By Guy Taylor
The roll-out of electric vehicle charge points has been slowed by delays at the local authority level and is currently set to fall well short of government targets, new research has found.
FOI data obtained by the law firm RPC shows 8,000 chargers were installed by local authorities in the UK over the last year, an increase of just seven per cent which takes the current total to around 44,000.
The government, meanwhile, has set aside £1.6bn to expand the network of chargers to 300,000 by 2030, a near tenfold increase and when a ban on the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles comes into place.
Expenditure disclosed by local authorities fell well below the investment required, the RPC found, falling by nearly £1m over the last year to £41m.
Elizabeth Alibhai, partner and head of real estate at RPC, described the slow pace of local authority installations as a “a real concern”.
“There is currently no specific duty on local authorities to deliver, unlike their duty to meet housing requirements or work with neighbouring authorities to ensure they are met.”
Alibhai argues that private investment will be essential in plugging the gaps but that so far, there has not been enough.
“Private investors are unsure about the size of the consumer market and what people will be willing to pay for EV usage,” she explained, adding that “the upfront costs in connecting to the grid and complicated consent requirements,” were also putting off investors.
The EV and automotive sector has long taken issue with delays at local authority level and a lack of investment as key factors in slowing the development of electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Ian Johnston, CEO of charging provider Osprey Charging, told City A.M. last month that local authority bureaucracy was causing slowdowns of up to a year in delivering chargepoints: “We’re getting caught up in red tape… which is stopping us deploying thousands more charges today.”
Quentin Wilson, founder ofFairChargeUK, said today that provision by local authorities “needs to be much faster” with more help and support provided from central government.
RPC’s findings come amid wider concerns that the government is attempting to row back on its proposed 2030 ban on the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles, one of its core net-zero policies.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently threw the ban into doubt with statements on national media that he did not wish to “hassle” consumers with more costs during the cost of living crisis and that any net-zero push had to be done in a “proportionate and pragmatic way“.
Labour’s by-election defeat in Uxbridge, which was widely blamed on mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s plans expand the Ulez charging zone, had prompted senior Tories to question whether a commitment to the 2030 goal could harm the party’s election prospects.
