Transport Minister Trudy Harrison has promised that the UK government will help create “one of the best electric vehicle charging networks in the world” to drive uptake of electric vehicles.
The government is due to publish a national strategy for Britain’s charging network on Friday, which will be designed to ensure there are enough charging points to keep pace with the rapid increase in the number of electric vehicles on Britain’s roads.
Speaking at the SMMT Electrified Summit, Harrison pointed out that more electric vehicles were sold in the UK in 2021 than in the past five years combined. She said: “As demand for electric vehicles approaches a tipping point, the transition to electric will be organic – not made in Whitehall – and affordable. Not idealistic, but logical.
“We need to make electric vehicle technology part of our everyday experience – and that’s why we’re accelerating our efforts to create one of the best electric vehicle networks in the world.”
She added that the strategy “will define our vision for the continued deployment of charging infrastructure, focusing on the transition from early adoption to mass market adoption and defining our next steps to overcome the challenges. barriers to private investment, leveling out the charging points to provide and making it easier than ever for drivers to go electric.”
There are currently around 29,500 public EV chargers in the UK, including 5,400 fast chargers. Harrison said 600 new chargers are added to the network every month, adding: “Going forward, chargers will be installed in every new home, office and supermarket, allowing people to charge while they sleep, work and do their business. races.”
Harrison said this would lead to more than 145,000 charging stations being installed each year. But she added: “Meeting the needs of future drivers means increasing those numbers. We will harness ingenuity by working with industry, charging points and energy providers and local governments to ensure we maintain It will be a combined effort to make charging convenient and commonplace, but increasing trust in the infrastructure isn’t just about getting more charging points in the ground.”
A key part of expanding the charging offering will be the expansion of home charging, Harrison said, which will be “at the heart of future driver behavior.” But she said the government recognizes that “it can also be a barrier: if you don’t have access to a driveway in your home, you might think twice about getting into electric vehicles”.
She added that as a result, the charging infrastructure plan will “refocus” on providing home charging for rented properties and apartment buildings, to ensure they offer “the same opportunities as those with home charging on a driveway. Our reforms will enable homeowners and owners to invest in the right technology in the right place at the right time.”
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Source: www.autocar.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-03-23 11:21:16
