Tens of thousands of motorists have called for councils to speed up installation of on-street charging facilities for EVs, according to vehicle manufacturer Vauxhall.
The Stellantis-owned brand kick-started its campaign in 2023, dubbed ‘Electric Streets of Britain’, which quizzed scores of UK motorists about their thoughts on charging provisions across the country.
The campaign’s main aim was to support the 40 per cent of households without access to a driveway, seeing as the data gathered revealed that 80 per cent of electric vehicle charging is done at home.
As a result, Vauxhall says it will collaborate with three chargepoint operators, including Char.gy, ConnectedKerb and Surecharge to not only share its findings with local councils up and down the country, but to also find workable solutions.
This initiative comes following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by Vauxhall, which was issued to 414 councils across the country. A total of 267 responded and the results showed that 56.5 per cent of the local governments still did not have a published on-street residential charging plan.
James Taylor, Managing Director of Vauxhall said: “On-street residential charging is critical to adoption and acceleration of electric vehicles. Thanks to the public, we already know of over 11,000 roads where we need to install on-street chargers today to make it more convenient for EV drivers and remove a barrier for those wanting to switch to electric.”
The 267 councils that responded to Vauxhall’s Freedom of Information request told the firm that they have collectively installed 15,000 on-street chargers currently on UK roads, and plan to install a further 8,000 over the next year.
However, the UK government is aiming to have 300,000 public EV charge points installed by 2030 – and with the country’s slow progress, Vauxhall says that councils need to ensure a fast uptake in installation to meet these ambitious targets.
Results showed that some areas have been more forthcoming with EV provisions than others. London’s Boroughs of Southwark and Barnet, for example, collectively make up 20 per cent of the total on-street charge points in the country – while Coventry City Council is not far behind in third place.
In addition to putting the pressure on councils to increase on-street charging provisions, Vauxhall is also supporting those that can’t install a home charger with the announcement it made earlier this year, which saw the carmaker partner with the supermarket chain Tesco to provide its EV drivers with one-year free charging at stores.
