Read any survey of potential buyers’ attitudes towards electric cars, and concerns about charging infrastructure will be at or near the top. People worry about whether they will be able to find a charger at a busy service station, or in a rural area.
The number of charging points is growing. According to ZapMap, as of October this year, there were 71,459 charging points across the UK, at 36,060 locations. This was a 38% increase on the year before.
But not everyone is happy. Complaints from existing owners struggling to find a charging point, having to queue for a long time or arriving to find it broken are not hard to find.
As more EVs come onto the roads, many more charging points will be needed. The government wants 300,000 in place by 2030 – but the current rate of expansion is not fast enough to reach it.
Part of the blame appears to lie with local authorities, who are responsible for granting planning permission for new rapid charging hubs. According to Roger Atkins, the process simply takes too long.
Simon Smith, of charging firm Instavolt agrees that red tape is a problem. He thinks that difficulties getting grid connections for rapid charging stations is also a “critical barrier” to expanding the network.
“We need greater support to address planning delays, local council resistance and grid connectivity challenges”, he says.
