New partnership will see EV drivers who use ScottishPower chargers offered free recovery service
The AA has further expanded its support for electric vehicles (EV), after the breakdown service this week launched a new “out of charge” service for EV drivers.
In partnership with ScottishPower, AA said it will offer EV drivers a recovery service when their car has run out of power and take drivers to the nearest charge point or their home. The new service is available to anyone who buys a charger from ScottishPower.
The new partnership aims to support the transition to EVs and reduce ‘range anxiety’, the fear that EV cars will run out of battery without access to a chargepoint, which has been identifed by surveys as a major barrier to adoption for EVs.
“At ScottishPower our customers are at the heart of everything we do and we are delighted we can offer this additional service to hopefully help even more people make the switch to electric vehicles,” said Chris Carberry, smart solutions director at ScottishPower. “We’re on a journey to net zero and by working with a fantastic organisation such as the AA we can help make that transition easier and quicker.”
Gavin Franks, business services director at the AA, said: “ScottishPower and the AA share a vision of a world powered by zero-emissions vehicles and we’re proud to help more drives switch to electric vehicles.
“Supporting drivers is at the heart of everything we do at the AA and this includes giving more power to electric drivers. We hope this partnership with ScottishPower will make drivers even more confident about making the move to electric vehicles in the future.”
The news comes in the same week as the latest official sales figures from auto industry trade body the SMMT shows that sales of EVs are continuing to soar. Plug-in cars represented a record 28.1 per cent of the new car market in November, with 21,726 battery electric vehicle registrations and 10,796 plug-in hybrids.
However, the surge in new EVs has raised fresh fears over whether the roll out of public charging infrastructure is keeping pace with the fast-expanding EV fleet. The SMMT this week called for commensurate targets for charging infrastructure rollout, highlighting how there is currently just one on-street public charger installed for every 52 new plug-in cars registered in 2021.
