TV presenter and Strictly star Helen Skelton this week reignited questions over electric cars when she posted a video to her Instagram account showing she had broken down after running out of charge. Some people are put off switching from petrol and diesel to electric because of fears over how, where and how often they will have to stop to 'top up'.
Those fears were also realised before Christmas when there were pictures of huge queues of electric cars waiting to charge at motorway service stations.
Posting to her social media on Monday, Helen Skelton revealed her car had run out of charge. She wrote: "I thought electric cars were the future," followed by mind-blown and angry emojis. She said: "I had an electric car over a decade ago - a Nissan Leaf. It didn't work out. I could never charge it and it was really impractical."
She continued: "Over a decade later, an electric car - not working out. Can't charge it and not for the first time...stranded."
She then whispered: "I thought this was the future?"
"If anyone else is having more success with an electric car I salute you."
But the UK's biggest breakdown services have revealed that electric cars running out of charge is very rare - and they are fully equipped to deal with the problem at the side of the road.
A spokesman for The AA said: "The stats for drivers actually running out of electrical charge are surprisingly low. Only 2% of EV breakdowns that the AA attended last year were for a flat ‘main battery’.
"A more common fault is the 12v low voltage battery which powers the control systems for the main battery. This battery can drain for a number of reasons like lights being left on, lack of use, systems left switched on etc.
"Drivers of EVs will normally get ample warning from their car's dashboard that their EV battery charge is low, often resulting in some non-essential systems being switched off automatically, and then a reduction in power. Some drivers do call us for advice before they run out of charge and to ask what happens if they can’t find a suitable charger."
They added: "We have a number of solutions. All of our patrols are EV trained, so a patrol will attend and will diagnose the vehicle to confirm that the vehicle is indeed out of charge. In the event that the vehicle is out of charge, we would normally recover the vehicle to the nearest suitable/working charge point or the member's home if that’s closer (assuming the member has a home charger).
"When it comes to recovering EVs, our roadside patrols have a couple of options, the fastest method being the use of the AA’s innovative Freewheeling Hub system. This can be quickly fitted to the casualty vehicle and saves our members having to wait for a truck. On some occasions, due to casualty vehicle weight or size, a truck will be required to move the out-of-charge vehicle.
"Our advice to drivers is to have sufficient charge for their journey, including potential delays, and to make sure their mobile phone is fully charged and has the relevant charging apps downloaded prior to their journey."
The 'Freewheeling Hub' is necessary because most electric cars cannot be towed. The wheels are linked to a braking system which helps recharge the battery, and towing is either impossible or would damage the systems.
AA Chief Engineer Steve Ives came up with a ‘freewheeling hub’ that patrols can fix to the rear wheels of stricken vehicles, so that these can be towed rather than having to wait for a flatbed recovery vehicle.
The RAC has also developed innovative technology to deal with electric cars - preferring to charge them at the side of the road.
A spokesman said: "We’re the only UK breakdown service that has patrol vans with dedicated onboard emergency EV chargers called EV Boost units. These are the equivalent of a jerry can for EVs.
"Most of our patrol vans also have an ‘all-wheels-up’ towing capability, which allow us to recover EVs that have broken down or have run out of charge. Most EVs can’t be safely towed normally (ie two wheels off the ground), and this kit means our members don’t have to wait for a large recovery truck to move them.
"We also have vehicles that incorporate both of the above, including our heavy duty 4x4 vehicles."
The RAC's 5kW chargers are capable of adding 10 miles of range in about half an hour.
The advantage of the on-board charger is that it reduces the need for recovery vans to carry big, heavy batteries that need to be recharged after use, or having to put a vehicle on a recovery truck to carry it to a nearby charger.
RAC chief operations director Paul Coulton said: “Having been the first breakdown company to come up with a practical and efficient solution to giving an emergency charge to a flat EV and being the only roadside assistance company in the UK that can use this pioneering British-designed technology, we’re really excited to be speeding up the charger to 5kW so we can save members even more time.”
The AA said only 1% of respondents to its survey of 14,500 drivers correctly estimated how infrequent the problem is. The average guess was that two thirds of all EV breakdowns are due to a lack of charge.
AA president Edmund King said: “The reality is far better than drivers think, with very few EVs failing to reach a chargepoint.
“In fact, EVs and combustion cars share the same top two reasons for breakdowns which are tyres and the smaller 12-volt battery.
“As more chargepoints, especially rapid chargers, are installed across the country the number of cars failing to reach one will further reduce, providing more confidence to drivers to help them make the switch.”
