The proportion of electric cars rescued by the AA for being ‘out of charge’ has halved in the last two years from 8% of breakdowns to under 4% of breakdowns today, the organisation's latest figures show. However, half of that 4% have not actually run out but the AA has been called out as the car is just low on charge.
The statistics show that top one third of breakdowns for electric cars are exactly the same faults as with petrol or diesel cars – 12v battery problems and tyres. Other faults are quite different and cover things such as charging equipment, warning lights, battery monitoring systems or key transponders.
Edmund King, AA president, says: “In twenty years of driving EVs I have only run out of charge once. My first EV was a Ford Th!nk with a 37-mile range and I once tried to drive from central London to St Albans on a dark, rainy night and didn’t quite make it.
“Yes, there have been occasions when I have been low on charge or come across chargers out-of-order, but it is hard to run out. We are also now seeing EVs with much longer ranges and most new EVs can do at least 250 miles.”
King concludes: “The automobile world is changing rapidly, and we will see more change in the next 10 years than we have in the last 50. Electrification is going mainstream and potential EV owners shouldn’t be put off by myths about range. Once you have tried an EV it is hard to go back. Pretty soon, we will think of older diesel cars in the same way we now think about smoking on the top deck of a bus.”
If you do run out of charge, rival breakdown provider the RAC has today revealed it is to equip up to a fifth of it patrol vans with on board electric car chargers.
