An  RAC  customer was left stranded at their own home after purchasing a 2020 Porsche Cayenne e-hybrid 4 months ago. This patron had not charged the vehicle at all in this time, leaving the hybrid battery completely flat, so the RAC were phoned for assistance because of the pioneering EV charging pod installed on their standard patrol vehicles.

Thanks to Charge Pod, the RAC were able to deliver a power boost to the hybrid vehicle, giving the Porsche enough charge to be driven to the nearest static charging station.

Why is Charge Pod the best solution to this problem?

Flatbed recovery trucks are one alternative, however, this method is problematic not only because they produce a huge amount of CO2 emissions, but there are certain locations where a flatbed recovery truck cannot access, like a multi-storey carpark for instance.

Other solutions include portable batteries which pose the problem of being heavy, space consuming and cannot ensure enough power is provided to the electric vehicle to give it enough power to reach a static charging station before the battery itself runs out of power.

Therefore, we designed an EV charging pod for the problem of flat and/or severely charge depleted EVs which is lightweight, compact and offers 100% duty cycle of power, so it will never run out of power and is always ready for use.

Further information:

For more information about the Charge Pod system, please click here.

To learn more about the implementation of Charge Pod into the RAC’s fleet, this can be found on the RAC’s website here: RAC exclusive deal will see hundreds more mobile EV charging vans on the road | RAC Drive

Further information about RAC breakdown cover for electric vehicles can be found on the following link: Electric Car Breakdown Cover | #1 For EV Breakdown | RAC

It is known all too well that the electric vehicle charging infrastructure is problematic and contributes greatly to the range anxiety fears experienced by the general population. According to a report conducted by the RAC, 58% of people in the UK consider range anxiety as a barrier to switching to an EV.

This is a perfectly reasonable concern seeing as some studies are suggesting that Britain only has 15% of the electric vehicle charging points required to meet its climate targets by 2025. So as more and more EVs are making their way on to our roads, we are seeing more EV drivers being left with flat or severely depleted EVs all over the country through no fault of their own.

This was the case for one EV driver earlier on this week who encountered problems with the electric vehicle charging infrastructure…

A Motability Operations customer driving a VW ID3 arrived at an EV charging point only to find that it was broken. The EV driver then did not have enough charge to reach the next nearest charging station, so he called the RAC for assistance.

To the customers relief, the RAC were able to deal with this problem in the most efficient way possible, thanks to the Original ADS Charge Pod system. Charge Pod was able to deliver an emergency EV power boost to the ID3 providing it with an 8-mile range, enabling the vehicle to be driven to the nearest functioning static charging station.

Further information:

To learn more about the Charge Pod system, click here.

To read more examples of when EV drivers have run out of charge and the RAC have used the Charge Pod system, click here.

After recently purchasing a new Smart EQ forfour, this  RAC customer was yet to have a home EV charger installed. Having had the vehicle for a few weeks, the charge on the car was running very low. Assuming he would be able to reach the static charging station at the local supermarket, the driver unfortunately ran out of charge before he was able to reach the charge point and had no choice but to pull over and call the RAC for assistance.

The RAC Patrol arrived and was able to deliver a roadside power boost from the Charge Pod system installed on their standard patrol vehicle, providing the flat EV with a 5-mile range, enabling the EV driver to reach the supermarket charging station quickly and safely.

Charge Pod is an exceptionally practical solution for fleet operators like the RAC because the RAC needed a solution which could be incorporated onto the exisiting patrol vehicles which are already in service. However, these vehicles are extremely restricted on space. We therefore designed the Charge Pod system so it is as lightweight and compact as possible, enabling the same level of equipment to be carried in the RAC vehicles.

Charge Pod is not only the most practical solution to this problem, but it also the safest solution given concerns over the transmission of COVID-19. An alternative solution to Charge Pod is to deploy a flatbed recovery truck which means both the flat EV, and its driver would need to be transported to a charging station. Charge Pod enables the patrol to simply plug in and charge the EV, meaning a safe distance can be maintained at all times.

To find out more about our pioneering Charge Pod system click here.

To find out more about the use of Charge Pod in the RAC’s fleet, you can read more on the following link: RAC exclusive deal will see hundreds more mobile EV charging vans on the road | RAC Drive