As many will be aware, 2030 will see a ban introduced on the sale of new petrol and diesel fuelled cars and vans.  In preparation for this shift, the production and sale of electric and hybrid vehicles has been rapidly increasing in recent years, but is the supply of charging points for those vehicles keeping up?

The shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has suggested that based on the current data, the Government will miss their target of installing 300,000 charging points by 2030 by some 20 years.  

The latest DfT data shows that there are 37,055 live charging devices in the UK, which serve more than 1.3m plug-in electric vehicles and the gap between the two appears to be increasing, as consumers respond to geopolitical/fuel security issues and climate change concerns by making the switch to EVs.  For example, The Times (£) have reported that while in 2020 there was one charge point for every 16 EVs, now there is one for every 30 (far behind equivalent figures in Germany and France).   

While a number of grants (to the tune of £1.6bn) remain available (e.g. for landlords and tenants/flat owners) last year the Government withdrew the 'Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme' which previously benefited homeowners with off-street parking (a key subset of potential EV buyers).  

The Government have called for the private sector to pick up some of this burden and last year introduced Regulations which require a minimum number of charging points on new developments/material changes of use however the Government's target remains a challenging one.  

Historically, one of the main barriers to consumers taking the leap to EVs was "range anxiety", i.e. fears of being caught out on long journeys by a lack of available charging points.  EV sales over the last couple of years have suggested that consumers are prepared to take the leap despite these fears, however, unless the supply of charging points accelerates there is a real risk of damaging that consumer confidence in the run up to the 2030 deadline. 

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