The challenge of charging an electric car
Money Box
BBC
4.2 • 825 Ratings
🗓️ 20 July 2019
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Money Box listener Gary takes reporter Dan Whitworth on a guided tour of electric car charging points in Swindon to illustrate the complexities of navigating the system and the associated costs. Guest: David Newton, CEO of BP Chargemaster, the UK's largest electric charging network.
Laura would love to be a homeowner. She regularly enters raffles and competitions in the hope of winning a house. Richard Williams, a solicitor specialising in gambling law, explains why and how home competitions can go wrong.
The Residential Landlords Association and campaign group Generation Rent debate findings from the RLA’s survey on government plans to abolish section 21 notices in England and Wales. Section 21 allows a landlord to evict tenants without a reason and with just 2 months notice. Guests: Georgie Lammy, Campaigns Lead, Generation Rent and John Stewart Policy Manager, Residential Landlords Association.
More people have been included in a scheme set up by HSBC to compensate people who paid unreasonable debt collection charges. Those affected were customers with loans, credit cards, or store cards with either HFC Bank Ltd or John Lewis Financial Services between 2003 and 2009. Both of those firms are now part of HSBC which told Money Box "We believe we have identified all those affected who may have paid a Debt Collection Charge between 2003 and 2009, and have or will shortly be writing to them. If someone believes they paid a Debt Collection Charge and we haven’t contacted them, they can call us to discuss on 0345 585 7564.
Presenter: Paul Lewis Producer: Charmaine Cozier Editor: Emma Rippon
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | In Northern Ireland, from the late 70s to the early 90s, the IRA killed over 40 alleged informers. |
| 0:08.0 | But the man who often found, tortured and sometimes killed these people on behalf of the IRA |
| 0:12.0 | was himself an informer, a secret British army agent with the codename Stakeknife. |
| 0:18.0 | Who gets to play God? And why me? Why my family? When lies are still being told to this day, |
| 0:24.0 | who do you believe? I wouldn't even know where to start and I'm with the IRA. |
| 0:28.5 | Steakknife. Listen first on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:43.1 | Hello, the government announced plans this week to make every new home in England have a charging point installed. |
| 0:49.3 | And from next spring, all new rapid charge points should take contactless payments by credit and debit cards. |
| 0:53.8 | Well, they're ambitious plans, aimed at simplifying how people charge their electric car. |
| 0:55.1 | But they're in the future. |
| 1:01.4 | For the 220,000 electric car drivers already on the road, things are much more difficult as Moneybox reporter Dan Whitworth has been finding out. Well, for traditional petrol and diesel drivers, |
| 1:07.0 | poor life is pretty simple. Choose any garage you like, put in as much fuel as you want, and pay by card or cash. |
| 1:13.4 | Now, for electric car drivers, though, there are at least 20 companies offering charging points, |
| 1:18.5 | each with its own card, website or app where you need to register. And that's before you even start |
| 1:23.5 | looking for a charging point. And naturally naturally this frustrates many electric car owners |
| 1:28.3 | who believe they're doing the right thing but in very difficult circumstances. |
| 1:32.9 | Gary Smith in Swindon is one of them. |
| 1:35.6 | The charging network is controlled by numerous different organisations. |
| 1:43.1 | Hence they've all got their own individual ways of allowing |
| 1:48.3 | you access and allowing you payment. And that actually, I think in some ways, can be quite |
| 1:54.6 | daunting for people who are looking at becoming electric. For me, simplicity is the key. |
| 2:09.0 | If I can just turn up at any charging point and use my debit card, just so that I can fill it up, connect, pay and go. |
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