CHARGING and driving an electric vehicle will be easier, cheaper and more convenient in the future, as the funding is doubled for more charge points on residential streets next year.
The Transport Secretary announced today that government funding will be doubled to £10 million for the installation of charge points on residential streets next year.
This could fund up to another 3,600 charge points across the country and make charging at home and overnight easier for those without an off-street parking space.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “We want to make electric cars the new normal, and ensuring drivers have convenient places to charge is key to that.
“By doubling funding again for charge points on streets where people live and opening up data we are helping drivers easily locate and use affordable, reliable charge points whether at home or on the road.”
The government is also looking at how to make information about all public charge points including locations and power ratings openly available in a standard format for the first time.
The Department for Transport will look at how real-time information could be published, showing whether charge points are in working order and currently in use, which could then be used by developers and incorporated into sat navs and route mapping apps
Ensuring that charging an electric vehicle is a convenient and simple process is crucial to meeting the government’s ambitions of phasing out petrol and diesel cars.
Future of Transport Minister George Freeman added: “The new government is accelerating UK leadership in digitalisation and decarbonisation through our future of transport strategy.
“Supporting the smart use of open data for new apps to help passengers and drivers plan journeys, and to reduce congestion and pollution, is key.
“Comprehensive chargepoint data is crucial for mapping charging hotspots and notspots for consumers, to help to drive forward the electric vehicle revolution.
“We urge local councils to make use of the funding available to ensure their residents feel the benefits of cleaner transport.”
Government and industry have supported the installation of over 17,000 devices providing over 24,000 publicly available charge points, of which over 2,400 are rapid charge points.
The UK now has one of the largest charging networks in Europe with more locations where you can charge your car than there are petrol stations.
The government has already challenged industry to provide debit and credit card payment at all newly installed rapid charge points and develop a roaming solution across the charging network, allowing electric vehicle drivers to use any public charge point through a single app or payment method.
The announcement today follows the establishment of the government’s National Chargepoint Registry (NCR) in 2011, which is an open source of data for all public charge points.
All publicly funded charge points are already required to be uploaded onto the Registry but the government now aims to ensure information on all public charge points is released.
