Failure to design public charge points to work around Britain’s patchy mobile signal coverage means that EV drivers could be facing problems when they seek to charge their vehicles at thousands of locations.

Out of the 53,667 public charging devices in the UK at the start of 2024, 31,910 are Type-2 chargers with speeds up to 8kw, and therefore are not required to provide contactless payment options.

Instead, the majority of Type-2 chargers require drivers to pay via a mobile phone app, which would subsequently rely on an adequate mobile signal to connect.

Further, the RAC Foundation found that most of these chargers need a mobile signal to function, only driving the issue further.

If not all of the four major UK mobile network providers don’t have a signal at each charging point, drivers could be at risk of having no way to charge their EV.

Based on a random sample of 2,059 Type-2 public chargers, the RAC Foundation found that the majority of these chargers do not have enough mobile coverage to guarantee they can be activated 100% of the time.

Outside of London, only a third (33.4%) of the Type-2 chargers analysed are in locations were there is adequate all-network 4G coverage that would enable not just payments, but functionality.

Two-thirds (66.4%) are in spots where a signal from one, two, three, or even all the providers is absent or too weak to work.

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“Drivers of vehicles fuelled by petrol and diesel are used to reliable and hassle-free filling up at any of the 8,400 forecourts across Britain,” Steve Gooding, the director of the RAC Foundation said. “The same cannot yet be said of topping up the battery of an electric car at a public chargepoint.”

“In many instances the mobile phone has become the key to unlocking the potential of the electric car. Unfortunately, that key does not always work.

“Where signal connectivity at a chargepoint is a problem drivers might conclude that the charger is at fault hence undermining the confidence we should be building in the reliability of public charging options for electric vehicles.”

The report also follows the news that the market share for new pure battery electric cars was 15.2% in March, down from 16.2% year on year.