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EV chargers installed at private homes and businesses should be utilised to help effectively increase the capacity of the UK's public charging network, it has been said.
Emma Loveday, senior fleet consultant at Volkswagen Financial Services UK, cited statistics from Zap-Map showing that at the end of April there were 42,566 public chargers in the UK, with an estimated ten times more than that installed at homes and workplaces.
While some of these are already open to the public, Loveday argued that opening up more would provide significant support to further EV market growth.
She said: "Not all drivers will be able to install a home charging point. As the adoption of EVs increases more drivers will be solely reliant on the public charging network.
"Introducing an Airbnb-style of community charging, whereby private individuals make their own home chargers available to others when not in use, could help alleviate some of the anxiety facing EV owners and the industry regarding the speed of the infrastructure rollout."
Loveday said opening up chargers could help to alleviate significant geographical discrepancies in availability.
She said: "For example, if you holiday in a tourist hotspot location like Cornwall, public charging options are thin on the ground. In the height of summer, demand will be huge. However, home garages and driveways are often plentiful in those areas, meaning there's likely to be a much higher provision of home chargers. By opening those out for others to rent, you suddenly get a lot more options.
"If you visit family in a rural area, which we know have less charging infrastructure than cities and urban areas, this creates more of a challenge. However, neighbours with bookable home chargepoints can provide the charging lifeline needed.
"The benefit to EV drivers is that it provides a cheaper and more readily available alternative to public charging. Rapid chargepoints currently hold a premium in the same way as petrol or diesel does at motorway services. The benefit to home charger owners is that being able to rent out their charger, at a fee decided upon by them, helps offset the installation cost."
Loveday said that businesses with chargers could take a similar approach to homeowners.
She said: "We are already seeing charging points in places such as supermarkets so you can charge while you shop. But businesses like gyms which have clear peak times in the morning and evening will have an empty car park in the middle of the day.
"They can charge a fee for use of their chargepoints and create an additional revenue stream for themselves, and even more choice for EV drivers."
Loveday added that home and business chargers could also provide a safer environment for users than public chargers.
She said: "In a time where we sadly see recurring headlines about public attacks of violence, especially towards women, community charging offers a solution which many will feel is a safer alternative to sitting in an isolated car park while their car charges.
"Being in the community, off road, near a home with people inside and lights on, and in a residential area, will feel more reassuring for a lot of people.
"Additionally, car parks statistically have a higher risk of collisions and vandalism. This risk can be reduced by parking on somebody's drive, helping drivers having worry less about damage to their car."
Loveday did, however, warn that community use of private chargers could only form part of the solution to the UK's charging needs.
She said: "Community charging is not 'an instead of', it is an 'in addition to'. Even if everyone with home chargers opened up access to electric vehicle users, the UK would still need major support and investment from the government to get us to where we need to be."
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