Electric Cars: Rollout Of Charging Points Still Too Slow - Reviews
"Transport Secretary Grant Shapps insisted the UK's charging network is "world-leading"."
The roll-out of charging points for electric vehicles has fallen behind what is needed to meet the planned ban on new petrol and diesel cars, according to the Policy Exchange think-tank.
There's a risk of "charging blackspots" in small towns and rural areas unless the rollout speeds up, it says. According to the report, the Uk will need 400,000 public chargers by 2030, up from 35,000 currently. Transport Secretary Grant S.A. said the UK network is "world-leading"
The think tank, however, said the annual rate for charging points to be built would rise from some 7,000 over the past three years to 35,000 over the next decade if conventionally-fuelled cars and vans are prohibited in 2030.
Researchers proposed that the government grant contracts to private companies in areas of sparse for installation of charge points.
Under the proposal, a price cap would be introduced for charging points that received government support in order to avoid the exploitation of local monopolies by operators.
The report called for local authorities to receive funding from the Transport Department for dedicated teams tasked with boosting the roll-out in residential areas.
In the foreword to the report, Simon Clarke, a Conservative MP and former minister for regional growth and local government wrote: "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, that is not yet the case for EVs (electric vehicles).
"Some areas have naturally built up impressive coverage, such as central London, but vast swathes of the country have not.
"This important report sets out a way to meet the challenge," he said.
The report said the government should focus on areas where it isn't delivering enough public charge-points, including the north west of England, Yorkshire and Northern Ireland".
Policy Exchange senior research fellow Ed Birkett said: "Companies are rolling out charge-points at a record rate, but there's a risk that some areas of the country won't get enough charge-points and will be left behind.
"We're concerned about the patchy deployment of charge-points, which runs against the government's plans for leveling up and a strong and connected Union."
£1.5bn investment
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps insisted the UK's charging network is "world-leading", adding: "From Cumbria to Cornwall, drivers across the country should benefit from the electric vehicle revolution we're seeing right now."
He announced another £20m of funding for local authorities to install 4,000 more on-street charging points across the UK. This will allow residents to charge their vehicles without access to off-street parking.
In November, as part of his Green Industrial Revolution, Prime Minister Boris Johnson launched a sales ban for new diesel and petrol vehicles and carriages from 2030.
In the following four years, he also allocated £1.3 million to charging facilities.
The data from the Company of Engineers and Traders indicates that in 2020, 17% of the new vehicle market had been taken by electric battery models, up from 3% over the previous 12 months.
RAC motoring group spokesman Rod Dennis agreed that parts of the country risked being left behind
"Without a big increase in the number of charge points right across the UK, certain parts of the country risk getting left behind as 2030 approaches. Everyone remembers what happened when broadband started to be rolled out and some areas were left with poor connections. It would be a major policy failure if something similar happened in the next few years with communities missing out on good charging provision."
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Rahul Shrestha
