Residential street ChargePoint funding doubled to ensure postcode plays no part in having access to an electric car.
The Transport Secretary has announced that the government funding will be doubled to £10m for the installation of ChargePoints on residential streets next year allowing for residents to park and charge their vehicle overnight. The extra funding could pay for another 3,600 ChargePoints across the country.
Additionally, real-time information could be made available which will allow people to see which ChargePoints are currently being used, the current waiting times and any ChargePoints which may be out of order. In the future, open data on public ChargePoints would allow for information to be added to satnavs and travel or route mapping apps.
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 ChargePoints on streets where people live and opening up data, we are helping drivers easily locate and use affordable, reliable ChargePoints whether at home or on the road.”
With this funding, charging and driving an electric vehicle will be easier, cheaper and more convenient as a result from the doubled funding. Making charging an electric vehicle a simple and convenient process will aid the government’s ambitions of phasing out petrol and diesel cars.
Future of Transport Minister George Freeman said: “The new government is accelerating UK leadership in digitalisation and decarbonisation through our future of transport strategy. Supporting the smart use of open data for new apps to help passengers and drivers plan journeys, and to reduce congestion and pollution, is key.”
Up to now, the government and industry have supported the installation of over 17,000 devices providing over 24,000 publicly available ChargePoints, of which over 2,400 are rapid ChargePoints. The UK now has one of the largest charging networks in Europe with more locations where you can charge your car than there are petrol stations.
As well as doubling the investment, the government has already challenged the industry to provide debit and credit card payment at all newly installed rapid ChargePoints to make payment easier for all users.
