UK fuels EV charging network with £1.6bn expansion

The UK Government has pledged to invest £1.6bn in public electric vehicle (EV) charge points as it releases a new Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy while BP has announced £1bn of investment in rapid charging stations.

The Department of Transport said in a statement released today that it hopes the funding will lead to a tenfold increase in the number of EV charge points – from 30,000  to 300,000 by 2030 and that it will make it easier and more inclusive for people to use them all over the UK.

To this end, it added that “significant support” would focus on those without access to off-street parking, and on fast charging for longer journeys.

This includes a £450 million Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund, which will boost projects such as EV hubs and “innovative on-street charging”, so EVs become more inclusive for those without driveways.

A pilot scheme for the LEVI fund- which also launched today – will see local authorities bid for a share of £10m in funding, allowing selected areas to work with industry and boost public charging opportunities.

Under the strategy rapid charging point operators will also be required to prove a 99% reliability rate or explain why they are not able to do so.

There are also plans for a mandate requiring operators to provide accurate real-time data on the availability and the cost of their chargers.

Additionally, operators will need to ensure that customers can pay for parking and charging using contactless cards.

The Department of Transport said that another £50m will be used to upskill and employ staff to work on charge point planning and implementation.

To coincide with the publication of the strategy, BP is announcing a £1bn investment scheme for the development of its bp pulse EV charging network.

The energy giant has already pledge to double the number of chargers it operates in the UK from 8,000 to 16,000 by 2030. With the additional funding the firm should be able to grow its network by 24,000 charge points by the end of the decade.