The Department for Transport (TfL) has published a ‘league table’ illustrating the country’s public electric car charging infrastructure.
There are now more charging locations than petrol stations, it says, but there are still over 100 local authorities with fewer than 10 public charging devices per 100,000 people.
New figures show that there are 15,000 charging devices across the country, equating to 22,500 places to charge.
London leads the way, with almost 4,000 public electric charging points installed in the region. Scotland has more than 1,500, with the North West, South East and South West just behind.
’The new normal’
Transport secretary Grant Shapps said: “Your postcode should play no part in how easy it is to use an electric car, and I’m determined electric vehicles become the new normal for drivers.
“It’s good news there are now more charging locations than petrol stations, but the clear gaps in provision are disappointing. I urge local councils to take advantage of all the government support on offer to help ensure drivers in their area don’t miss out.
“To help increase the provision of charging locations, the government is offering grants for the installation of charge-points on the street, in work and at home. We are also offering grants to lower the upfront cost of these cars so everyone is able to experience the benefits.”
Funding is available
Minister for the Future of Transport George Freeman added: “Mapping charge-points and producing a league table of availability by council area is intended to raise awareness.
“There are now more than 22,500 public charge-points and at least one rapid charge-point at over 95 percent of all motorway services areas.
“To help level up the country, we’ve recently doubled the funding available for councils to build charge-points on residential streets.”
Funding for charging points is available via a number of schemes, including:
- A £5 million on-street residential charge-point scheme.
- Workplace charging scheme, offering £500 per charge-point socket and £10,000 per business.
- Electric vehicle homecharge scheme, offering £500 per socket.
Data for the ‘league table’ is sourced from Zap-Map. The information can be viewed here.