I have read of many who, not being able to have a home charger, used various free chargers and were able to charge for 25p per kWh on fast chargers. A year or so later, the free chargers are few and far between, and charger prices have more than doubled. There is a balance between price and convenience and that equation will be different for everyone.
Having made a few trips to the outskirts of London, near lakeside, I am aware there are a dozen fast chargers at the services, another 8 or 10 nearby, another 2 at McDonalds, another 3 or 4 at Tesco. Travelling into East London I then passed several more. Where we live, 6 at two local supermarkets, 4 in the car park plus another 4 at the village car park a few miles away. Still some way to go. The worst time to charge is at weekends on the Motorway, either in the run up to Xmas or during the Easter or Summer holidays, I think we shall see lots of “petrol stations” with maybe 16 or 20 chargers, 150kWh or even 350kWh. Supermarkets will have 10 or 20, where currently there is one or two.
This does need joined up writing, universal charging, not reliant on an RFID card and a proper strategy.
For me, and I know for many, a home charger is essential, a red line, probably more important than range.
If in 2026 it´s possible to find a rapid charger with relative ease, charge from 10-80% in 10/15 minutes and with ranges of 400+ miles the norm, at that stage it becomes viable for almost everyone.