The number of people driving electric cars in the UK is growing rapidly with more and more people selling their petrol and diesel cars.

However, not everyone is convinced by the electric revolution and, having tried electric cars, some are going back to petrol and diesel.

In recent months there have been a number of high-profile criticisms of electric cars. In particular, Giles Coren made headlines earlier this year after he ditched his £65,000 Jaguar iPace electric car after slamming the charging process as a ‘nightmare’. It now seems it’s not just the rich and famous who are reverting.

One NHS nurse has also said the charging infrastructure is so poor that they and their partner are moving back to diesel.

Speaking to LeaseLoco, Lizzie Butler-Meadows, 36, said she and her partner made the change after a tumultuous time as electric car owners.

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Lizzie, who is based in Chichester, West Sussex, said the biggest hurdle was the charging infrastructure and the lack of them at home and at work.

She said: “Ultimately, the biggest issue was the charging infrastructure. We ended up needing to rent a flat for nine months with communal parking, which meant I couldn’t charge at home and I had no chargers at work.

“Me and my husband work for the NHS and there are no chargers at our workplaces either. Aside from council offices, I’ve never seen chargers at public sector workplaces, like schools, hospitals etc.

“I have so many colleagues who would consider switching to an electric vehicle if there was charging at their workplaces – especially if incentivised with free or discounted charging.”

It wasn’t just the lack of infrastructure that became an issue for Lizzie either, but the mountain of apps she had to download to access electricity for her car.

In the UK, there isn’t one app for all chargers, instead, there are multiple providers, each with their own methods and payment procedures.

Lizzie said: “It was such a pain trying to work out if you have the right app, whether your car and card is registered, making sure the car is actually connected. It was also often hard to tell how much a charge will cost too.

“I remember being stuck in the middle of winter at a charging point trying desperately to get the charging lead back out of the car in a random car park – it wouldn’t disconnect and the screen on the charger had crashed.”

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Lizzie also had problems with the range of her car. She said the range would deteriorate quickly on the motorway as the high speeds ate through her charge.

She explained: “The battery range was too short; it always ran out faster than expected because driving at higher speeds on the motorway drained it quicker.

“This meant that it got stressful if I had to make a longer journey and had to plan charging stops.”

Despite the frustration and the faults with electric living, Lizzie explained that she and her partner were reluctant to say goodbye.

Lizzie said: “We were desperate to try and keep the car because we enjoyed driving it, so we charged it at my parents’ house, which was a 10-minute walk away.

“This became too much of a pain in the middle of winter, so in the end we thought all the disadvantages outweigh any advantages.

“The best ones [chargers] were some of the free ones at the supermarkets, and it was nice feeling smug doing your shopping knowing your car was charging for free.”

Lizzie added that she wouldn’t rule out switching back to electric cars in the future, but said the cost is “massively prohibitive”.

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