UK needs £16.7bn electric automobile charging investment to hit 2035 goals
An investment of £16.7bn will be required in public EV charging infrastructure if the UK is to be ready for the ban on sales of automobiles with an internal combustion engine in 2035, according to fresh analysis.
The research, from the society of motor producers and Traders (SMMT), estimates that 1.7 million public chargers will be needed by 2030, and 2.8 million by 2035, targets that will require the installation of 507 chargers each day over the next 15 years. The findings echo a recent report from the international Council on clean transportation that found the UK has as few as five per cent of the chargers that would be needed by 2030 currently installed.
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A survey by the SMMT of 2,185 motorists, meanwhile, found that practically half consider that outlawing automobiles with an engine by 2035 is too early, while issues surrounding the cost of electric cars, as well as range anxiety and a lack of charging infrastructure, put numerous buyers off.
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The SMMT also highlights that while one in six new models currently on sale is an electric or plug-in hybrid automobile (PHEV), such cars only make up one in 13 new automobile sales.
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Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT, said producers have made “massive investment in new models fueling substantial consumer interest”, but wanted automobile makers “can’t transform the market alone.”
The SMMT also called on the government to even more incentivise EVs exempting them from VAT, while the organisation says PHEVs ought to be eligible for the plug-in automobile grant, as they were prior to November 2018.
As well as enhancing the number of public chargepoints available, the reliability of the network will also have to be improved if chauffeurs aren’t to experience disappointment when charging on the move. given some of the results in our inaugural chauffeur Power chargepoint survey, it seems significant improvements are required by some firms in this growing industry.
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