Taking the Tesla to Truro? Warnings over lack of electric charging points

theguardian.com:

When the Nissan Leafs and Teslas flock to the seaside this summer, the arrival of their well-off drivers should be good news for British tourism.

But tourism leaders have warned that places such as Dorset, Cornwall and North Yorkshire risk being overwhelmed by the demand for charging points for electric cars, putting off tourists from returning in the future.

One in three new cars sold in December was electric, and rural and coastal areas are in danger of being left behind as operators scramble to add more public charging points.

Dorset has 133 charging devices, a rate of 35 per 100,000 people, which is slightly below the national average. But the Jurassic coastline gets 3.6 million overnight visits a year, most of them in the summer, forcing tourists to compete with locals for charging points.

Seasonal demand means holidaymakers are likely to see a repeat of the Christmas chaos when Tesla drivers had to queue for hours at service stations, according to Martin Cox, vice-president of the British Holiday and Home Parks Association.

Cox, who also runs two holiday parks in Dorset, said: “If that snowballs in July and August, then we’re going to have friction in our area because people are not going to be able to go anywhere. In Dorset, they sell 35% more petrol and diesel during peak weeks. This summer, we will probably see people queuing at EV points and people arriving late at our accommodation because they’ve had to wait to charge their car.”

Most electric car owners charge their vehicle at home on their driveway or at work and expect to do the same on holiday, said Cox, who is also an electric vehicle owner.

“We have about 500 cars a night in August,” he said. “We’ve got 11 electric vehicle charging points and we’ve now reached