Key milestone passed as new stats show there are now more
than 50,000 public electric vehicle chargepoints
Boost in charging infrastructure will help the country’s
transition to electric vehicles
Moment comes as world-leading zero emission vehicle
mandate set to come into effect next year
The UK has taken another step on the road to zero emission
driving as new statistics out today (13 December) show over
50,000 public chargepoints have been installed across the
country, making it easier and quicker for electric vehicle owners
to recharge their cars.
Charging options for drivers continue to grow at pace, with
today’s stats, produced using data supplied to the Department by
Zapmap, also showing there are 44% more public chargepoints
(52,602) than this time last year.
Today’s figures come as the UK’s world-leading path to
reaching zero emission vehicles by 2035 is set to come into
effect next year. The zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate
requires 80% of new cars and 70% of new vans sold in Great
Britain to be zero emission by 2030.
The mandate ensures the country will have the most ambitious
regulatory framework for the switch to electric vehicles (EVs) in
the world and the 2035 end of sale date puts the UK in line with
other major global economies, including France, Germany, Sweden
and Canada.
This mandate is providing the certainty needed to safeguard
skilled British jobs in the car industry and is allowing the
private sector to scale up investment in charging infrastructure,
helping more drivers make the switch and ensuring the country
remains on track to reaching 300,000 public chargepoints by 2030.
Technology and Decarbonisation Minister said:
“Passing 50,000 public chargepoints is a key milestone in our
journey to zero emission driving and shows the incredible
progress we’ve made to provide the infrastructure for drivers to
go electric.
“With Government and private sector investment, we are backing
drivers by expanding our charging network – creating jobs and
putting us well on the way to our target of 300,000 public
chargepoints by 2030.”
The UK continues to be a leader in the transition to net zero,
with EVs making up 16% of the car market – one of the highest
shares in Europe and higher than the EU average of 13%.
Our approach has already attracted record investment in
gigafactories and EV manufacturing, including Nissan’s
recent investment of over £3 billion to develop two new electric
vehicles at their Sunderland plant, Tata’s investment of over £4
billion in a new 40 GWh gigafactory, BMW’s investment of £600m to
build next generation MINI EVs in Oxford, Ford’s investment of
£380 million in Halewood to make Electric Drive Units and
Stellantis’ £100m investment in Ellesmere Port for EV van
production.
As part of our Plan for Drivers, we
intend to consult on ways to make installations cheaper and
quicker for chargepoint operators, review the grid connections
process for chargepoints, and also consult on the expansion of
permitted development rights to make installations easier.
Additionally, the Government’s Connections Action
Plan will overhaul the way projects access the electricity
grid and reduce delay time, positively impacting all types of
connection customers including EV chargepoint operators.
The Government also continues to support the rollout of charging
infrastructure in local areas. Applications for the first round
of the £381 million Local EV Infrastructure
Fund are currently being assessed. This funding will deliver
tens of thousands more chargepoints and transform the
availability of charging for drivers without off-street parking.
In addition, the On-Street Residential
Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) is open to
all UK local authorities. Grants are also
available to help businesses make the transition through the
Government’s Workplace Charging Scheme
(WCS), as well as people in flats and rented accommodation
through the Electric Vehicle
Chargepoint Grant .
Additionally, new laws recently came
into force to provide EV drivers with easier and more reliable
public charging, mandating that that prices across chargepoints
are transparent, easy to compare and that a large proportion of
new public chargepoints have contactless payment options.
The regulations also require that providers open up their data,
so drivers can easily find an available chargepoint that meets
their needs. This will make it easier for drivers to locate
chargepoints, check their charging speeds and determine whether
they are working and available for use.
