With the UK's EV fleet passing two million vehicles, new research shows drivers are finding the charging experience easier than expected, though the reality still depends heavily on whether motorists can charge at home.
The survey of 500 UK EV owners, commissioned by temporary car insurance provider Tempcover, examines attitudes to costs and infrastructure confidence, and reveals a clear divide in EV charging access between homeowners and renters.
The home ownership advantage
Over half of EV drivers (57%) said the charging experience has been easier than expected. Tenants, however, are more than twice as likely as homeowners to say it has been harder than anticipated, at 15% compared with 6%.
Across all respondents, 85% describe the charging process as 'easy'. That satisfaction rate climbs to 89% among homeowners but drops to 72% among renters. Home charging access plays a central role in that gap: 90% of homeowners have home charging installed, compared with just 69% of renters. Among drivers who already have home charging, nearly a third (32%) said EV ownership would be difficult without it.
The hurdles to home charging
For renters, securing EV charging access involves both administrative and legal obstacles. Installation costs are a challenge cited across all respondents (36%), but tenants also point to a further set of barriers:
- landlord or housing provider restrictions (27%)
- concerns over higher electricity bills (19%)
- the need to navigate multiple permissions (18%)
Homeowners face more practical challenges. Installation costs remain their top concern (38%), followed by the need for electrical upgrades (22%). Fire and electrical safety concerns (18%) and installation complexity (14%) also feature among the broader challenges reported across all respondents.
Life on the public grid
Renters use public charging far more heavily than homeowners. Twice as many renters as homeowners charge at public stations daily, at 18% compared with 9%, while over a third of all EV drivers surveyed (34%) use public charging at least once a week.
The day-to-day experience of finding a charger remains mixed as the network scales up. While 29% of drivers frequently struggle to find an available charger, 32% say they rarely or never experience issues. Asked to identify the biggest challenges on the public network, drivers cited chargers being occupied or unavailable (34%), the cost of public charging (34%), and units being out of order or unreliable (29%) as the top three issues.
The cost of charging
Running costs have also proved higher than expected for many new adopters. Nearly half of EV drivers (46%) found that the costs of both home and public charging turned out higher than anticipated after making the switch.
Optimism for 2030
Despite facing greater charging challenges, renters emerge as the more optimistic group about the UK's EV future. Seven in 10 tenants (70%) say they are confident the UK will establish sufficient charging provision, spanning public networks and residential solutions for flats and shared parking, to meet demand by 2030. That compares with 59% of homeowners.
Those who rely most on the public charging network are also among the most optimistic about the future - suggesting that regular experience of public infrastructure may be building rather than denting confidence in what's coming," said Claire Wills-McKissick, temporary car insurance expert at Tempcover.
"What the data does show is that the experience of EV ownership can look quite different depending on your housing situation. Renters are making it work, but often have to navigate more hurdles to get there, and closing that gap will be key to making the EV transition work for everyone."
"For those considering the switch to EV ownership, temporary car insurance means you can borrow a friend or family member's EV and find out whether it works for you, without touching their annual policy."
