Electric Vehicles

(asked on 21st January 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the (1) number of charging points, and (2) supply of electricity, are sufficient to support any increase in the number of electric vehicles in the UK.


Answered by
Baroness Vere of Norbiton Portrait
Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
This question was answered on 4th February 2020

Government and industry have supported the installation of over 17,000 devices, providing over 24,000 publicly available chargepoints, of which over 2,400 are rapid chargepoints. We will invest £1 billion in completing a fast-charging network to ensure that everyone is within 30 miles of a rapid electric vehicle charging station. We will set out a vision by Spring 2020 for a core rapid charger network on England’s strategic road network. We will also consult on the earliest date we can phase out the sale of new conventional petrol and diesel cars, while minimising the impact on drivers and businesses. As detailed in our Manifesto last year, this Government’s first Budget will prioritise the environment, including electric vehicle infrastructure.

Our various grant schemes and the £400m Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund will see the installation of thousands more public chargepoints, with the first £70 million of investment adding 3,000 additional rapid chargepoints by 2024. On 21 January, we announced that Government has doubled the value of the On-street Residential Charging Scheme for 2020-2021 to £10 million to support the provision of up to 3,600 chargepoints for those that don’t have off-street parking.

We are confident that the grid will be able to cope with increased demand from electric vehicles. The electricity market is already set up to bring forward investment in generation capacity to meet demand. Ofgem, the independent energy regulator, ensures – through the RIIO regulatory framework – that there is sufficient investment in electricity networks to deliver our net zero target and enable the transition to electric vehicles. This is alongside numerous measures to ensure a smarter, more flexible energy system, to help increase the efficiency of the system to prepare for new sources of demand, including electric vehicles. For example, Government consulted last year on mandating that all chargepoints sold or installed in the UK have smart functionality. Smart charging during off-peak periods, when electricity demand is low, can help reduce electricity network constraints.

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