Recent Developments in the UK EV Infrastructure
Posted 21st June 2023
Findings from City & Financial Global’s annual EV Infrastructure Summit
ElectrAssure was pleased to support City & Financial Global’s annual EV Infrastructure Summit, which was held in central London on 7 June 2023. ElectrAssure sponsored a keynote address from Marc Palmer, Brand Director, Auto Trader who spoke on ‘The latest consumer perspective: barriers, motivators and the communications challenge’
Loyd Davies, Service Development Director moderated a panel on Recent developments in the UK EV Infrastructure industry as part of an illustrious panel including:
- Judith Hayton, Strategy and Planning Manager, Transport Strategy & Policy, Transport for London
- Steve Smith, Group Head of Strategy and Market Fundamentals, National Grid
- Liz Garlinge, Strategic Customer Projects Director, Customer Strategy and Comms, National Highways
- Edmund King OBE, President, The AA
Judith Hayton from TfL confirmed what the public sector is doing to help deliver the charging infrastructure that drivers will need to make the switch to EVs. She also advised that London now requires all newly licensed private hire vehicles to be zero emission capable (ZEC) and has required newly licensed taxis to be ZEC since 2018. She then advised the steps TfL is taking to ensure that drivers without access to off-street parking can charge their vehicles. Judith also outlined how TfL is going to deliver more charging infrastructure that is suitable for commercial vehicles, as London now has over 13,000 public charge points but many of these are not accessible to vans. ‘sdsd’
She also outlined the London 2030 EV Infrastructure Strategy published in December 2021 that forecasts that London will need between 40,000 and 60,000 public charge points by 2030, of which up to 4,000 will need to be rapid. She also stated the importance of working with the wider public and private sectors to accelerate the transition to zero emission vehicles; one key commitment in the strategy being to unlock public sector land for EV charging, with access to land being one of the main challenges identified by charge point operators in London.
Steve Smith from National Grid demonstrated how they were supporting the EV charging industry. He also advised what the charging infrastructure landscape needed to look like for commercial vehicles such as HGVs and coaches and confirmed the best way to accelerate the deployment of the Rapid Charge Fund.
Liz Garlinge from National Highways highlighted the early learnings from work to decarbonise travel on the Strategic Road Network (National Highways), and how this is leading work to deliver EV charging – short term and long term – through the £950m Rapid Charging Fund. She also addressed customer expectations around EV charging – and the challenge for all three sectors (transport, digital and power).
Edmund King from The AA addressed this topic via the consumer lens and the views of The AA’s drivers, as representatives of the largest UK motoring organisation. He spoke on how consumers are viewing the EV charging sector. He addressed the challenges of vehicles running out of charge due to lack of infrastructure or unreliable infrastructure and the problem of those that don’t have off-street parking to charge their vehicles. He also outlined how fleets are adapting to electrification, from the perspective of an organisation that looks after many fleets, and who has their own fleets providing breakdown vehicles and Driving School cars.
It was a lively discussion that demonstrated that the private and public sector are committed to supporting an effective UK EV infrastructure.
In thanking the panel members, Loyd said; “Thank you for making my job really easy. You answered all the questions with complete authority. You delivered excellent value to the audience.”
City & Financial Global added: “A huge thank you to all of you and my sincere congratulations on the incredibly powerful keynote panel, which has been very well received both by our “physical” and virtual audience.”