There’s not much energy behind the Tories’ push for electric car charging points

Not so long ago, the parking spots next to the lamp posts in my road that double as electric charging points were empty. Now, they’re occupied pretty much all the time.

It’s the same in public car parks. All the chargers are taken.

It’s obvious just driving around that there are far more electric vehicles on the roads. Meanwhile, I’ve not noticed any additional public charging points. The ones I refer to came in the first wave. Since then, I’ve not seen any more being installed.

That’s anecdotal, of course, but when I read that fewer than 9,000 public charging points were added in the whole of the UK last year I was not surprised. It means that if that rate is sustained, ministers are set to miss their target of installing 300,000 new electric car chargers by 2030 by 20 years.

This is their own objective, don’t forget. It’s a classic case of the government saying one thing that sounds good and creates positive, banner publicity, then doing something completely different. It’s Boris Johnson’s boosterism and empty promises (because it was him) at their finest.

Rishi Sunak is different, or so we’re told. In which case, he must get a grip and fast. How about this statistic: there are now 30 electric vehicles for every charge point, compared with 16 at the start of 2020.

Don’t forget another Johnson pledge, that the sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be forbidden by 2030.

How is that going to work, when patently, unless the country gets a move on, there will be a huge shortage of public charging stations?

It’s worse than that, since the shift to outright prohibition in 2030 is to happen incrementally, so ministers have mandated that 22 per cent of sales must be electric by 2024, rising steadily after that until the 100 per cent figure is reached.

So, they sit and give their orders and do very little to maintain their side of the bargain. The opposition is on the case, with Labour saying: “There is no time to lose on charging infrastructure.”

Not only Labour. The AA and RAC are rightly vexed. Nicholas Lyes, a spokesperson at the RAC, said: “It’s all well and good to have a zero-emission vehicle mandate for car manufacturers but if public charging isn’t keeping pace with EV registrations, drivers will quickly become disillusioned and frustrated.” Lack of range is a crucial factor in determining electric car sales – drivers must be assured that no matter how far they are driving they will be able to charge their vehicle.

The RAC is pushing for annual installation targets “and to do whatever it takes to make it easier for operators to install new charging hubs”.

It’s not just the motoring organisations that are alarmed. Tony Danker, the CBI director-general, is warning that the UK is falling behind international competitors on green growth, and specifically with France on electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

So, what does the government say? This, from a Department for Transport spokesperson: “We want to maximise the opportunities available for motorists to switch to electric vehicles and have spent more than £2bn to accelerate the transition.

“Alongside industry, we have supported the installation of over 37,000 publicly available charge points and expect this to expand tenfold by the end of the decade.”

On the basis that no statement from government is rushed out, and that every word is scrutinised first, let’s examine what was said. “Want” is deliberately chosen. It’s not the same as “will” as in “we will maximise...”

As ever with this government, there is a figure included, one it believes to be sufficiently impressive. But is £2bn in this context, for the whole of the UK, enough? It seems woefully short for such a major piece of infrastructure.

“Alongside industry” is interesting and pointed – it’s buck-passing by ministers, trying to say it’s down to industry to accelerate the rollout. But it’s not industry that sets the targets.

Saying you “expect” a tenfold expansion by the end of the decade is, again, not the same as “will”. Expectations can be dashed. Reading between the lines, the government is already pulling back, preparing to cover itself should that 300,000 aim not be achieved.

In the recent festive season, there were reports of drivers queuing for hours at motorway service stations to access the electric chargers. One driver posted a video of 23 Teslas in a line at the Tebay service area on the M6.

As if the shortfall was not bad enough, there’s also evidence it’s more pronounced in the north. Where the availability of chargers is concerned there’s another north-south divide. Nearly half the charge points we do have are in London and the South East. Data by ZapMap shows they account for more than 44 per cent of all public charging points.

Jack Cousens, head of road policy at the AA, said: “There are gaps within the network that need filling. As much as there is a north-south divide there’s also a national divide, with Wales and Northern Ireland having fewer drivers than England and Scotland.”

There’s also a difference between the number of chargers provided in rural areas than in towns and cities. Said Cousens: “In England we also need to bring rural communities along with us. They are more likely to drive so it’s important we’re catering for them too. We also need to pay attention to the strength of chargers and how accessible they are. Safety is also important, particularly for lone users – chargers should be located in well-lit areas and not just shoved in a dingy corner as an afterthought.”

Latest local authority data shows London has more than 10,000 electric chargers, far ahead of other big UK cities including Leeds (412), Liverpool (194), Birmingham (429), Cardiff (100), Edinburgh (293) and Belfast (81). Westminster alone has 1,832 available to motorists, 10 times as many as Manchester (158), York (152), Leicester (109) and Bristol (148).

It’s a mess and it’s entirely of the government’s own making. The solution lies with ministers.