A call to improve UK EV charging infrastructure

Asif Ghafoor, CEO of Be.EV and Founder Member of ChargeUK, argues the Government needs to do more on UK EV charging infrastructure, and as such, it’s time to let the experts have their say

We have come a long way in EV charging, with more than 56,000 chargers available for public use, double the number we had in 2020. The UK Government and local authorities must be credited for their role in getting this going. Many initiatives, such as the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund and the On-Street Residential Charging Scheme (ORCS), came in when our charging infrastructure needed jump-starting.

However, from our perspective in the private sector, the Government’s strategy needs a rethink. We are aware of the Government’s target of 300,000 chargers by 2030, but its method of getting there isn’t working. The fundamental question is what the roles of the public and private sectors are to enable new infrastructure to be built and how they can work together.

While big private players may have slightly different ideas of the answer, it’s clear that the current situation cannot stand – the Government needs to let the private sector use its expertise and have its say on UK EV charging infrastructure delivery.

Some might baulk at this, but it’s worked in other sectors. The privatisation of BT in the 1980s and 1990s is a well- known example of a private sector takeover that was successful, and more recently, the efficiency of the vaccine roll-out was enabled by the Government letting the private sector get involved in the delivery. This shows that the private sector’s funding and know-how can work with the Government to take tasks off its plate and do them better.

UK funding

In the context of EV charging, the starting point is to turn the logic of current funding schemes on its head. The LEVI Fund and the ORCS may have been good policies initially and are probably still needed in many rural areas, but they are not fit for purpose when it comes to most local authorities. Although councils are given grants to build chargers, they aren’t given any advice on the best way to spend them.

What inevitably happens is that councils sit on the money for years. Then, when they finally have to spend it, they install as many chargers as possible with little thought about the practicalities of charging. More often than not, they go with the most straightforward option – lamppost chargers in spots where internal combustion engine (ICE) cars already park.

What inevitably happens is that councils sit on the money for years. Then, when they finally have to spend it, they install as many chargers as possible with little thought about the practicalities of charging. More often than not, they go with the most straightforward option – lamppost chargers in spots where internal combustion engine (ICE) cars already park.

Does EV policy in the UK go far enough?

The Rapid Charging Fund and its EV chargepoint pilot scheme at motorway services is also misguided. It makes sense in theory, but there won’t be nearly enough land at motorway services to meet the demand of the country’s EV drivers by 2040.

Even if there was, this ignores the fact that the National Grid isn’t well-connected enough to give every motorway service station the power it needs for chargers. Plenty of land on A-roads is well-connected enough to the National Grid, but these plots aren’t being used under current plans as they’re ‘too far’ from our motorways, even though they could provide an economic boost to landowners (particularly the agricultural community that needs all the help it can get).

These policies are a poor allocation of taxpayers’ money and will lead to the construction of an EV charging infrastructure that isn’t fit for purpose. The Government should instead adopt policies that direct the private sector to have their input in the delivery of national EV charging networks.

One way to do this is to remove the LEVI fund and ORCS and replace them with more robust charger targets and put more pressure on councils to meet them. This would create a funding gap that can be filled via partnerships with the private sector.

EV charger installation and maintenance funding

Some innovative charge operators in the private sector already fund EV charger installation and maintenance, giving local authorities and private land owners a share of the profits or rental income.This saves taxpayers’ money and encourages a more efficient allocation of chargers in terms of the upfront cost and location. The private sector has the knowledge to install the right chargers in the right places and is incentivised to do so, given they’re funding it.

The Government should also streamline the process of purchasing suitable council land if it’s for EV charging and abandon the obsession with only installing hubs on motorways. By removing the red tape blocking the sale of these sites, we can set up more pit stops located slightly further away from motorways, close to convenient locations like supermarkets or retail parks.

It also allows us to create community charging hubs in towns and cities that offer rapid and ultra-rapid charging. The alternative is to leave these sites unattended and unused, where they serve no purpose to anyone – why not use them for charging if they’re not being used for anything else so they can boost the green economy and hit sustainability targets too?

Can the UK create world-class EV charging networks?

Ultimately, the issue is that the private sector is being sidelined, making it unnecessarily slow and difficult to build the EV charging infrastructure the UK needs. The private sector has plenty of capital and expertise to offer; the Government needs to focus on setting a clear policy that uses this to its advantage. If this happens, we can create EV charging networks that are the envy of the world.