The UK government wants to build 300,000 EV chargers by 2030

The UK government has announced a plan to increase the number of public electric car chargers tenfold by 2030, the equivalent of “almost five times the number of fuel pumps on our roads today”.

An expansion of the government’s ‘Electric Vehicle Infrastructure’ strategy – backed by £1.6bn – will see around 300,000 public electric charging points installed across the UK.

A £500m fund will be used to build “high quality, competitively priced public chargepoints to communities across the UK”; a figure that includes £450m for the ‘Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure’ fund aimed at boosting EV hubs and on-street charging for those without driveways.

There’s an existing ‘Rapid Charging Fund’ that aims to build 6,000 ‘super-fast’ chargepoints across English motorways by 2035, while ministers have ‘pledged’ to look into the barriers faced by privately operated chargers looking to expand.

“Clean transport isn’t just better for the environment, but is another way we can drive down our dependence on external energy supplies,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. “It will also create new high-skilled jobs for our automotive and energy sectors and ultimately secure more sustainable and affordable motoring for all.”

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders – the body representing the UK’s automotive industry – only last month called for the increase in UK public charging points.

SMMT boss Mike Hawes said: “Consumers already have certainty about the vehicles, with ever-increasing choice, thanks to billions of pounds of manufacturer investment, but charging infrastructure must keep pace with the rapid growth of sales of these cars.

“The EV infrastructure strategy points in the right direction, addressing problems with the current customer charging experience and setting out a nationally co-ordinated, locally delivered plan which aims to ‘build ahead of need’.”

Vauxhall managing director Paul Willcox said: "Whilst we welcome the government’s Electric Vehicle Infrastructure strategy, we feel that it is a missed opportunity to provide certainty to customers by mandating binding targets on the roll-out of the charging infrastructure in the UK.

"It is essential that infrastructure keeps pace with market demand, or in fact leads demand, to remove any customer fears of ‘charging anxiety’ and accelerates the electrification of Britain’s roads as quickly as possible.”

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