Rollout of charging points for electric vehicles remains too slow

The distribution of EV charging points has fallen short of what is required to meet the 2030 ban of petrol and diesel cars, the Policy Exchange think-tank says.

The think-tank warns of ‘charging blackspots’ in small towns and rural areas unless the rollout picks up the pace.

According to the report, the UK requires 400,000 public chargers by 2030, an increase from the current 35,000.

Therefore, in order to meet the rise in demand for EVs when the sales of new petrol and diesel cars are prohibited in 2030, as part of Boris Johnson’s ten-point Green Industrial Revolution plan, over the next decade chargepoints need to be fitted five times faster. In total, 35,000 charge-points must be installed each year over the next decade, whilst presently 7,000 charge-points are installed annually.

Grant Shapps, transport Secretary, labelled the UK’s charging network as ‘world-leading’, adding: ‘From Cumbria to Cornwall, drivers should benefit from the electric vehicle revolution we are seeing right now.’

Shapps announced a further £20 million funding for local authorities to install 4,000 more street charge-points across the UK, to allow residents without access to off-street parking to charge their vehicles.

Researchers recommended that government issue contracts to private firms to install charge-points where they are sparse, shifting from the existing policy of offering grants.

This comes after it was revealed by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders that the market for EVs increased by 140 per cent in 2020, totalling 17 per cent of the new car market. Last year was the best year for electric cars to date, with one EV registered every 3 minutes.

‘Whereas a driver of a petrol car can travel confidently from Land’s End to John O’Groats, knowing that they can refill the tank every few miles, they is not yet the case for EVs,’ Simon Clarke, Conservative MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, commented.

‘Some areas have naturally built-up impressive coverage, such as central London, but vast swathes of the country have not.’