Since electric carriages were introduced to the commercial market back in the 19th century, EVs have been a prominent feature of the automotive industry. In fact, by 1900, it’s estimated that around a third of the vehicles on American roads were electric. Whilst it’s hard to pinpoint the exact time the technology was first seen on our roads, French and English inventors were designing some of the first practical EVs by the second half of the 19th century.
Fast forward over 100 years, and the electric vehicle is once again transforming how millions of people around the world are using our roads. They’re considered a viable alternative to traditional internal combustion engines and are seen as an invaluable tool in helping many governments reach their environmental targets.
In the UK, the government is set to phase out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030. As such, it’s predicted that EVs will become the most popular choice in the not-too-distant future. But is the country’s infrastructure ready for this anticipated surge in demand, and how much progress has been made already to make this policy feasible?
EV infrastructure in the past
In the UK, it’s been less than a decade since the sales and market share of modern EVs dramatically increased, and this is reflected in the number of charge points seen across the country. In 2015, there were fewer than 8,000 public charging points available to drivers. Since then, there has been a 43% year-on-year increase, as government efforts to encourage greater EV uptake have been ramped up.
Present EV infrastructure
Not only is it imperative to improve the infrastructure to accommodate EV drivers of the future, but it’s also there to benefit existing users. Having access to enough charge points in a driver’s local area will help to encourage uptake and break down many barriers to using EVs, such as range anxiety.
According to government statistics, today, an electric car driver using England’s motorways and A-roads will never be more than 25 miles away from a rapid charge point. Compared to the 2015 figure, we’ve seen an increase of almost 17,000 public points, with today’s figure totalling 24,812, with 31,821 connections available across these stations.
The future for EV infrastructure
The government has received criticism for its response to the rapid growth in EV sales across the country. Many drivers are concerned that at the current rate of growth, the infrastructure will be unable to keep up with EV ownership and demand. However, the UK government has set the target of increasing the number of public chargers to 300,000 by the time the ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles is enforced in 2030. To achieve this, the Department of Transport has vowed to spend an additional £450mn.
While these figures are encouraging, the dispersion of these stations will be crucial to the new policy’s success, as currently drivers in London and the southeast have far better access to public points than in the rest of the country.
