ANALYSIS by vehicle finance provider Moneybarn reveals which regions have increased their capacity to support the growing number of UK electric vehicles.
The research comes in light of the Transport Secretary hinting the Government’s Road to Zero strategy could see the end of sales of new cars powered by petrol or diesel by 2035, five years earlier than originally planned.
Moneybarn’s data reveals Scotland is leading the way for ULEV infrastructure, with just 3.34 vehicles for every electric charging connector. This comes after a recent announcement that will see Scotland benefit from an additional £7.5m to its electric vehicle infrastructure.
| # | Region | No. of EVs per charging connector |
| 1 | Scotland | 3.32 |
| 2 | North East | 3.39 |
| 3 | London | 3.79 |
| 4 | Wales | 4.65 |
| 5 | North West | 5.21 |
| 6 | East Midlands | 6.95 |
| 7 | Yorkshire & Humber |
9.66 |
| 8 | South West | 9.95 |
| 9 | South East | 11.53 |
| 10 | East | 14.89 |
| 11 | West Midlands | 17.4 |
The North East of England (3.39) narrowly misses out on the top spot for ULEV infrastructure, ranking second. This could be due to a lower investment boost the North East regions received – from the Government’s Go Ultra Low City Scheme – which saw them and three other cities given a shared £5m out of a £40m initiative.
London (3.82) is in third place, which is promising, considering the city may receive a higher volume of ULEV vehicles driven in the capital, as a result of the recent introduction of the ULEZ.
The West Midlands (17.4) falls behind, with a sizeable number of EVs per charging connector, suggesting more needs to be done in this region to accommodate the growing EV market.
That said, the West Midlands recently revealed plans to expand its network, which could cost up to £800m over the next decade.
Overall, the UK has started to see progress in its EV infrastructure, as the number of electric charging locations has now surpassed the number of petrol stations. There are now more than 10,500 charging locations, whereas there are only 8,394 fuel stations.
There is now one electric charging location every 23.35 miles, compared with one petrol station every 29.39 miles, extending the length of journeys motorists can do in electric vehicles and lowering the chances of running out of charge.
However, only 23% of all connectors offer a rapid or ultra-rapid speed. This means a small number of charging devices provide a charging time between 20-40 minutes, which could disrupt motorists’ journeys, especially if they’re short on time.
Tim Schwarz, Head of Marketing at Moneybarn, said: “It’s great to see the UK continuing to develop its EV infrastructure ahead of its Road to Zero deadline.
“However, with the Government keen to accelerate its ban on petrol and diesel cars, it’s clear areas like the West and East Midlands and the South East, need to improve their current EV facilities.
“More investment in rapid charging devices and connectors also needs to be made, so motorists feel comfortable driving long distances without worrying they may encounter travel delays”.
