New homes and buildings such as supermarkets and workplaces, as
well as those undergoing major renovation, will be required to
install electric vehicle charge points from next year, under new
legislation announced by Prime Minister today (Monday 22 November).
England will lead the world to mandate such building regulations,
kicking off a decade of delivery in hundreds of thousands of
charge points while creating further green jobs across the
country.
Up to 145,000 extra charge points will be installed across
England each year thanks to these regulations, in the run up to
2030 when the sale of new petrol and diesel cars will end in the
UK. This builds on the over 250,000 home and workplace charge
points the government has already supported to
date.
With the majority of charging happening at home, this will mean
people can buy new properties already ready for an electric
vehicle future, while ensuring charge points are readily
available at new shops and workplaces across the UK – making it
as easy as refuelling a petrol or diesel car today.
As well as new homes and non-residential buildings, those
undergoing largescale renovations which leaves them with over 10
parking spaces will be required to install electric vehicle
charge points.
After consulting with industry, the Government will also be going
further to make it easier and simpler for people to go electric,
by introducing simpler ways to pay whilst travelling, such as
contactless, at all new fast and rapid charge points.
This comes as the Prime Minister addresses the CBI annual
conference, where he’ll set out how the UK can create a first
mover advantage in the biggest transformation of the global
economy in 200 years, if the public and private sectors work in
partnership to seize the opportunities of net zero, from electric
vehicles to clean power.
In his CBI speech, Prime Minister is expected to say:
“This is a pivotal moment - we cannot go on as we
are. We have to adapt our economy to the green industrial
revolution.
“We have to use our massive investment in science and
technology and we have to raise our productivity and then we
have to get out your way.
“We must regulate less or better and take
advantage of new freedoms.”
He will add:
“We will require new homes and buildings to have EV
charging points – with another 145,000 charging points to be
installed thanks to these regulations
“We are investing in new projects to turn wind
power into hydrogen and the 10 point plan investments have
already triggered about £90 billion of private sector investment,
driving the creation of high wage high skilled jobs as part of
our mission to unite and level up across the
country.”
The Government has also announced today that following a
successful pilot with businesses, Innovate UK will deliver a new
three-year programme of £150m in new flexible and
affordable Innovation Loans to help British SMEs
commercialise their latest R&D innovations. This programme
supports businesses to grow, scale up and create new
highly-skilled jobs in the process, including those who would
have otherwise been unable to secure private loans.
Whilst this is open to a variety of sectors, green businesses
will be able to apply from early next year, many of whom
have already been benefiting during the pilot as the UK
transitions to net zero.
For example, Northern Ireland based Catagen Ltd’s development of
catalytic converters has helped vehicle manufacturers to
reduce emissions. NanoSUN Ltd – a company based in Lancaster
– develops and manufactures hydrogen refuelling products for
customers in the oil and gas and transport sectors, with the
support of the innovation loan helping them triple the number of
high-skilled engineers they employ and prototype and demonstrate
their products.
Thanks to innovation loans, 70% of surveyed businesses
who were part of the pilot are now also offering customers
greener alternatives to their existing products.
The Government has also confirmed today nearly £10 million in
funding for a first-of-a-kind new hydrogen project in the UK’s
largest onshore windfarm near Glasgow.
£9.4 million will be invested into the Whitelee green hydrogen
project to develop the UK’s largest electrolyser, a system which
converts water into hydrogen gas as a way to store energy and
supply local transport providers with zero-carbon fuel.
Developed by ITM Power and BOC, with ScottishPower, it has the
potential to store and produce the equivalent of enough green
hydrogen to fuel over 200 bus journeys travelling between Glasgow
and Edinburgh each day.
Ends
Notes to Editors
- The Government will lay the required regulations in
Parliament in 2021. There will then be an adjustment period of no
less than 6 months from the date of the laying of the regulations
in parliament and the regulations coming into force.
- An additional £620 million to support the transition to
electric vehicles was announced in the Government’s Net Zero
Strategy, which will include accelerating the roll out of local
charging infrastructure across the UK.
- Government and industry have supported the installation of
almost 26,000 publicly available charging devices including more
than 4,900 rapid devices – one of the largest networks in
Europe. The Government has supported in total over 250,000
charge points in homes and workplaces.
- Earlier this year, the Government launched a consultation on
consumer experience at public charge points with the aim of
improving the consumer experience, including by
introducing simpler ways to pay whilst travelling.The
full Government response will be set out shortly.
