ADAC: There is still much room for improvement in fast charging

A switch from taxis and rental cars to electric drives is still often hindered today by the fear of not being able to charge in time on long-distance routes. Those who already drive an electric vehicle usually no longer have this fear. This is a finding from a survey of 400 electric car drivers conducted online by the ADAC. They wanted to know how satisfied these drivers are with the public charging infrastructure for charging on the go.

Accordingly, almost 40 percent of e-car drivers are "not particularly satisfied" with the charging situation on long-distance trips. Their wish list included further expansion of the charging infrastructure, simplified processes, more reliable charging stations, lower prices, and faster charging.

67 percent of those surveyed felt it was important to be able to pay ad hoc with Giro or credit cards via a reader. This will only be required for public charging stations from mid-2023. Many electric car drivers find the pricing very unclear. Only 38 percent of them found the price information sufficient. According to ADAC Technology President Karsten Schulze, the prices for ad hoc charging customers are sometimes twice as high as for contract customers. Due to the lack of clarity of the tariffs, customers could not calculate the costs in advance.

According to the survey, many charging attempts still fail due to defective charging stations, problems with activation, and lack of acceptance of charging cards or charging apps. Incidentally, the 100 Tesla drivers surveyed as a comparison group rated the Tesla Superchargers better in almost all categories.

What does that mean?

There is still a lack of transparency and issues with activation. In fact, we ourselves have already had similar experiences: our Audi test vehicles refused all fast chargers in the city of Munich - while they accepted AC.