The West Midlands have overtaken London as the region with the fastest growing network of electric car charging points, thanks to a push by Coventry to move quickly away from gasoline and diesel cars.
The number of charging stations for electric cars in the West Midlands rose by a fifth between April and July, according to data from Zap-Map and the Department of Transportation. This contrasted with a growth of 12.6% in the east of England.
London still attracted the most new charging points in absolute terms with 309 new additions, but the West Midlands, which has a much smaller population, was just behind with 272.
In June, the Climate Change Committee named improving the UK’s charging network as a government priority over banning new gasoline and diesel engines in 2035. The government should aim for around 150,000 public charging points by 2025, which are “widespread in all regions of the UK” . However, London – with 13% of the population – still accounts for 31% of public charging stations as charging companies cater to its wealthier citizens.
The UK had 24,400 public chargers as of July, up from 15,000 in October 2019 when the DfT first began publishing comparable data. The number of chargers already exceeds the country’s 8,400 gas stations. However, the 7% quarterly growth rate between April and July would barely hit the UK one-third of the CCC’s 2025 target.
Coventry has mainly used government funds to install chargers, with a quarter of the investment coming from private charging point operators who expect to get their money back in about seven years. It is part of an electric vehicle rollout program that also includes hosting the UK’s Battery Industrialization Center and obtaining preventive building permits for a gigafactory to build electric car batteries.
Shamala Evans-Gadgil, the program manager in the Transportation and Innovation division of Coventry City Council, said she hoped her model of improving charging networks could lead the way for the rest of the country. “We know the ban is coming. We know the infrastructure is necessary. It can’t just be Coventry. It has to be comprehensive. “
The number of electric cars registered in the city has almost tripled to over 1,000 in the last three years due to the expansion of the charging infrastructure. Charger usage has also grown rapidly in 2021, Evans-Gadgil said.
An analysis for the Guardian of the think tank New Automotive suggests a relationship between the number of chargers for electric cars and the number of electric cars purchased in a given area of the municipality. However, proving a causal link can be difficult as other factors such as wealth and demographics are likely to have an impact on electric car adoption.
Coventry is one of several local authorities outside London that have provided government funding to expand their store networks. Milton Keynes, designed as a new city around cars in the 1960s and 70s, has more chargers than any parish outside the capital.
Brian Matthews, director of transportation innovation for the Milton Keynes community, said electric cars have given the city the chance to be at the top again. The city installed fast charging stations at 15 community centers, often near shops or other amenities such as new points in the MK Dons football stadium.
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The council also offered low-cost electric car testing, set up an electric car experience center, and even gave classes to car salespeople to help them sell electric vehicles. It seems to have been a success. At the end of last year, electric cars accounted for around 23% of sales in the municipality, compared to a national average of just under 10%.
A widespread and reliable charging network will be an important part of allaying the doubts of those reluctant to give up fossil fuels – including government climate spokeswoman Allegra Stratton. This month, Stratton shocked experts by saying she was sticking to diesel cars for the time being because she wanted to make long trips to see relatives without stopping to recharge.
Their comments contradicted Boris Johnson’s plans to “transform” the UK charging infrastructure. The government is highlighting £ 1.3 billion for charging electric cars, including money for highway and street chargers.
But the extent of the remaining challenge is enormous. Competing forecasts cited by the Competition and Markets Authority suggest the UK will need 10-20 times more – between 280,000 and 480,000 – than it does now. Up to 8 million households without private parking spaces would depend on chargers on the street, it said.
Dundee City Council – which claims to have the highest concentration of fast chargers in Europe – installed one of its first charging stations in a poorer area in an attempt to expand the range of electric cars to more people. Other initiatives include on-street chargers that pop out of the ground and even a charging robot for parking garages.
However, the city’s efforts are also linked to reducing car traffic. Dundee is building charging stations at multimodal hubs – well-connected bus and train stations that will also have electric bikes for rent and convenient routes into the city center.
Fraser Crichton, Dundee City Council’s corporate fleet manager, said, “We thought we didn’t want to replace a car with a car – we want people to leave their vehicles at the hub and go into town on a nice day.”
