The early adopters of electric cars have been weighing in on the top public and private wallbox chargers currently offering best and worst service.

ZapMap polled over 3,000 electric vehicle owners and discovered that InstaVolt’s rapid-charging public network received highest ratings, while Ecotricity was rated the lowest by drivers.

Tesla’s Supercharger network, which was at the top of the rankings in 2020, wasn’t part of the study because it doesn’t allow all EV drivers access to it. 

Auto Express also conducted a survey to determine which charging devices home owners have liked best. Zappi, a British company, was at the top.

Where and what should you use to charge your electric car? Polls rank the best public charging networks and homecharging devices you can have installed at your property

You should know where and how to charge an electric car. According to polls, the most effective public charging networks as well as homecharging devices that you could have at your house are those listed by Pollster.

Nominated as the best public charging networks

For the past four years, electric car owners have participated in an annual survey to assess the infrastructure for public charging.

The latest edition of the report also sees Zap-Map – the UK’s leading EV mapping service – for the first time awarding a ‘Best EV Charging Network’ accreditation to the top scorer, and ‘EV Driver Recommended’ badge given to the top three providers.

The rating is an overall score of the network users that is given to EV drivers. It is then used for grading each network using a maximum 5 stars. 

A further four factors were also considered when assessing their satisfaction with the network: reliability, affordability, useability, and facility.

In first place overall this year is InstaVolt – the rapid charging network scored particularly highly for reliability and ease of use, securing its ‘Best EV Charging Network’ badge. 

This year, it was second in the survey after being outscored last year by Tesla’s Supercharger network.

The results for 2021 have not included Tesla’s service as Zap-Map only rates networks available to all drivers of EVs and not just specific customers. This is the US case at the moment.

However, Elon Musk stated earlier in the year that its Superchargers will be open to all electric vehicle owners.

InstaVolt, which has around 650 chargers up and down the country, was rated the best network in the UK in a survey of 3,000 EV drivers

InstaVolt has approximately 650 charging points across the UK and was named the UK’s best network by 3,000 drivers of electric vehicles.

InstaVolt provides devices at popular public sites, such as McDonald's and Costa car parks as well as at motorway services

InstaVolt offers devices at public places such as McDonald’s, Costa and other car parks.

InstaVolt’s network currently consists of more than 650 chargers across the UK, with many available as part of partnership with the likes of McDonald’s, Costa Coffee and motorway service.

The company has committed to installing 10,000 charging stations over the next ten years. 

Alex Earl from Zap-Map commented: “With increasing competition within the charge point operator marketplace, effectively holding on to the top spot in this market is an impressive result that the InstaVolt staff should be proud of. 

“It is a testament to their laser-focused customer experience on reliability and customer service, which continues to be a benchmark for other companies to emulate.”

Adrian Keen is the CEO of InstaVolt. He stated that he was proud to claim the top spot for Best EV Charging Network. This is a testament to his company ethos, which is to make charging easy and reliable for all EV drivers. 

‘We won’t be resting on our laurels as we move into 2022. We plan to invest more in smarter technology, install faster chargers and create new partnerships. EV adoption has reached an all-time high.

MFG EV Power - a newcomer for 2021 - took second spot in the standings and shared Zap-Map's 'EV Driver Recommended' network award with Osprey

MFG EV Power – a brand newcomer in 2021 – occupied the second place and was awarded Zap-Map’s EV Driver Recommended network award together with Osprey

MFG EV Power, and Osprey are the second and third most recommended rapid-charging networks.  

MFG EV Power has joined the list as a first network. It has already installed charging hubs in its network of petrol stations. 

Gridserve has also announced its new standing in 2021. The company, which launched its first electric forecourt in Braintree last week and said it was building an EV charging hub in Gatwick.

Gridserve this week announced it is creating a bespoke EV charging hub at Gatwick Airport

Gridserve has announced that it will be creating an EV charging hub in Gatwick Airport.

Gridserve is currently in the process of updating every Electric Highway charge point at motorway services having bought it from Ecotricity earlier in 2021

Gridserve has been updating all Electric Highway Charge Points at Motorway Services. It purchased them from Ecotricity 2021.

British company, Gridserve Electric Highway also acquired Ecotricity’s motorway charger network and is upgrading it.

The network was fifth in the overall ranking, and Ecotricity’s legacy charge points (around 100 charging devices located at service stations along motorways that are not yet replaced by Gridserve) were bottom with a rating of two stars. 

ChargePlace Scotland – which came in 13th place overall – took first place for cost, thanks to many of its extensive network of rapid charge points being free to use.

Zap-Map reported that this report follows a 2021 year that witnessed a’remarkable increase’ in the number EV drivers and charging infrastructure, now at close to 30,000 outlets across the nation. 

Melanie Shufflebotham (co-founder, COO, Zap-Map) stated that despite significant improvements over the past year, some aspects remain constant. EV drivers are clear about the factors that make for a good charging experience, namely reliability and ease of use – and these should be key priorities for the UK’s public charging networks.

The Zap-Map survey reveals that although some people are making progress, other individuals still have a lot to do. 

“As the mass adoption of electric vehicles increases, we need to make public charging easy. 

Do you want to charge your EV at home? Here are these wallboxes, ranked by EV drivers

Auto Express has conducted a second poll to find the top homecharge wallboxes.

The majority of owners of an electric vehicle have off-street parking facilities, such as driveways and garages. This allows them to plug in their car at home and enjoy the financial benefits of domestic energy prices. Motoring titles asked owners of EVs and plug-in hybrids which home gadgets they prefer as part of the wider Driver Power survey.

The myenergi Zappi was ranked the best home-charging wallbox, topping every other device for installation process, charging speed. build quality and reliability

Myenergi Zappi was named the top home-charging wallbox. It beat all other devices in terms of installation speed and charging speed. Quality and reliability

Wallboxes that charge EVs best 

1. Zappi: 86.86%

2. Ohme: 85.55%

3.Pod Point: 83.29%

4. EO: 83.27%

5. Wallbox: 82.59% 

6. Tesla: 81.46%

7. EV Box: 80.50% 

8. BP Pulse: 77.23% 

9. Rolec: 77.02% 

Source: Auto Express Driver Power 

While there wasn’t much to split the contenders, it was myenergi’s Zappi device that topped the charts, with an overall rating of 86.86 per cent in the study.

Auto Express says it scores higher than any other device for its installation process, charging speed, build quality and reliability. 

The magazine stated that Zappi’s units were stylish, and they offer excellent customer service.

Ohme’s wallbox was second with a 85.55 per cent score, ranking highest for customer service and quality of its smartphone app that drivers can use to check on charging sessions and activate the wallbox during off-peak hours.

Rolec received the lowest overall score of 77.02%, but it was still respectable. However, Rolec lost favor with EV drivers because its app is not as good as other providers.  

You can read the full results from the wallbox survey here. 

Ohme was second in the standings, receiving rave reviews for customer service and its smartphone app that connected to the wallbox

Ohme came second in the rankings, and received rave reviews for its customer service. It also connected with the wallbox via its app.

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