A common perception is that the world needs a massive investment and ramp up in public charging points and that they all need to be rapid or ultra-rapid chargers. That is true to an extent, but only part of the solution. While we wait for that utopia to materialise the real-world EV user needs to be far more pragmatic with a range of options that can be used in a wide variety of situations, including public charging points, on-street parking, private home chargers and even mobile chargers.

“What is also strange is that people think you have to charge as quickly as possible,” says Christoph Erni, CEO of charging infrastructure provider Juice Technology. But he adds that on long journeys people have time during rest stops or at their destination to charge. “People think they have to rebuild charging stations everywhere to fast charge, which is not necessary,” he says. “It is not even good for the grid. It’s much better to balance the load over time.”

Slow charging has its place, especially for domestic private residences. Trickle charging overnight will serve most people’s uses.