Government pledge funding for on-street electric charging points
Residential street charge-point funding doubled with plans in place to advise of real-time charger availability
THE UK government have put in place plans that could make riding and driving an electric vehicle easier, cheaper and more convenient in the future. The plan is to greatly increase the number of charge-points on residential streets by next year. The new plan is also looking at ways of ensuring electric vehicle users can easily access real-time information about places to charge their electric vehicles.
The funding is being doubled to £10 million, which will cover 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.
The government is also looking at ways 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
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.”
Future of Transport Minister George Freeman said:
“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 charge-point 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.”
The UK currently has around 24,000 publicly available charge-points, of which over 2,400 are rapid units, able to charge a vehicle in a much shorter amount of time. The volume of charging stations though is not an issues, it’s the location of the majority of them – in big cities and at service stations – that warrants them obsolete for many short distance motorcycle commuters.
Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
