The government has set out plans to increase the number of electric car charging points across the UK to help the economic recovery following the coronavirus crisis.
The plans, which come as part of the government’s commitment to supporting green, zero emission technologies, looks to increase the public charging infrastructure across motorways and major A roads for EVs.
According to UK figures, a driver is currently never more than 25 miles from a 50kW rapid charger, with a total of 809 open access charge points as of Jan 1, 2020 – including an average of two rapid charge points at motorway services, with more being rolled out over the next year.
As part of the March 2020 Budget, the Rapid Charging Fund will see a £500 million investment in the EV charging infrastructure, with plans to improve the number of charge points alongside a growing demand for electric vehicles.
By 2023, motorway services will have at least six high powered, open access charge points (150-350kW) with larger sites having up to 12. These chargers should deliver around 120-145 miles of range in just 15 minutes.
By 2030, the expectation is that demand will have grown significantly. Therefore, the plan will be to have around 2,500 high powered charge points at motorway service stations and major A-roads. This is expected to have grown to 6,000 by 2035.
The plan is also designed to make the process of charging ‘hassle-free’ with the government working with service-area operators to ensure that drivers can pay for their charge using debit or credit cards on a pence-per-kW structure. The charge points will be openly available and able to support all types of electric vehicles.
