A FRUSTRATED electric vehicle owner says he feels "mugged off" having to queue for ages to charge his car at "rip-off" prices.
The motorist is ruing his decision to buy a Volkswagen electric car after enduring lengthy waits at struggling service stations.
He is one of many drivers unhappy at having to queue for hours to power their EVs at charging points across the UK.
The Sun Online revealed how badly the existing infrastructure is failing to meet demand, as motorists told of high prices and long waiting times.
Water system salesman James, 52, had to wait in the rain for an hour and a half before finally charging his VW ID3.
He was travelling from Bristol to his home in Stansted, Essex, when stopping at the Leigh Delamere service station on the M4 motorway near Swindon in Wiltshire.
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He said at the scene after finally topping up at the station's sole charging point: "I feel absolutely mugged off, to be honest.
"I had five per cent battery left so I was running out of options – I was expecting there to be dozens of power points, but all there is is this one.
"There’s also a mini charging unit, like people have at home, but it takes four and a half hours to get an 80 per cent charge – it’s basically useless here.
"If this is the best the UK can do for electric vehicle owners, it’s pretty pathetic.
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"Someone needs to sort this mess out.
"Luckily, everyone here today has been polite and reasonable but on another day it could lead to people losing their tempers.
"We have organised the queue in a friendly and co-operative way, but it relies on people’s goodwill.
"We’re way behind the rest of Europe on this and we’re also paying far more for charging up at service stations that people in the rest of Europe. We’re being grievously ripped off."
Others suffering at Leigh Delaware included disabled couple George and Miriam, waiting in torrential downpours to charge their Peugeot.
They told how charging problems had turned their 220-mile trip from Okehampton in Devon to London their "most stressful" ever.
'A MAJOR, MAJOR PROBLEM'
Leigh Delamere is one of Europe's largest service stations and featured various times in the hit BBC sitcom Gavin And Stacey starring James Corden, Ruth Jones, Matt Horne and Joanna Page.
A study earlier this year by car-makers Vauxhall found two thirds of local authority areas across the UK have no roadside chargers for EVs.
The blackspots being served worst were Cumbria, Somerset and Yorkshire.
People owning EVs can find themselves having to buy and install their own costly home charging points.
The Sun Online found more woes at Moto Medway services near Gillingham in Kent, where 24 recently-installed charging points were taped off.
This came after a power loss caused by a lack of network capacity, which Moto CEO Ken McKeikan has called a "major, major problem".
Sales of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned from 2030, as people are urged to opt for more eco-friendly electric options.
But thousands have supported The Sun's Give Us A Brake campaign asking ministers to delay the ban until better technology is available.
Charging is not only proving difficult and unreliable for many, but also increasingly expensive.
EV drivers in South Wales face high prices at their local charging station which is said to be the UK's most expensive.
They are being charged 76p per kWh near Bridgend, up from 44p per kWh last May.
Meanwhile, a British tourist has described how finding charging points can also been a nightmare when holidaying abroad and renting EVs – as he discovered recently in Italy.
EV owners have also been warned they could be charged thousands of pounds extra for repairs due to a shortage of mechanics knowing how to fix them.
And experts have listed five ways they fear EVs could ruin Britain.
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There were 48,450 public electric charging devices installed in Britain across 29,062 locations, as of the end of last month – up by 42 per compared to a year earlier.
Greater London had the most, with 16,534, followed by south-east England's 5,697 and 4,187 in Scotland.
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