Accessibility to electric vehicles is being boosted as the UK Government has announced that there will be £10 million increase in funding available for on-street residential charge points to be installed.
Announced today (Tuesday 21st January), the funding will be doubled to £10 million for the installation of charge points next year. It could fund up to 3,600 points across the country, and make charging an EV much easier for those without access to off-street parking.
Although it’s possible to run an EV from the public networks in many areas of the UK, having somewhere to charge an electric vehicle overnight is by far and away the most common and most convenient way to recharge a car. On-street residential charge points open this type of charging up to those who have no off-street parking – a particular problem for those living in blocks of flats or on terraced streets for example.
The Department for Transport is also looking at how to make finding out about EV charge points easier for users. However, since Zap-Map has the most comprehensive public charge point data in the UK – including live status updates for a significant proportion of the UK’s public charging infrastructure – this isn’t much of an issue for users of the app or visitors to the website.
The measures have been announced as part of government plans to phase out petrol and diesel cars from roads. 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.”
