Is infrastructure electric? Government funding boost to increase electric vehicle uptake

We all know that electric cars are the future of single vehicle travel. We also all know that there are two factors severely limiting their uptake: range and charging infrastructure. The two taken together are a serious impediment to the move away from petrol and diesel motoring; in simple terms, if the battery needs recharging on average every 180 miles or so, and there are relatively few places to do it, then that’s a problem, particularly for any sort of business use.

This is why the Office for Zero Emissions Vehicles has responded with a number of initiatives, the most important of which is a grant scheme for the installation of electric and hybrid charging infrastructure. There are two versions of it: the Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) and the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS). The former is voucher-based and provides support towards the up-front costs of the purchase and installation of charge-points, for any eligible businesses, charities and public sector organisations. The home version works a little differently, as it simply provides funding for a percentage of the costs – up to 75%. There is also the On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) for local authorities. Overall, £1.3 billion is set to be invested in charging infrastructure over the next 4 years. Let’s look in a little more detail.

The EVHS provides up to £350 and is being expanded, with people in rented accommodation now being targeted as well as homeowners. Simultaneously, the WCS is being opened to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which means that small accommodation businesses, such as B&Bs, can access the funding, hopefully boosting rural areas, and going some way towards tackling the range problem referred to above. Transport Minister Rachel Maclean said this:

“Whether you’re on the school run or travelling to work, or don’t have access to a private parking space, today’s announcement will bring us one step closer to building and operating a public chargepoint network that is affordable, reliable and accessible for all drivers.

As the UK accelerates towards net-zero emissions by 2050, we are determined to deliver a world-leading electric vehicle charging network, as we build back greener and support economic growth across the country.”

At the same time as announcing this new funding, a consultation was launched to improve the charging experience. On the table are contactless payments for drivers without the need to download an app; 24/7 helplines; and increased accessibility of location data, power rating and price information.

Announced a week earlier was a £20 million boost for the ORCS, in a bid to double the number of on-street charging points to nearly 8,000. It is particularly important for people without private parking – the majority of residents of the central and inner areas of large cities – to charge vehicles. These are also areas which are more likely to suffer from congestion and poor air quality. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps sounded a note of optimism:

“With a world-leading charging network, we’re making it easier for more people to switch to electric vehicles, creating healthier neighbourhoods and cleaning up our air as we build back greener.”

While it is indeed true that the UK is ahead of the game, given these ambitious plans to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, which it is hoped will create 40,000 extra jobs by 2030, and transforming the national infrastructure to better support electric vehicles, backed by £2.8 billion and supporting around 169,000 jobs, that is not to suggest that the problems of infrastructure and electric vehicle take-up have been fully solved.

For example, London and the south east have benefited disproportionately from the installation of new charge points, with 45% of new charging points in the year up to October 2020. There are 63 public chargers per 100,000 people in the capital, more than double the average of the rest of the UK, while there remain 46 local authority areas with fewer than 10 public charging points per 100,000 residents.  The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, the UK industry lobby group, suggested the country would need to build more than 1.9m public charging points by 2030 – well over 500 per day, at a cost of £16.7bn. Chief Executive Mike Hawes said that the increased funding is “a step in the right direction but still only a fraction of the multi-billion pound investment required”.

Electric car charging posts at McDonald's North Acton
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © David Hawgood - geograph.org.uk/p/5545879

What of the consumer?

The last year, in which we have been subject to a number of lockdowns, with many people working from home, has seen greater consumer interest in electric cars. There was a huge increase in 2020 in enquiries at dealerships regarding electric and hybrid vehicles, for a number of reasons: people have had the time to think about the type of car they want; the lack of a long commute, allied to the better quality and range of such vehicles, which has now reached 2-300 miles in the vehicles with longer ranges.

Sales in this area also went up, even regarding commercial vehicles. While the initial investment is higher for the customer, lifecycle costs are lower. The context here is an overall decrease in car sales, with new registrations falling by 29.4% last year to the lowest level since 1992. However, a total of 108,205 electric vehicles were sold, representing a 180% year-on-year rise with electric vehicles growing from 1.6% of the overall UK car market to 6.6%. Plug-in hybrid sales rose at an even greater rate - by 90% to 66,877, rising from 1.5% to 4.1% of the market.

Perhaps the principal factor driving all of this is the increased presence of sustainability in people’s minds. The crisis has really encouraged many people to give some thought to our relationship to the planet. Furthermore, at the most basic level, the job of governments last spring was primarily focused on ensuring their citizens’ health and safety, rather than on economic growth. This allowed a pause button to be pressed. People noticed the cleaner air, the increasing emphasis on cycling infrastructure, such as extra cycle lanes, and the change in pace of life.

This is being driven from the boardroom in businesses: a survey of more than 200 global executives found that 75% believe that successful execution of a sustainability strategy will provide a competitive advantage. This emphasis bore fruit earlier on last year, as consumers clearly favoured organisations that were seen to be doing their bit in the fight against Covid and those that were doing so while pushing sustainable operations.

Overall, a confluence of factors is creating the right environment for the proposed 2030 switch, but there will need to be more funding, cheaper second-hand electric vehicles, and people really to put to one side their love of the internal combustion engine. Achieving this in 9 years will involve a huge amount of work from everyone involved.