The Mearns link in a green transport energy revolution went flat only a day after its official launch.
The Laurencekirk quick car recharge (QCR) point, installed in June as the North-East’s “last gas” for electric cars, is out of commission.
Its operators, Charge Your Car, said the ‘gun’ used to recharge car batteries was dropped this week, leaving electric vehicle (EV) drivers facing trips to Forfar and Dundee to fill up.
Customer services manager Peter Smith said: “Unfortunately, there seems to be a problem with the connector where it is not locking into the vehicle.
“We’ve had a couple of people call in about it today and one of them mentioned they saw it being dropped.
“He did mention, however, that he was able to get a charge from it today though it took about 20 minutes’ worth of trying.
“We have informed the manufacturer and post owner and they are working on getting it back into service as soon as possible.”
The firm extended its apologies for any inconvenience caused.
The nearest charge points are at Angus House, Forfar, and in Aberdeen.
The charging point was installed on the High Street as part of a national network to facilitate the wider use of electric vehicles, by having a charging point every 50 miles.