The company says there are still issues in what should be a straightforward process of taking a connector, plugging it into an EV, paying and charging.

Based at the Gridserve Innovations and Operations Centre (GIOC) in Swindon, the new test lab features a lineup of the latest EV chargers designed to replicate real world scenarios.

Gridserve says it will be be focusing on the ‘handshake’ between charger and vehicle – where the two bits of advanced technology talk to each other and decide whether to start a charge.

It adds that, with a wealth of different brands that each run different software configurations, making sure its  chargers work perfectly is a full-time job.

Gridserve says its engineers have conducted thousands of hours of interoperability testing on chargers and a variety of EVs, rigorously examining power cabinets, battery energy storage systems (BESS), software and firmware to identify network improvements.

It adds: "We know that reliability is key to customer confidence. People won’t make the switch if they’re concerned the charging infrastructure doesn’t work.

"The GIOC helps us improve our existing operations, while enhancing the EV charging experience for all our customers in the future."