 3.5 seconds, and an official top speed of 162mph.

Mated with a powerful 77.4kWh battery, the car is capable of covering 263 miles (WLTP combined) per charge.

Charging is equally rapid, thanks to the car’s E-GMP platform that supports 800V charging, enabling 10-80 per cent charge in as little as 18 minutes at the fastest charge points.

Importantly and despite the considerable distance and demanding nature of the roads and speeds required for the race, each of the timed legs travelled during the event were completed using a single charge of the car.

Charging was completed using public charge points, plus destination charging where possible at hotels at the end of each day.

The 1000 Miglia Green’s blend of rapid road driving under police escort along with precision time-trial and special stages on closed roads were the perfect test for the car’s considerable performance.

“The 1000 Miglia Green is a fantastic challenge that blends fast open road driving with time-trials and special stages,” said Ross Leach, rally driver and navigator

“It’s a great way to put any car through its paces and although incredibly demanding, the EV6 GT never skipped a beat and was a constant pleasure to be in. Particularly where outright speed and handling are concerned, the GT is able to easily hold its own, even against those in the supercar segment.

“We’re delighted to have participated in this year’s event, put the EV6 GT to the test and come home in sixth place overall but as the highest-scoring performance EV.”

Is charging a smartphone faster than an EV?

Home / Auto News / Is charging a smartphone faster than an EV?

Gareth Herincx

3 days ago
Auto News

Electric vehicles take half the time to charge than your iPhone does, according to new research by Peugeot.

In its mission to debunk common misconceptions of EVs, the French car brand investigated the charging time of an average EV (based on the top-selling models in the UK) compared to everyday alternatives you may also wait to charge.

Of course it takes much longer to charge an electric car compared to filling up with fuel at a service station, but the research found that you can still charge up an EV quicker than you can a phone, MacBook or tablet.

For a 20-80% charge, you can rapid charge an electric car with a 150kW charger in just 31 minutes. Looking at the equivalent charge for a phone, it would take over an hour.

Considering the size difference, Peugeot claims it’s pretty impressive how quickly EVs can charge compared to other commonplace electronics.

Peugeot created the average EV profile by using the Department for Transport’s 2020 data on the top 16 selling electric cars in the UK. For the average petrol and diesel vehicle, the DfT’s 2020 Top 10 bestselling selling cars list was used.

Tags EV ev charging macbook mobile phone Peugeot Peugeot e-208 smartphone

Gareth is a versatile journalist, copywriter and digital editor who’s worked across the media in newspapers, magazines, TV, teletext, radio and online. After long stints at the BBC, GMTV and ITV, he now specialises in motoring.

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