Electric vehicles are great if you only ever make short, predictable journeys. The problem is knowing where to recharge when you go on a longer trip. To allay so called 'range anxiety' the PlugSurfing online community has set up a database of charging points across Europe.
Accessed by PC, tablet or smartphone, the community claims to have both the largest and most up-to-date list of charging points. It isn't limited to public charging points either, as community members can also opt to share their home charging point. The site allows users to check the availability of charging points beforehand to save members from having people turning up on their doorsteps without warning.
According to PlugSurfing two thirds of towns in the UK with a population over 150,000 don't have any public charging points. With roughly 3,000 electric cars on the road already and another 5,600 expected to join them by the end of the year the site is not short of potential members.
The PlugSurfing community is online now at
www.plugsurfing.com.
John Lambert - 20 Sep 2011