“…the public discourse on zero emission motoring has now firmly shifted from if it will happen, to when.
UK Secretary of State
TAKING CHARGE: THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE INFRASTRUCTURE STRATEGY
“In November 2020, the Prime Minister put
the UK on course to be the fastest nation
in the G7 to decarbonise road transport,
announcing that sales of all new petrol and
diesel cars and vans would end in 2030.
Alongside Government plans to introduce
targets for sales of clean vehicles from
2024, the public discourse on zero emission
motoring has now firmly shifted from if it will happen, to when.
The industry has also comprehensively
embraced the transition to green road
transport. By March 2022, Mini, Vauxhall,
Ford, Bentley, Rolls Royce and others have
committed to a zero emission future from
2030, and more than 23 billion of investment
has flowed into the UK zero emission vehicle
sector.
In 2021, 190,000 battery-powered
electric vehicles (EVs) were sold in the UK.
This was more than the five previous years
combined, and nearly 1 in 8 of all new cars
sold. This year it will be even more.
Thanks to the huge investment now pouring
into battery technology, EVs are getting
cheaper to buy and more efficient to run,
with many travelling over 200 miles on a
single charge, which compares favourably
with average daily car use.
In 2019, the average car journey in England was 7-8 miles in urban areas, and about 10 miles in rural areas. Owning and running an EV has never been easier. We are now focused on developing a robust, fair and scalable charging network covering the entire country.”
Our plans will get more chargepoints in the
ground, quicker. They will strengthen the
business case for chargepoint operators to
invest now at this early stage of the transition, and the speed at which they are connected
to the electricity system will accelerate.
Charging often starts at home, with most
UK motorists having access to off-street
parking. As an EV driver myself, I know that
home-charging not only provides access to
the cheaper electricity prices, but also means my car is charged each morning ready for the day ahead.
But not everyone has access to off-street
parking, so we will focus efforts on installing
more on-street chargepoints, providing
convenient and affordable charging, ideally
on the street where you live. You’ll see
chargers integrated into lamp posts and
next to parking bays, for example. Innovative
solutions are being piloted up and down the
country as I write.
We expect around 300,000 public chargers
as a minimum by 2030. Our goal is to ensure
these chargepoints are installed ahead of
demand, inspiring confidence in drivers who
have not yet made the switch.
Awakening369 