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Government must improve electric vehicle charging network, CMA

Charging points in the UK needs to be increased tenfold to support the plan to ban new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, government report says

A new report by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has urged the government to improve infrastructure across the country to ensure that electric vehicle (EV) charging becomes "as simple as filling up with petrol or diesel".

According to the "Electric Vehicle Charging Market Report" [pdf] from the CMA, the number of charging points in the UK needs to be increased tenfold to support the government's plan to ban petrol and diesel cars from 2030.

The UK currently has about 25,000 charging points, and the regulator estimates that between 280,000 and 480,000 charging points will be needed by 2030.

"Rapid charging on longer journeys (such as on motorways and in remote areas) and on-street charging at the kerbside (for those without a driveway or garage) will be particularly important," it said in the report.

The report criticises the 'postcode lottery' of EV charging, with London having about 80 public charging points per 100,000 people compared to just 20 per 100,000 in Humber and Yorkshire.

The CMA is also concerned about the availability and choice charging points at motorway services and warns such issues could limit the desirability of electric vehicles and impact the plan to ban the sale of new diesel and petrol cars by 2030.

In the UK, transport accounts for 27 per cent of all greenhouse emissions today, with cars making up a large part of that. Unless people shift from diesel- and petrol-based cars to EVs, the chance of meeting the commitment of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 is pretty much zero.

For people to successfully transition to EVs, the CMA says it is essential to take timely steps to ensure that comprehensive and competitive charging network are created, which people can trust and are confident to use. If that does not happen, EV desirability and acceptance is unlikely to happen as per the goal set by the government.

The CMA also said last week that it has launched a probe into the dominance of one provider, Electric Highway, in the fast-charging network at motorway service stations.

"At most motorway services, there is just one charge point operator - the Electric Highway - leaving little choice for drivers," it said.

"Customer satisfaction has been very low, driven by concerns about poor reliability and limited chargepoints."

The CMA is now urging the government to set out "an ambitious National Strategy for rolling out EV charging between now and 2030, alongside strategies from each of the Devolved Administrations".

This will include significant upgrades to the national electricity grid to cope with changing patterns of energy use

Other recommendations made to the government include:

Ofgem and Uregni use forthcoming price control reviews to strengthen distribution network operators incentives to speed up EV charging grid connections
Government rolls out the Rapid Charging Fund (RCF) as quickly as possible and attaches conditions to this funding to enable competition between charge point operators within each motorway service areas (MSA) site
Government considers targeting funding at gaps in the commercial provision of en-route charging in more remote areas
Local authorities (LAs) take a more active role in planning and managing the roll-out of on-street charging to maximise competition and protect local residents
Governments take action to properly equip and incentivise LAs to drive forward roll-out
Government sets open data and software standards for all home charge points
Government takes into account various principles to ensure charging is as simple as filling up with petrol or diesel

The UK's response to EVs has been patchy this far, often occuring in silos defined by narrow commercial interests, whereas adopting open standards would allow faster innovation and toll-out, the report says.

In related news, Tesla, which operates proprietary charge points, says it will begin opening up its network to allow all brands of EVs to use its charging points in the US, with the rest of the firm's global charging network set to follow suit.

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Government must improve electric vehicle charging network, CMA

Charging points in the UK needs to be increased tenfold to support the plan to ban new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, government report says

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